Luxury Yacht Owned By Poker Player Turns Into Fireball In Spain

TWELVE passengers and five crew scrambled to abandon ship as flames engulfed a yacht anchored off a Balearic island on Saturday, August 12.

The 90 foot Spanish designed super-yacht, named as the Irmao, was at Es Cavall d’en Borras beach in Formentera.

Only one of the crew members, a 39-year-old Spaniard, suffered minor burns and needed hospital treatment, the regional emergency response coordinators said.

Flames could be seen spreading throughout the yacht in just a matter of minutes, turning it into a fireball.

First reports are that the vessel belonged to professional poker player Diego Gomez Gonzalez, aka ‘The Lion’.

@noeli0410 Últimamente muchos percances en Formentera, el otro día se hundió uno y hoy se incendia otro… #barco #incendio #ibiza #formentera #verano #summer2023 #boat #fire ♬ sonido original – noeli0410

It was not immediately clear  if the people on board were tourists who had chartered the yacht or guests of the owner. Their nationalities have also not yet been made public, reported the Mallorca Daily Bulletin.

The alarm was sounded around 6pm on Saturday, with Spanish coastguards sent to the scene.

The yacht was towed further out to sea where the fire was put out.

Diego Gomez Gonzalez is a professional poker player born in Spain.

He earned his nickname by attending the final table of the 2012 European Poker Tour in Prague wearing a full-body lion costume.

He was born in 1988 in the capital of Spain, Madrid, and got to know poker playing with his closest circle, that is, family and classmates from school. With time he began to practice it online and with a little study and preparation he was able to join the Spanish poker circuit in which he would leave his mark.

He is of a reserved nature, so little is known about his private life.

He appears as a humble person, aware that he has earned his place through hard work, and he likes to share his opinions on current events in poker where, despite having quite critical views at times, he remains respectful and reasonable in most of his speeches.