[Al_Capone_Junior]

"Pontificating" might get you in trouble with the wpt fans. Toooo many letters. Plus I might hafta kick you in the nuts, but then I will probably do that eventually anyway.

Bad beat jackpots do suck, but schmuck boy doesn't really know why. I've played in casinos 11 years and have never gotten so much as a table share, but my failure to get lucky is not why I dislike them either. The fact they are bad for poker is why I dislike them.

You've got the players attracted to jackpots right. "Jackpot retirement plan" players are exactly the players you don't want to attract, they generally drive away the ones you want. Mostly weak-tight local whiners like big jackpots. I recall getting yelled at years ago for betting the turn in a 2-4 game at palace station because there was already $20 in the pot.

Jackpots also remove a lot of money from the poker economy. I've asked numerous winners how much of that big score will ever see a poker table again. Mostly the answer is "none." This is an old idea and not something I've just discovered.

Zero sum? Maybe not. With the reserves these places keep, all the money may eventually go back, but any given player can't win both the jackpot and all the reserves. Even lotteries may eventually get big enough to have a +ev, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea to play them.

I don't mind $1 going down the slot when the money gets spread around between lots of players. Excalibur's wheel is my favorite promotion because lots of people get a little of that money, and it all pretty much winds up back on the tables.

Freerolls are generally a bad way to spend jackpot dollars, especially if they require many hours over several months to qualify. These spread a lot of tourist money to a few locals who are able to qualify.

Al