Mods: if this is the wrong spot, please don't hesitate to move this post. I posted it here, because this is the place I read and post daily.

I spend about 20 to 25 hours a week playing 1/2, mostly in the Venetian. However, a couple of months ago, they started a Bad Beat Jackpot.

With the rake and now a dollar from each pot, should I consider moving to a casino without the bad beat jackpot?

I would love to hear other's take on this.

It depends on how it affects the game. A lot of players will make more pre-flop mistakes because they don't want to fold a potential bad beat losing hand. That might partially make up for the extra $1 in rake. Then there's always the possibility that you might get a payout from the promo, so you're not losing one full dollar of EV every hand.

Bad beat jackpots are bad for winning players but there are so many factors that go into choosing a profitable poker room. This would be the least of my concerns.

One dollar per hand should be like #4 or #5 on your list of considerations for picking a place to play.

From playing there on my recent trip,the games seem much worse than the last time I played during the same time of year.

If the casino isn't skimming any of the money from the bad beat jackpot, then it should be roughly even EV. You have just as good a chance of hitting the jackpot as anyone else at the table. It increases variance slightly, but not by much. It can also attract the more gambly type players, which is always good for the game.

Also, depending on how hard it is to hit, a bad-beat jackpot can get pretty high. You could always just call over to the Venetian and only play when it's at an impressive number. At some point it becomes +EV.

Yes, the BBJ is EV neutral, though the chance of ever realizing that equity is infinitesimal. The real question is whether the players it draws are more or less EV for you than the players drawn to other rooms. In most places I've been that have multiple rooms to choose from (as Vegas is), the BBJ chasers tend to be weak/tight nits. If you enjoy beating up on those guys, have at it. If you find them miserable company and to dry up action at the table, go find better games.

In other markets, where the poker room is competing with table games more than other poker rooms, I find BBJs draw rec players, especially the almost impossible to qualify for BBJs that thus get huge.

I'm sorry, but a $1 BBJ drop isn't going to factor in to my decision one bit when it comes to deciding on whether or not to play in a room. Yes the 1$ per raked hand can add up, but as others have already stated its EV neutral.

If you're playing in an area where you have a lot of venues to choose from, I'm focusing almost solely on the quality of the games themselves and how much I enjoy the environment of the particular room. Being comfortable and positive at the table can be an important factor for success at the poker table. Unless one room's rake is substantially higher than another's, I'm just looking for the games that I feel are most profitable for my type of play, and I'm conducting that search within rooms that I most enjoy being in.

My guess is it wont matter for long because once one room does it, they will all do it.

Very much this.

We have several casinos in my area, and you can see the traffic shift to whichever room has the highest jackpot at a given time. Weak/tight nits and grinders alike.

I find that people will call junk PP and small SCs for more money than they usually would when it gets high.

Also ... if the BBJ drop goes into a promotional pool that also pays for hourly HH payouts, or other more frequent disbursements, it's generally better for a regular/winning player. You're more likely to get small payouts to offset the extra rake, and more likely that a fish gets handed an extra $200 in chips that he'll immediately put into play.

A BBJ draws in weaker players, especially if it starts getting big. I disagree with Garick only in the sense that the players are only tight post flop. Preflop, you'll see people limping in with anything that could make a qualifying hand. You won't be popular, but you can pick up some easy cash by pushing these limpers out with raises.

They may at one time had been EV neutral, but many rooms now take 20% off the top for "promotions" which often is advertising that the room would have done out their profits before. Just another reason to be playing tighter.

I know this specific thread is about a Vegas room, but in Florida there is a law that says 100% of money raked for player promos has to be paid back to the players. It still may not be neutral EV though because in some rooms, some promo money from cash games is used to run free roll tournament. A lot of the players playing in those free rolls may have never played a cash game and contributed to the promo fund.