Nikhil “Nik Airball” Arcot, who wasn’t even involved in the hand to the flop, lashed out at poker vlogger Mariano Grandoli for taking too long to call an all in bet with pocket kings during Friday’s Hustler Casino Live stream.
There were some mixed reactions to Airball’s critical comments in the YouTube chat. Some felt it was silly for Mariano to tank for over three minutes with the second nuts, while others argued that Airball was out of line.
How the Hand Went Down
The controversial hand began with Airball raising to $300 from an early position with K♠Q♦ before Mariano, in the cutoff, made it $1,000 with K♥K♣. Henry then went for a four-bet to $4,000 with A♦Q♠ in the small blind, forcing the original raiser to fold.
With action back on the pocket kings, a raise to $11,500 was in store. That didn’t scare away Henry, who moved all in for $62,100 total. In this spot, pocket kings will almost always call, usually a snap-call. But Mariano, who said he’d been running poorly all week, was concerned that he could be up against pocket aces. And given the six-bet jam he was facing, that was certainly a possibility, if not the most likely hand he was facing.
Still, the odds of Mariano folding kings weren’t great. But he went into the tank, nearly three minutes in length, before of course making the call, and then Airball went on tilt upon seeing the poker vlogger’s cards.
“What are you doing?” Nik Airball asked Mariano, critical of the lengthy tank with pocket kings.
“F*****g wait three minutes to call off with kings. What the f**k are we doing?,” the Hustler Casino Live regular continued.
Mariano responded to the tirade by informing Nik Airball that he “thought he had aces,” to which Airball responded, “it’s so out of line, you’re never folding, it’s a waste of time.”
“I’ve folded kings before,” Mariano responded.
“You’re never folding for sixty-thousand, get the f**k out,” Airball fired back.
The feud would continue with Mariano questioning why Nik Airball was still rambling on about the tank. Once the dust settled, the dealer dealt two boards as the players agreed to run it twice. On the first run-out, the cards came 2♥10♠3♠5♠9♠, giving Henry a flush and ensuring he’d win at least half the $124,000 pot.
The second board of J♥7♥7♦J♦4♦ was safe for the cowboys, so the players chopped the pot. Airball continued ripping on Mariano into the next couple of hands, referring to the tank as an “egregrious nit-roll.”
Airball would go on to win $25,000 for the session and has slowly been on the rise on Hustler Casino Live following a lenthy rough stretch on the show. Mariano lost $80,000 during the stream but would scoop a $125,000 pot off-stream the first hand after the cameras stopped rolling.