Nik Airball Cracks Billionaire's Aces for $431k Pot on High Stakes Poker

Jon Sofen Senior Editor U.S.

Sep 03, 2024 4 min read

Humboldt Mike Humbly Takes Down Pot
Gavri Welcomes Airball to the Game
Robl Gets Owned Again By Amateur
Nik Airball Versus Pocket Aces
Past High Stakes Poker Season 13 Episode Recaps

Former Hustler Casino Live regular Nik Airball made his first appearance on Season 13 of High Stakes Poker Monday night, and he made sure his presence was quickly felt.

The polarizing poker player battled in a $431,000 pot against Stanley Tang's pocket aces, while Andrew Robl continued to get owned by Sameh Elamawy, a financial industry executive who has brought much of the action during the current season. The above players were joined in Episode 6 by Jennifer Tilly, Brandon Steven, Humboldt Mike, and Justin Gavri. Starting stacks when the cameras began rolling were as follows.

Player	Chip Stack
Brandon Steven	$227,000
Andrew Robl	$200,000
Sameh Elamawy	$200,000
Humboldt Mike	$200,000
Jennifer Tilly	$150,000
Nik Airball	$150,000
Justin Gavri	$150,000

*Tang joined the game late.

Humboldt Mike Humbly Takes Down Pot

Poker fans might recall the name Humboldt Mike from a recent appearance on PokerGO’s No Gamble, No Future. The poker player introduced himself to the poker world by memorably tilting Phil Hellmuth to the point where the “Poker Brat” tossed his mic on the table in anger and quit the game.

He introduced himself to the High Stakes Poker audience during Episode 6 right off the bat in a pot against a financial industry CEO we’ve covered at-length in recent HSP recaps.

The first hand of the session began with Elamawy, the founder of Scratch, raising to $3,000 with J♥9♣. Mike raised to $10,500 on the button with 10♠10♦, receiving a call only from the initial raiser.

The flop came out 9♦2♠6♣, and action checked to the button who bet $12,000 with an over pair. A call was made, and the 10♣ on the turn gave Mike a set to end any potential for Mike sucking out.

Action again went check, followed by a bet — $28,000 – and a call. The 8♠ brought four to a straight, but that didn’t deter Mike from jamming all in for $142,000. Elamawy couldn’t call with just second pair on that board, and the first hand went to the High Stakes Poker newbie.

Gavri Welcomes Airball to the Game

Nik Airball returned to High Stakes Poker for the first time in Season 13. And it didn’t take him long to get involved in a monster pot.

Tilly began with an early position raise to $3,000 with 8♥2♥ before Airball made it $9,000 with J♦9♦. Gavri, on the button with A♥K♣, went for a four-bet $26,000, enough to get everyone to fold except Airball.

The flop showed 9♠4♣7♦, giving Airball top pair. He checked, and then called a $14,000 continuation bet. But the K♠ on the turn gave Big Slick top pair, and Gavri would this time bet $48,000, and again earned a call.

Airball needed to hit a jack or nine on the river to suck out, but the final card was the uneventful 3♦. Gavri went for value, betting $78,000, but his opponent wisely made the fold, preventing complete disaster in the hand.

Robl Gets Owned Again By Amateur

Robl, one of the best high-stakes cash game players ever, has had a tough time dealing with the recreational player, Elamawy, all season. And it got even worse for the poker legend in one of the most interesting hands in recent High Stakes Poker memory.

Nik Airball started the action with a raise to $3,000 with K♠10♥. Robl opted to just call in the small blind with A♠K♥, as did Elamawy in the big blind with 7♠6♦. The flop ran out 8♣K♦5♥.

Action checked to Airball, and he went for a $5,000 bet with top pair. Robl then check-raised top pair with a better kicker to $15,000. But Elamawy, next to act with an open-ended straight draw, chose a large-sized raise to $55,000. The semi-bluff would, perhaps surprisingly, get through, as the CEO once again took the cash game crusher to school.

Airball and Elamawy would play a huge pot moments later, getting it all in preflop for $109,000 each. Both players agreed to run the board twice, Airball holding A♣K♣ and Elamawy sitting on J♥9♥. Each runout would go the way of Big Slick, and the former Hustler Casino Live regular took down a $233,000 pot.

Nik Airball Versus Pocket Aces

The hand of the day, as is almost always the case, took place at the end of Episode 6. And it was quite a doozy.

Action started with Airball raising to $3,000 with Q♣J♣, and then Steven made an interesting call with 6♥4♦. Tang, who co-founded the Door Dash food delivery app, bumped it up to $15,000 on the button with A♦A♣, only seeing a call from the initial raiser.

The flop came out K♣4♣3♣, giving Airball a flush and Tang the nut flush draw. Airball would check-call a $10,000 bet, and then see the J♥ on the turn. He again checked, and again called a bet, this time for $35,000.

Tang would not hit his nut flush on the 9♥ river. But he would, facing a third check, wager $78,000, seeking value from pocket aces. The only problem for the entrepreneur is Airball came back with an all in jam.

Tang had $153,000 total, so it was only $75,000 more to call, and there was $353,500 in the pot. He couldn’t pass up those odds and made the call only to find out pocket aces were crushed. Airball took down a $431,500 pot to close out the sixth episode of Season 13.