The Royal Flush Phenomenon

A Royal Flush is a rare hand indeed at poker. I don’t play live anymore, but the first one I ever saw was circa 1976. It was at 7 card stud; as far as I can recall I wasn’t in the hand, but the guy who had it - in hearts - said it was dealt in his first 5 cards.

On-line I’ve played a lot of Omaha, in which very strong hands are common because of the format of the game; I also multi-table, and have on occasion played 5 or more tables at once, but all the same, I can’t help thinking that poker software deals far more Royal Flushes than it should because I have both seen and been dealt a truly extraordinary number of Royal Flushes and other power hands.

The screengrabs herein are all from 2007.


Circa January 19, 2007: A Royal Flush in an Omaha cash game on UltimateBet.


February 20, 2007: A Royal Flush on SunPoker.


A Royal Flush in a cash game on William Hill, May 4, 2007.


A Royal Flush in an Omaha cash game on William Hill, May 16, 2007.


A Royal Flush on InterPoker, September 5, 2007.


A Royal Flush on Betfair, October 19, 2007.


A Royal Flush in an Omaha Hi Lo cash game on UltimateBet, November 3, 2007. I am told this one was uncalled.


A Royal Flush in a hold ’em freeroll on King Solomon’s Poker, December 12, 2007. The tournament was either no limit or pot limit.

[The above article was published as a blog on September 14, 2012, not September 12, 2012 as originally dated.]


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