The King Returns: Nik Airball Wins Record $689K Pot in Dramatic HCL Comeback

You can ban the man, but you can’t ban the legend (at least not forever). Nikhil “Nik Airball” Arcot, the self-styled “King of LA,” returned to the Hustler Casino Live stage Friday night after a year of cooling his heels due to a casino-wide restriction. Love or hate him, when Airball walks back under those HCL lights, you know something will happen. He didn’t just dip his toes back in; he cannonballed, stepping out of the Gardena Casino with significantly heavier pockets.

The night promised action from the start. The game kicked off with $200/$400 blinds, and everyone needed at least $100K just to sit down! The lineup for a group known to make big plays, including Alan Keating, Peter Wang, and the man of the hour, Airball himself. As the session wore on, the stakes ballooned to $500/$1,000 with a $1,000 big blind ante, and the pots started getting serious.

Alan Keating was having a particularly tough session. Earlier, he’d tangled with Peter Wang, holding the formidable ace-king. But Wang held pocket jacks, and the cards didn’t fall Keating’s way, sending a hefty $476,000 pot Peter’s direction. It was a tough beat, but Ace-King hadn’t finished its business with Keating yet.

$476,000 POT!! 💰💰💰

It’s a flip — @Mister_Keating vs Peter — the rivalry continues

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— Hustler Casino Live (@HCLPokerShow) March 29, 2025

Later, deep into the session, came the hand that would define the night and become the year’s largest pot on HCL so far. With the stakes now at $500/$1,000, Airball looked down at under the gun and made it $3,000 to go. Peter Wang called from the cutoff holding , and Steve joined from the button with . Action folded to Keating in the big blind, who discovered – the very hand that had cost him dearly earlier. Keating wasn’t deterred; he bumped the price significantly, making it $25,000 to play.

The spotlight swung back to Airball. He considered his pocket nines and decided to apply pressure, four-betting to $65,000. This move successfully pushed Peter and Steve out of the hand. Now it was just Airball versus Keating.

“We’ve seen this story play out before,”David Tuchman observed from the commentary booth, alluding to Keating’s earlier disaster with Big Slick. Keating, showing no signs of slowing down, grabbed more chips and fired again – a five-bet to $165,000.

Airball went into the tank. With $346,000 total before the hand, he had a tough decision to make. He took his time, studying Keating across the table. Then, he made the call. The pot instantly swelled to a massive $337,500. Airball had about $175,800 left behind.

The flop came down – a rainbow board, seemingly disconnected. No ace, no king. It looked about as good as Airball could hope for. Before the chips had even settled, Keating declared “all in,” pushing his remaining stack forward. Airball could not have called faster, almost beating Keating’s chips into the pot. Just like that, the pot ballooned to an incredible $689,100 – the largest seen on Hustler Casino Live all year.

“I’m behind,” Airball mumbled, almost thinking aloud. “I’m behind, right?” he directed at Keating, who offered only a silent shake of his head. Tuchman’s voice cut through the tension, “Welcome back to the show, the king.”

Even with nearly $700k on the line, Airball had a moment of clarity, announcing to the table, “At least I can say this, I came back and played the biggest pot of the night with my buddy Alan Keating.”

To reduce the brutal variance of such a massive coin flip (Airball’s nines vs. Keating’s two overcards), they agreed to run the turn and river twice.

The first board ran out , giving Airball a full house. The second board came , missing Keating completely again. The entire $689,100 mountain of chips was pushed Airball’s way.

The game didn’t last much longer after that colossal pot. Keating’s night ended deep in the red, down approximately $600,000, largely thanks to two painful run-ins with Ace-King. Airball, meanwhile, fresh off acquiring a piece of The Lodge Card Club in Texas, strolled over to his post-game interview reporting a tidy profit of $286,000 for the session.

“The king is back,” Airball declared flatly to HCL owner Ryan Feldman. He was candid when asked how the return felt after a year away: “It feels good. My goal was to play a big pot with Alan and I was on the right side of it, so I’m really happy.”

My second reign will be even greater than the first. Long live The King of LA, we are so fucking back! https://t.co/FK1p0C23F8

— Nik Airball (@nikairball) March 29, 2025

When informed he’d just won the biggest pot of the year on the stream, a wide grin spread across his face. “The king is back, baby, the king is back!” He then elaborated on the big hand, explaining his thought process facing Keating’s five-bet: “When I saw him cutting out raising chips, I was no longer happy. But Alan is so capable… I thought through all my options preflop, almost folded, thought about jamming and in the end I thought I can’t live with myself if I fold nines here and it’s the best hand, so I decided to call and fade an ace or king or die. I faded an ace or king and got it in. 100% the king is back. Have some beers, winning a $700K pot, life is good.”

And just like that, Nik Airball’s first night back on Hustler Casino Live wasn’t just a return; it was a statement, sealed with a near $700,000 exclamation point that reset the high-water mark for HCL action this year

Here’s Nik Airball’s post-game thoughts.

Post-game thoughts from @nikairball after his big win tonight, including the biggest pot of the night, in his first game back on HCL in a year pic.twitter.com/HfphjUW3e0

— Hustler Casino Live (@HCLPokerShow) March 29, 2025

Content and Images Courtesy: Hustler Casino Live