A poker player hit a royal flush at the EPT Barcelona Main Event final table but chose not to show his cards.

Dutch player Lukas van Eeden hit a royal flush on Day 6 of the EPT Barcelona Main Event, but was too shocked to show his cards. He only won 650,000 on the river, and his opponent Jose Criado quickly folded.

On Friday, a player in the deep stages of the EPT Barcelona Main Event hit one of the rarest hands in poker.

Dutch amateur player Lukas van Eeden, with a sparse record in live tournaments, hit a dream hand on Day 6 as he battled for the €1,370,050 grand prize. But he didn't want the others at the table to know he'd struck a hand that some players never manage to play in their entire lives.

EPT Barcelona Royal Depth

The €5,300 buy-in No-Limit Texas Hold'em tournament attracted 1,823 entries, leaving only nine players at Casino Barcelona. All remaining players have secured at least €126,950 in prize money, but they all have their sights set on the championship title.

Spanish home favorite Jose Criado, holding 100 big blinds, knew how to capitalize on this huge advantage. He raised to 250,000 (double the big blinds) from the button with 6♦4♦, attempting to take down the blinds and increase his chip 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♣, which was of no help to the pre-flop raiser, but a royal flush draw for the big blind, who wouldn't fold to any bet.

The action check went to the Spanish player, who continued betting 175,000 with air. This bet was called, and the turn 3♣ locked in Van Eeden's hand—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 bets 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 improve on the river, but this hand was exactly like that—the river Q♣ improved Van Eeden's nut flush to a royal flush.

Unfortunately for the Dutch player, his opponent only had six high cards. However, he decided to lead with a bet of 650,000 instead of letting Criado fire another shot, and his opponent quickly folded.

Van Eeden decided to simply drop his winning hand into the deck instead of showing it off to the others at the table. This was a surprising move, considering most poker players almost always show hands like a royal flush or straight flush. He later explained his reasoning to PokerNews.

"This might be one of the mistakes I made today, but hitting the royal flush caught me a little off guard. I've never hit it before, it's so rare. I didn't expect him to bet again because I really beat him completely. He couldn't possibly have a flush, so I messed up a bit. But oh well, that's it," Van Eeden said, referring to his river lead-out bet.

"I was busy processing in my mind whether I made the right decision on the river, because it was a bit of a strange situation. I thought maybe a small lead-out bet could extract some value from him, because I really needed to see what he had. I didn't think he would call too much, and I didn't think he would bluff. So, maybe I should have shown my cards, but they could see them on the video. Next time, if there's a next time, I'll show my cards."

As of press time, Van Eeden was fifth in chips among the remaining eight players. Criado maintained his chip lead even after receiving a royal flush. The EPT Barcelona Main Event will determine its champion on Saturday.

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