BetOnline Pays Poker Player $350K Bad Beat Jackpot After Software Jam

One poker player’s anger and frustration led to him receiving a life-changing payout after a software glitch controversy involving online platform BetOnline had been effectively addressed, with the operator now receiving praises for handling the situation in a dignified manner.

“Devowned” was in a three-way pot in a $0.50/$1 6-max cash game on BetOnline. He called a bet and picked up a straight flush on a paired board. His opponents pursued, however when it was his turn to make a move, the software jammed all of a sudden, preventing him from taking any action.

The clock was still ticking though, and the software appeared to be functioning, but Devowned couldn’t click any buttons, resulting in him being auto-folded out of the game. The glitch could have translated to a potential $200 loss for him, which is not very substantial, but as it turned out, he could have been in for a life-changing moment.

When Devowned was eventually returned to the hand, though he was already out from the action after being auto-folded, the remaining two players engaged in an all-in battle with quads against a full house!

If the glitch hadn’t interrupted Devowned’s play, he would have triggered the $350,000 bad beat jackpot! He reached out to BetOnline to inform them of the situation but the operator initially responded by saying that other customers did not experience any connection problems during the time that Devowned got disconnected.

Conspiracy Theories

Devowned then took to Twitter to share his unpleasant experience, and it quickly attracted a discussion on social media, with Joey Ingram also tweeting about the “mysterious” glitch.

Over at TwoPlusTwo, Devowned’s experience paved the way for plenty of conspiracy theories.

One user alleged that the software actually knows when a bad beat jackpot is about to be hit during a hand. With tech employees having access to the players’ IPs, they can intentionally disconnect a certain player so that the winning hand is automatically folded out.

BetOnline Awards $350K to Affected Players

After further investigation, BetOnline finally decided to resolve the issue in the coolest way possible. The operator paid the jackpot, with Devowned receiving a 25% share worth $53,532. One of the two remaining players would also collect over $100,000.

The representative from BetOnline also added that they paid the jackpot out of pocket as the BBJ couldn’t be transferred manually and couldn’t be touched without being triggered automatically. This means that the $350,000 jackpot is still up for grabs!

Ingram later posted a follow up tweet, congratulating Devowned for his life-changing payout, and thanking BetOnline for doing the right thing.