Weird Hand

So I'm in Atlantic City yesterday playing in a 1/2 NLHE game at Harrah's.  I bought in for $200 and about four hours in I have a little less than $500 in front of me.  I'm playing really agressive, because the table is filled with alot of senior citizen-types that are playing a very snug game.  Before yesterday, I hadn't played in Harrah's in a very long time (since before they remodeled).  Anyway, I'm in middle position with A4 of spades, and it folds around to me.  I raise to $8 and get one caller behind me.  The flop comes A23 all diamonds, giving me the pair and a wheel draw (but I'm obviously diamond-less).  I bet out $15 and the player behind me calls.  Turn is the 4 of diamonds.  Gross.  I have top two pair, but obviously I'm done with this hand if the old man does anything.  I check, and he checks behind.  River comes with another ace.  Whoa!  AA234 on the board, with four diamonds.  I have the second nuts.  Only card in the deck that beats me is the five of diamonds.  I really don't know what to do here, but I decide to check.  Probably wrong, but that's the route I take.  The guy behind me checks and flips over the 5 of diamonds.  What?!?!  This guy checked the stone-cold nuts on the end.  Was he being nice?  I flip over my hand and the whole table is like WTF?  Aces full versus a straight flush, and the pot is less than $50.  Why did the guy do this?  Harrah's has a high hand bonus.  Every morning at 6am, they award 200 comp dollars to whoever had the highest hand shown down in the previous 24 hours.  If he bet on the end and I folded, he's not eligible.  At the time, the high hand was four queens.  The floor came over and took his player's card and announced that the new high hand was a five-high straight flush.  This stupid 200 comp dollar prize totally killed this guy's chance to win a big pot.  If he bets $200 real dollars on the end, I probably call.  I dodged a big bullet there.  Just sharing this because it was a really freaky thing.     

yeah dude...you got REALLY lucky that they had a high hand bonus .... he probably figured that the $200 was more than he could get out of you, I mean what are the odds you had the 2nd nuts?? or even a king high flush?? ...not good.....he made an educated guess that he would have a better chance of winning the $200 than betting $100 and watching you fold to only win $50....

 

good story bro

I didn't know why the guy would do that, because I was unaware of the high hand bonus.  I asked the guy next to me why the player checked the nuts like that, and he said to me, "He's just being courteous, I guess."  The guy next to him said, "No he's not.  It's because of the high hand."  That's when it was explained to me.  There's enough things to think about in a poker game, without having to worry about something like that.  I guess you have to check huge hands on the end?  I had alot of chips though, and so did he.  I don't know.      

I asked the floor the same thing, and they said for the high hand, you only need to use one hole card.  For the bad beat, you need two.  For both bonuses, the hand needs to be shown down.  

 

I had never before seen where you only needed one hole card, and I was wondering if I misheard or misunderstood, so I called their poker room the next morning just to clarify, so I know the rules. 

 

Harrah's poker hotline: (609) 441-5741.  

Danno, it is funny that you bring this up because basically the same thing happened to my brother a couple of days ago in a Tampa card room.  Cliff notes version: No betting till after turn card and a meager pot of say $20 in the middle.  My brother caught the straight flush on the turn and did not want to scare 2 other guys off since he was guaranteed $200 jackpot in a small pot.  My brother is second to act, and he calls a small bet and the guy behind him also does.  After river card, my brother still has the nut straight flush.  First guy bets $25.  He just calls.  Aggressive guy with over $1000 in chips calls.  I told my brother he could've raised the minimum to $50, but he did not want to risk losing the jackpot like the old man in your example. 

 

I think the jackpot rule is bullshit since players are donating to it everytime new hands are dealt.  If there is already a decent amount of money in the middle (say $50), I think the jackpot should still be paid even if the other 2 guys fold, as long as the winner shows his eligible hand.