$325k Ultimate Texas Hold’em Jackpot Won – How You Can Win Too

Ultimate Texas Hold’em is one of the hottest table games in the casino. It provides the opportunity to play the world’s most popular poker variation against the house.

Given that this game pits you against the casino rather than against human opponents like with regular Texas Hold’em, it can offer big jackpots.

A Las Vegas gambler recently took down one of the largest Ultimate Texas Hold’em jackpots. They collected over a $325,000 payout!

I’m going to discuss their incredibly large win below. I’ll also cover how you can chase massive Ultimate Texas Hold’em prizes.

Birthday Celebration Delivers the Ultimate Present

The aforementioned gambler was in Las Vegas to celebrate their brother’s birthday at the time of the win. They started playing Ultimate Texas Hold’em at Planet Hollywood during the trip.

They were placing the side bet throughout the session. Their side wagers paid off when they received a royal flush and won $325,651.

The player chose to remain anonymous after collecting a six-figure payout. With that said, it’s unknown exactly what they did with the big paycheck. In any case, the Vegas birthday celebration probably got even more wild following the $325k windfall.

Where Can You Find Ultimate Texas Hold’em Jackpots?

Jackpots for this game are available in both land-based and real money online casinos. However, you’ll usually find the biggest jackpots in brick and mortar casinos.

Land-based casinos commonly link several table games to one progressive jackpot. Therefore, bets from all of these games go towards funding the same prize.

A gaming establishment might, for example, link the following games to a single jackpot:

• Caribbean Stud
• Let It Ride
• Mississippi Stud
• Three-Card Poker
• Four-Card Poker
• Ultimate Texas Hold’em

Some casinos may mix and match which games they include in a progressive jackpot. Others only offer an individual progressive prize for each game.

Online Ultimate Hold’em falls into the latter category. Gaming sites tend to offer a separate jackpot for each table game, rather than combining them into a single prize.

Basics of Playing Ultimate Texas Hold’em

Most Texas Hold’em games see players compete against each other. Ultimate Texas Hold’em is a special variation, though, where gamblers face off against the casino.

Each round begins with you making an ante and blind bet that are equal to each other (e.g. $1 and $1). Optional “Trips” and progressive jackpot (if available) bets can be made at this time too.

Following the initial betting round, you receive two face-down cards just like in regular Hold’em. You then review the two cards and decide whether to check or bet. In the latter case, you’ll risk 3x or 4x the ante value.

After this betting round, the dealer flips over the first three community cards (a.k.a. flop). If you didn’t bet the first time, you’ll have the option to check or bet again.

This time, however, you’re only able to raise up to 2x. Assuming you did bet before, then you’ll automatically have to check.


Afterward, the croupier deals out the final two community cards. This differs from standard Texas Hold’em, when the fourth card (turn) and fifth card (river) are dealt separately.

At this point, you can either fold or bet 1x their ante. When folding, you surrender both the ante and blind. The bet option is, again, only available if you haven’t already placed a wager in the previous two rounds.

Assuming you stay in the hand, either by calling now or through a previous bet, then you and the dealer compare hands. Both sides use any combination of the two hole cards and five community cards to form the best five-card hand.

How Are Payouts Determined?

The payouts for Ultimate Texas Hold’em vary based on how you win a hand. They also differ depending upon if the dealer has at least a pair (a.k.a. “opens”).

Here’s a look at the different possibilities:

• You win and the dealer opens – You win the ante, blind (with qualifying hand), and play bets.
• You win and the dealer doesn’t open – You win the ante and play bets; the blind pushes.
• The dealer wins and opens – You lose the ante, blind, and play bets.
• The dealer wins and doesn’t open – You lose the ante and play bets; the blind pushes.
• Both hands tie – You push on all three bets.

You’re paid 1:1 on all ante and play wins. The blind wager, meanwhile, features a different pay table that rewards you for bigger hands.

Here’s a common pay table for the blind:

• Royal Flush – 500:1 Payout
• Straight Flush – 50:1
• Four of a Kind – 10:1
• Full House – 3:1
• Flush – 3:2
• Straight – 1:1
• Any Other Hand – Push

The trips side wager also features its own pay table. Here are the payouts for a winning trips bet:

• Royal Flush – 50:1 payout
• Straight Flush – 40:1
• Four of a Kind – 30:1
• Full House – 8:1
• Flush – 7:1
• Straight – 4:1
• Three of a Kind – 3:1

How Big Are the Jackpots?

The size of an Ultimate Texas Hold’em jackpot varies based on whether it’s a standalone prize or networked with other games. By itself, Ultimate Hold’em jackpots usually don’t grow much larger than $200,000.

They can reach seven figures when networked with a group of games. Atlantic City gambler Frank Nagy, for instance, won a $1.1 million progressive jackpot through a network that included Ultimate Texas Hold’em.

Of course, Nagy was playing Four-Card Poker at the time of his win. But any Hold’em player could’ve easily won the $1.1m payout as well.

In any case, progressive jackpots hinge on how much a casino funds them with. If the gambling venue puts $50,000 or $100,000 into a jackpot, then the prize is going to immediately attract plenty of gamblers.

Conversely, if the casino only puts $5,000 or $10,000 into the pool, then the progressive payout has a smaller chance of growing to mid-six figures and beyond.

Next, the progressive prize needs to go unclaimed for a while before growing to epic proportions. If nobody is able to win a jackpot for a long time, then it’s obviously going to increase in value.

Odds of Winning an Ultimate Texas Hold’em Jackpot

As mentioned earlier, you need a royal flush to win an Ultimate Texas Hold’em jackpot. The odds of you getting a royal flush in Texas Hold’em are 1 in 30,940.

With that said, you’ll need to play for approximately 31,000 hands and keep placing the jackpot bet to meet this average. Of course, nothing guarantees that you’ll win the top prize after playing for 30,940 hands.

You could win much sooner or later than this average. In any case, chasing ultimate Hold’em jackpots is a grind.

Can You Win Big With Ultimate Texas Hold’em?

You can see that the chances of winning an Ultimate Texas Hold’em jackpot aren’t great. Nevertheless, you always have a chance as long as you play.

You just need to temper expectations when going for these huge payouts. You should also ensure that your bankroll is large enough to withstand the droughts.

After all, Ultimate Hold’em requires you to place multiple main bets. It also features two separate side wagers, including a trips bet and progressive wager that’s worth either $1 or $5—depending upon the casino.

The main game offers up to 97.82% RTP when you’re using expert strategy. This payout percentage ranks favorably compared to many casino games.

The side bet is often a killer, though, because it doesn’t pay out very often. It can slowly drain your bankroll over time.

This is exactly why you should ensure that you’ve got enough money to last in Ultimate Texas Hold’em. By taking a disciplined approach and only playing when you can afford to then, over time, you might win a big jackpot.

Conclusion

Ultimate Hold’em is definitely one of the best casino games when it comes to jackpots. It can deliver progressive prizes worth six figures, or even more when linked to other table games.

Of course, Ultimate Texas Hold’em doesn’t hand jackpots out like candy. You need a royal flush, which only comes once in 31k hands on average, to win the big one.

The good news, though, is that this game offers plenty of action in between to keep you entertained. Not only will you be competing against the dealer but also gunning for extra payouts through the trips side bet and blind.