Nik Airball has become a regular in streamed online cash games over the last few years, but how he actually acquired his money to gamble with has drawn the interest of poker fans and players.
That issue made some headlines over the last week after Airball appeared on Table 1 Vegas podcast and detailed his previous work as an investment banker.
The 28-year-old claimed that the high-paying job helped him build a bankroll to play in games like Hustler Club Live and other high-stakes streamed games.
“There were multiple times where I’d be playing at Hustler and I’d have like 90 percent of my net worth on the table,” he said on the podcast. “Sitting $500K deep and I’d have like $50K in the bank account. If I dust this $500,000, I’m good, I can pay rent – we’re good. I’ll just go back to work. I’ll get my $5K salary paycheck each month, my wife gets her paycheck, we’re fine – no big deal.”
Rival Calls Out Airball
That line of logic, however, didn’t add up to everyone including poker pro and podcaster Matt Berkey, who was involved in a high-stakes matchup with Airball last year.
“Just listen to the absurdity of this nonsense,” he posted on Twitter. “To even make it through this 30 second clip without calling bull***, the audience is asked to have an IQ sub 50.”
Airball has said he also plays in private cash games and much of his bankroll has come from that, according to PokerNews. Berkey also took exception to Airball taking a couple digs at him after the matchup between the two saw Berkey win $1 million in only 58 hours at a casino last year in Las Vegas.
“The best part of the interview was in the same sentence Airball called me a losing player/fraudulent coach,” Berkey noted, “and said he spent over $100K to lose over a million to me in less than 50 hours of play.”
