Adelaide card dealer who dealt incredibly rare royal flush jackpot cleared after investigation into a second incident at same venue

A card dealer who handed out an extremely rare hand during a game of poker was involved in a similar jackpot at the same venue last year.

Matchroom Poker in Adelaide’s CBD.

An Adelaide card dealer sacked after handing out an incredibly rare “royal flush” during a poker game has been cleared of any wrongdoing after dealing a similar jackpot hand last year.

Matchroom Poker stood down the female dealer following the incident last month in which she took a pack of cards into the bathroom during a break in the game.

The dealer delivered the lucky hand immediately after the brief interval.

Further questions were raised after it was revealed the female dealer had also handed out a similar royal flush jackpot worth more than $15,000 at the same CBD venue last year.

The card dealer has admitted taking the cards into the bathroom but told The Advertiser she didn’t tamper with the deck in either incident.

A royal flush is a set of the five highest cards (ace, king, queen, jack, and ten) in the same suit during a hand of poker.

The odds of one being dealt in a standard 5-card poker game are 1 in almost 650,000.

Matchroom Poker completed a full investigation into last year’s incident, including discussions with all parties involved, and said they were “unable to confirm any wrongdoing”.

In a Facebook post, the club said a video review of the earlier jackpot was not possible with footage only retained for one month.

“Additionally, no players at the table could confirm that the jackpot hand was dealt during the first hand back from break. The Tournament Director also confirmed that this was not the case,” the post said.

The odds of a royal flush are about 650,000 to 1.

“Given the lack of verifiable evidence, we are unable to confirm any wrongdoing and will now consider the first Royal Flush jackpot incident closed.”

However, it’s understood the winner of last year’s royal flush jackpot has since been banned from the venue.

Matchroom Poker permanently stood down the female dealer last week after what they described as a “serious breach” of their rules.

It’s understood a routine security review of last month’s $7,000 jackpot captured the dealer taking a pack of cards into the bathroom during a five-minute break at the Shannon Place venue.

The club said this “compromised the deck” ahead of the rare poker hand, which has only happened a handful of times during the club’s near-decade in operation.

It’s believed the card dealer has denied any wrongdoing, and Matchroom Poker is not accusing her of cheating.

It’s understood there is no connection between the dealer and the winner of last month’s lucky hand. Matchroom Poker declined to comment this week.

But the club said last week that they have since introduced new procedures to “ensure this never happens again”.

These measures include stricter controls on deck handling during breaks, enhanced surveillance reviews during all games, and regular staff training to “uphold the highest standards of game integrity”.

Originally published as Adelaide card dealer who dealt incredibly rare royal flush jackpot cleared after investigation into a second incident at same venue