Poker Player Defies The Odds And Hits 2 Royal Flushes In 20 Minutes

The 2023 World Championship Of Online Poker (WCOOP) is wrapping up with $6 million guaranteed $10,300 Main Event final table set for today. There were 110 numbered events (prize pool over $80M) in the 2023 WCOOP and British online poker star Patrick Leonard went deep in several and finished 2nd in two recent events.

Leonard finished 2nd in the WCOOP $1,050 NLHE [Turbo, Freezeout] for $33,919 and 2nd in the Side Event: $2,100 NLHE [8-Max, Progressive KO, High Roller] for $16,286, according to his recent Hendon Mob database results.

In one of those tourneys, he flopped a royal flush. The odds of that happening are 1-in-650,000. Then, against all odds, he hit another royal flush 20 minutes later in another tournament!

2 Royal Flushes Hit In 20 Minutes

Leonard shared a picture of his flopped royal flush on X. He doesn’t say whether or not he got paid off on this hand but it happened at the final table in the $2,100 8-max, progressive KO, High Roller event that he finished 2nd in for $16,286.

Then, 20 minutes later, he hit another royal flush. This time it was in the $109 NLHE Progressive KO, Series Saver. We know he got paid off on this hand because he wrote “guy was bluffing QJ too and went all in on river too” on X.

Leonard has $2,948,589 in live poker earnings to date. He’s certainly not someone who needs to spike royal flushes to win hands…

The odds of hitting a royal flush are higher in online poker but not for the reason you might think. It (typically) has nothing to do with the online randomizer/shuffler, and everything to do with the fact that significantly more hands are played in online poker than in live poker.

In live poker, it takes the dealer much longer to shuffle up and deal each hand. It also typically takes longer for each player to act. With online poker the action moves a lot faster.

According to PokerNews, a 9-handed table in online poker plays 60-75 hands per hours, on average. A 6-handed table can average 100 hands/hour and up to 250 hands/hour. Live poker will see roughly 30 hands per hour “if the dealer is experienced and on the ball.” It can be considerably slower if the dealer is inexperienced.

So while the odds of hitting a royal flush in online poker and live poker are the same, the odds of seeing one in online poker is much higher. That’s because online poker players see a LOT more hands than live poker players.