Royal Flush Stories

Chuck Agnew has been dealing poker at San Jose's Bay 101 for 13 years. During that time, he has dealt 71 royal flushes - and he knows, because he has been keeping track.

Three of them produced amazing stories.

Royal Flush No. 1
Agnew was dealing a $2-$4 limit hold'em game. Seven of the nine seated players called the minimum $2 to see the flop. What made this hand special is that a royal flush came out on the board in sequence. From the dealer's perspective, the flop came, left to right, A K Q. It was checked all the way around. The turn brought the J. Again, it was checked all the way around. On the river, the 10 came. As soon as the card hit, one of the players opened his mouth to speak. Agnew runs a tight ship, and tries to prevent players from commenting inappropriately. Anticipating that the player was about to say something like, "Wow, a royal flush on the board!" Agnew immediately put a finger to his mouth and said, "Shhh," to let the player know that any such statement should not be uttered because it could affect the action. The betting then began. The players made up for their earlier inaction, and after all of the betting and raising were complete, the pot had been capped. During all of the action, three of the players actually folded! Being the consummate professional dealer, Agnew immediately mucked the folded hands, and the remaining players split the pot four ways instead of seven. As he was splitting the pot into four neatly stacked piles to be distributed to the four players, conversation began about why the three players had dumped their hands. Of course, it was obvious that they did not know that they could play the board. Nevertheless, one of the players who had folded said, "I thought someone might have had the 9."

Royal Flush No. 2
In a $30-$60 hold'em game, there were only two players in the pot preflop. One player held the Q J, while the other player had the 10 9. The flop came K 10 10. The turn brought the 10, and the river the A. So, the holder of the Q J had a royal flush, and the offsuit 10-9 had quad tens. At this point, the betting began in earnest. As in most cardrooms, Bay 101 has no cap on the betting when only two players remain. After the ninth raise, the player with the royal flush looked at Agnew and asked him if he would read the board and tell him what the best hand was that could possibly be out with those boardcards. Agnew informed him that he could not, that he could only assist him in reading his hand after all of the betting was complete and there was a showdown. So, the player looked at the board again, and said, "Well, I better play it safe, and just call." Agnew told me that the player with the quads was quite prepared to go several more bets. Agnew added that the fellow with the royal flush was on the list to play $60-$120 hold'em, as well as the two spread-limit games, $10-to-$200 and $20-to-$200 hold'em. And you thought fish - er, unknowledgeable players - like that existed only in the lowest limits.

Royal Flush No. 3
A $4-$8 limit Omaha eight-or-better game had only two players in a particular pot. Agnew dealt a royal flush to the player in the No. 2 seat, and the nut low to the player in the No. 5 seat. Bay 101 uses Shuffle Master shuffling machines, and dealers change decks every hand. On the very next hand, using the other deck, he dealt another royal flush, this time to the No. 5 seat, and the nut low to the player in the No. 2 seat. So, the two players just basically traded. What was particularly unusual, of course, was dealing consecutive royal flushes from separate decks, involving the same two players, and in each case, the opponent was holding the nut low.

Dealer Agnew
In addition to being widely known as one of the best dealers in Northern California, Agnew is an excellent poker player. He finished 82nd in the main event of the 2004 World Series of Poker, for a cash of $20,000, and has placed high in other major tournaments. He dealt the final table of the 2005 World Poker Tour Bay 101 Shooting Star tournament. His e-mail address is PokerHands, and his license plate reflects that moniker. (A few years back, California introduced symbols for vanity plates - among them, a handprint.)

Michael Wiesenberg's The Ultimate Casino Guide, published by Sourcebooks, is available at fine bookstores and at Amazon.com and other online book purveyors. Send encomia, exegeses, and exhortations to [email protected].