"Rude" NBA Star Jimmy Butler "Not Welcome Back" on Hustler Casino Live
Hustler Casino Live co-owner Nick Vertucci, during Monday's livestream, said NBA star Jimmy Butler is "not welcome back" on his poker cash game show due to "rude" behavior the last and only time he appeared.
"Jimmy Buckets," a 14-year NBA veteran and future Hall of Famer, competed on Hustler Casino Live June 22 in what was one of the most memorable streams in televised poker history. Social media playboy Dan Bilzerian, Twitch streaming legend Ninja, boxer Ryan Garcia, and HCL fan favorite Alan Keating were among those in on the action.
Keating played one of the most absurd high-stakes poker hands ever shown on a livestream during that game when he lost seven consecutive river runouts against soccer megastar Neymar. But it appears the session might end up being more infamous for Butler's actions, depending on if the sports media picks up this story to pile on the basketball star.
What Did Jimmy Butler Do?
Butler booked a $122,000 win during his first and only Hustler Casino Live appearance despite raising preflop just 2% of the hands dealt. He showed that sometimes tight is right in no-limit hold'em, especially at an otherwise loose table full of action players. But Vertucci took offense to the Miami Heat small forward's behavior at Hustler Casino.
Vertucci is never one to stay silent when something's on his mind, and he isn't afraid to call someone out for what he perceives to be poor behavior, even if that individual is a world-class athlete. The co-founder of Hustler Casino Live went on a rant about Jimmy Buckets Monday, nearly two months after Butler appeared on his show, and NBA content creator Rob "WorldWideWob" Perez, who has competed on HCL, clipped a video.
Another player at the table asked Vertucci if Bilzerian is the "biggest a*****e you've ever met in your life."
"Not Bilzerian, Jimmy Butler," Vertucci responded. "I don't like him."
That was just the start of a brutal takedown of an NBA superstar from Vertucci. Kyle "RaverPoker" Ravreby, a video producer, player and commentator with HCL, jumped in to defend his boss and agreed that the hoops legend wasn't pleasant.
"He was rude to everybody," Vertucci continued saying about Butler.
Vertucci, pressed by other players in the game to further explain his disdain for Butler, then said "I don't want him back" on the show. He then went into detail.
"First of all, he got here and waited an hour and a half for Neymar to get here, and he was pissed and wouldn't play unless he was here," Vertucci said. "So, he was just sitting in the seat and not playing."
"We had to move his seat because he wanted to sit by Neymar, closer to people he know," he continued. "That's okay, too, a little prima donna stuff, famous people, we're good."
Vertucci then said Butler became upset and confused by players straddling and playing the stand-up game. He apparently just wanted to play a standard game of no-limit hold'em. But in that lineup full of wealthy recreational players, straddles and unconventional side games being played is pretty much a given.
Butler stood up from his seat to voice his displeasure, which caused Vertucci to come over from the side poker game he was in to attempt to calm down the athlete. But that didn't seem to work. Vertucci, in his own words, politely approached the basketball player to find out what he could do to fix the problem.
"So I come up and I say, hey Jimmy, listen, is there anything I can do for you?" Vertucci claims. "He goes, 'yeah, first thing you can do is get your f*****g hand off my arm. And I didn't move it, and I said 'hold on, we've met, you may have forgotten, no big deal, but I own part of the show, I just want to help you.'"
"He goes, 'if you want to help me, go get my money.'"
Vertucci is the co-owner of Hustler Casino Live, not a chip runner for Hustler Casino. So, he informed the competitor on his show "I don't do that," and then walked away.
Bruce Buffer, the UFC ring announcer who recently appeared on PokerNews' Life Outside Poker podcast, was in Monday's HCL game. He agreed with Vertucci and referred to Butler as "an a-hole."
"I don't care how many viewers he brings, I don't want him back," Vertucci went on to say. "He was rude to the dealers, he was rude to other players, he was rude to the staff."
Vertucci then claimed that a young basketball fan at Hustler Casino wanted to meet Butler, who obliged with the request but supposedly "did it begrudgingly" and was "rude" to the fan.
"He's not welcome back, clip that," Vertucci ended his rant.
All right, Nick, the quote has been clipped. Butler joins Garrett Adelstein among a list of players who are no longer welcome back on Hustler Casino Live.
PokerNews reached out to Ryan Feldman, the other HCL co-owner, for his take on Butler's appearance.
"My experience with Jimmy was very positive," Feldman said. "I thought he was super cool, he took pictures and signed autographs for everyone who I saw ask him, and we talked a lot after the game. We even chatted in the days after the show and he seemed to enjoy his experience. I know that Nick had a negative experience interacting with Jimmy, and I can’t change how Nick feels or what happened during their short interaction, but that’s unfortunate because my experience was positive."
You can watch the full June 22, 2024 Hustler Casino Live session with Jimmy Butler below.
