A poker player hit a royal flush at the EPT Barcelona Main Event final table but chose not to show his cards.
Regional newsDutch player Lukas van Eeden hit a royal flush on Day 6 of the EPT Barcelona Main Event, but was too shocked to show his hand. He only won 650,000 on the river before his opponent, Jose Criado, quickly folded. On Friday, a player deep in the EPT Barcelona Main Event hit one of the rarest hands in poker. Dutch amateur Lukas van Eeden, with few live tournament results, hit a dream hand on Day 6 as he battled for the €1,370,050 first prize. But he didn't want anyone at the table to know he had hit a hand that some players would never play in their entire lives. The €5,300 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em tournament at the EPT Barcelona Royal Depth attracted 1,823 entries, leaving only nine players at Casino Barcelona. All remaining players had secured at least €126,950 in prize money, but they all had their eyes on the title. Spanish landlord Jose Criado, holding 100 big blinds, knew how to capitalize on this huge advantage. He raised to 250,000 (double the big blind) from the button with 6♦4♦, attempting to take down the blinds and increase his stack. This raise forced the small blind to fold, but Van Eeden called from the big blind with K♣J♣. The flop came 2♠A♣10♣, offering no help to the pre-flop raiser, but a royal flush draw for the big blind, who wouldn't fold to any bet. Action checked to the Spanish player, who continued betting 175,000 with air. This bet was called, and the turn 3♣ locked in the hand for Van Eeden—he didn't hit a royal flush, but he made a flush. He checked again to the aggressor, who had an extra gutshot straight draw that would cost him if hit on the river. Criado bet again, this time raising to 750,000. Van Eeden couldn't fold his flush. His only options were to call or raise, and he chose the former. It's not common for a player to hit the nuts on the turn and then raise on the river, but that was exactly what happened in this hand—the river Q♣ raised Van Eeden's nut flush to a royal flush. Unfortunately, his opponent only had 6 high for the Dutch player. However, he decided to lead out bet 650,000 instead of letting Criado fire again, and his opponent quickly folded. Van Eeden decided to simply throw his winning hand into the deck instead of showing it off to the rest of the table. This was a surprising move considering that most poker players almost always show off hands like royal flushes or straight flushes. He later explained his thinking to PokerNews. "This was probably one of the mistakes I made today, but hitting a royal flush caught me a little off guard. I've never hit one before, it's so rare. I didn't expect him to bet again because I really..."
