Poker villain Nik Airball started a feud that almost got physical, resulting in aggressive hands worth $420,400

• Nik Airball and poker coach Matt Berkey are creating one of the biggest dramas in the sport.
• The pair have a hostile rivalry and are competing in an ongoing one vs. one poker battle.
• Pots are growing to hundreds of thousands of dollars as they battle to bury their beef.

Nik Airball, one of poker's biggest villains, has an ongoing feud with poker coach and high-stakes cash game player Matt Berkey that is dominating the conversation in the industry.

Airball is the self-proclaimed "King of LA" and has built a controversial reputation because he calls opponents "bitch" and routinely threatens to bankrupt them.

Though he recently lost $929,250 in back-to-back sessions to Wesley Fei, Stanley Choi, and Ethan Yau, Airball seemingly has Berkey in his crosshairs right now.

The pair have bickered on social media and almost came to blows in public at the lush Las Vegas resort Bellagio. They are also attempting to settle their beef in a heads-up (one vs. one) game they're playing three times a week for hundreds of thousands of dollars each time.

How did this feud turn sour so fast?

For Airball, Berkey is a "fraud" who "can't win in poker" despite coaching others how to succeed in the game. He provided no evidence for his claim.

—Nik Airball (@nikairball) March 27, 2023

In a Twitter thread, Berkey referred to Airball as a loud-mouth bully who has scammed people when playing low-stakes Texas No Limit Holdem in recent years. Like Airball, he provided no evidence for his claim.

The players then openly discussed a long-running match of approximately 100 non-consecutive hours to determine who had the greater skills at the table.

Terms for the match included games three times a week from Saturday to Monday that would last 6.5 hours per session with a $100,000 minimum buy-in per session and $200/$400 hands.

The match, frustratingly, would not be streamed live.

Watch the rivals square off last week at Bellagio:

—Markus Gonsalves (@Darrrkus) March 31, 2023

Who has the upper hand so far?

One play that swung in Airball's favor in the opening session Saturday featured strong hands from both players, Berkey relayed during a "Solve For Why" podcast on YouTube.

Airball, according to Berkey, started with a suited connector (playable hands for their straight and flush potential) in the seven of spades and the five of spades.

Berkey, meanwhile, had the ten of spades and nine of clubs.

When the flop (first three community cards) came queen of spades, ten of hearts, and nine of spades, both players had something strong.

For Berkey, he had bottom two pairs with the potential for a full house. Airball, one card from a flush, was also keen to get more money into the pot, so both players made their bets.

With the turn card (fourth community card) an inconsequential two of diamonds, Berkey said in a hand breakdown on the "Solve For Why" podcast that a bet from him here should have made a flush draw fold.

And so when the six of spades came on the river (fifth community card), he ultimately paid Airball off to see whether he had bluffed, over-bluffed, or simply had the winning hand.

That decision cost him the $420,400 pot, and for Berkey, "it kind of punished me in the early stages of the match," he said on the podcast.

However, it didn't last as, with three sessions of poker played so far, it appears Berkey has around $33,500 in profits, according to vlogger, high-stakes player, and card room owner Doug Polk.

The breakdown of this saw Airball lose $133,5o0 on day one, break even on day two, and win around $100,000 on the third day, Polk said on his YouTube channel.

It's expected that the rivals will reconvene for further sessions this weekend.