MOOSE JAW — The odds of drawing a royal flush in Texas Hold’em are roughly 650,000 to 1, which means you have a better chance of hitting a hole in one or matching five numbers in the lottery.
A royal flush is an ace, king, queen, jack and 10. Achieving that is tough, but it’s incredibly difficult to achieve with all hearts — as Hugh Millar did. With his luck, he should consider buying a handful of lottery tickets or competing against professional golfers.
Millar was one of several people competing in the weekly Texas Hold’em activity at the Timothy Eaton Senior Centre on May 4. It was near the end of the night and Millar and Bill Clark were the final two competitors on the hand.
“And Bill — would you believe it? — he had a full house. He had three kings and a pair of aces. And would you believe the only hand that’s going to beat it is a royal flush?” said organizer Earl Burrard. “So the boys were betting pretty heavily.”
Most game nights are casual events since the entry fee to Timothy Eaton’s is $2 and buy-ins are $5, which means people can socialize in a fun environment for $7, he continued.
Millar’s accomplishment was amazing considering some people might experience this achievement once in a lifetime if they play cards regularly, said Burrard, while a tiny handful of players may experience a royal flush twice before they die.
Burrard has seen three royal flushes achieved in Moose Jaw over the years. Besides Millar, he saw a man and a woman achieve that feat during a Friday night event.
“It’s like getting a hole-in-one or scoring an eight-end in curling. It’s that calibre of accomplishment,” he added. “And it’s exciting to watch it.”
“It’s exciting because it’ll never happen again probably,” said Millar, who has never achieved this before.
Millar only knew he had a royal flush and would win the hand when “the river” happened, which is when the last card is turned face up on the table. He had to maintain his composure — “I was excited” — because he knew Clark was going all in on the last hand. If he showed emotion, Clark could have changed his bet.
The royal flush helped Millar take home the most chips — their technical value was $160,000 — and made him the evening’s winner, while he won $25.
Millar added that he participates in Texas Hold’em every week and enjoys socializing with people, playing cards and having fun — win or lose. Despite achieving the highest hand in the game, he has no plans to retire and will continue playing.
