SHOCKING ALLEGATIONS: Did Garrett Adelstein Get Airball FIRED?

[@DougPolkPoker]

Attention tournament players: Today is the last day to get a FREE bonus course ($400 value) when you sign up for Road To Victory: upswingpoker.com/road-to-victory/

[@gtorobot]

Why are you guys not talking about Alan Keating not playing in the game that he made for Hustler Million Game… should have him Garrett and Rick Solomon - kinda bull the dude did so much for the stream and they just ignore that…

[@immortalserito774]

Here's the deal on Garrett/Airball/J4. There was a Wednesday livestream a few months before J4. Nik got drunk, verbally abused 2 players, Tal and Lingling. The announcer dgaf? tried to play it off as Airball kidding his friends. Tal and Lingling were terribly upset. GMan was at the table; he was pissed off, and rightfully so. Airball was suspended from hcl a few days later, my guess is GMan went to Feldman/Vertucci. So the Robbie episode, my take is Nik met up with Robbie, RIP, others to target Garrett. They wanted to embarras him first and foremost. Robbie successfully targeted GMan for 2 nights, making tight lookups, etc. The whole thing went into the sht when the idiot Sabigsal pushed Robbie to call J4. At this point only a fool or liar would think she wasn't cheating. Now, here's the part that got me banned from hcl chat. Sabigsal had been running this operation for Vertucci. Others may have benefitted. The elephant in the room, but the only thing I'm unsure about, GMan knew there was cheating happening/possibly benefitted. He was so quick to call Robbie out and absolve hcl of any wrongdoing. It appeared Nik may have uncovered the op, and hijacked it by promising Sabigsal a bigger cut. Garrett threatened hcl's existence by calling out Robbie, that's why hcl threw Gman under the bus and made Airball their new star. The entire thing smells to high hell. Anyone who couldn't see right away 100%, not 40%, not 75%, that cheating occurred is a shill or a dupe.

[@kellydawson4965]

No, thanks, to many free videos of y’all playing. Good job though Dougie.

[@tanthony298]

Stop scamming Dougie you can't teach run good

[@turtledave77]

@DougPolkPoker I think a great troll move would be to make Shady's Back (Eminem) your outro for your videos.

[@2011blueman]

Nikhil Arcot, aka Nik Airball, worked very briefly at what I would call a very small startup firm called KAL Capital in Long Beach. His money absolutely didn't come from that startup or any other previous employer on his CV. His money is almost certainly family inherited money.

[@greglist2991]

Sounds about right. However his/family money is no longer theirs, he’s on like a 3M downswing in last month 🤷‍♂️

[@ayecarambapoker]

That's interesting as I've never heard such a small firm call themselves "Investment Banking/Bankers" I'm in that industry and most would just use the terms advisory or financing

[@jbssfl]

This is what I always thought as well.. are entry level investment bankers at smallish firms swimming in millions? Seems unlikely

[@ayecarambapoker]

@@jbssfl Pretty unlikely He's 28. Yes really he's 28! So VP level (Director maybe if he's an absolute superstar) if he's worked since college Not a bad wage & bonus but certainly very unlikely that he can retire and nonchalantly lose 7 figures in a matter of weeks and never need to work again

[@ML-cg9rh]

@@ayecarambapoker I work with investment bankers, no body in the industry that is making high 6figures/7figures calls themselves "investment bankers", its mainly a job moniker used by low/mid level associates/senior associates at bars to impress girls.

[@FastPitch357]

Anyone who didn’t immediately recognize airball as a trust fund kid is just naive to the reality of the gambling world

[@dewey-cox]

🙏

[@scott5770]

That’s right!!!!! I couldn’t put my finger on it but I was thinking Crypto luck

[@Trentberkeley86]

I could have swore he actually said he was one time on hcl. Something about getting 500k a month.

[@youngpolar]

His Fam owns 146 Gas Stations..

[@sylvesterstain]

Why can't he have a job and a trust fund?

[@thearizonadrone]

Love the closing statement Doug never change. Keep pumping out the great content

[@jman33163]

Exactly! Doug's content is entertaining and his hand breakdowns are done well. F the haters and keep it coming

[@finkle84]

Glad Doug's back and have always enjoyed his take on things happening in the poker world. It's, at least for me, the perfect mix of an objective analysis with the right amount of tongue in cheek pisstake which makes the videos highly entertaining. Keep up the good work mate!

[@Luka23567]

Should review more Airball hands from HCL, the night he went on a 750k downswing. Some massive pots massive bluffs that session, where he got picked off.

[@JohnSmith-cz3us]

Why was he so nasty to people after stacking them?

[@Max-uu2gs]

Rampage was on fire that night

[@bjornlangoren3002]

His pause when he said "people were reaching out to my office" reeks of fabulism. Surprising a poker player has such tells.

[@Birdbussa]

It could be true

[@bjornlangoren3002]

@@Birdbussa it could. But one or more things in that sentence seemed off, as if he hadn't quite made his mind up yet how to fill in the blanks.

[@hickorysmokedribs]

It’s kind of hard to have QTdd on a QQJ all red flop 😂

[@jonathangoldsmith7832]

How were people calling his job, when nobody knew where he worked? EDIT: And still doesn’t know where he worked. Someone tell me what three firms he actually worked at. He had to think long and hard about working at three firms, that he couldn’t name.

[@atlfan13579]

Called google

[@RaphaelCosteau]

Called Survivor tv studio (he played an ape)

[@jptheman721]

I honestly thought Airball ran a hotdog stand

[@xm6389]

No comment :) but man do I love chat ai 😊

[@avery465]

The internet exists

[@bamaboysmusic]

Very anxious to see where this Nik airball tumbling down the mountain of losses will stop and the results of such. Dude is setting money on🔥🔥🔥

[@hickorysmokedribs]

Why do you care so much 🤣, focus on your bread instead.

[@kingsmovieclassics9080]

My guess is it can't be long. From my count, he's lost about 4 million dollars in the last 30 days or so. That's a serious chunk of change and is not sustainable for somebody with say 50 million cash liquid. Who knows the side deals these people take as well. History has shown a lot of "losers" in the past, if his luck doesn't change massively, he will quickly be one of the many.

[@mattmichaels31]

His heater is done.

[@gipperbark]

he's up more on HCL then youve ever made in ur life tbh worry about urself king

[@bamaboysmusic]

You sure about that🤔

[@AustinHammy32]

Happy to see Doug swing back to all the bullshit criticism. It's one thing to lie, but when a story is true, you're allowed to cover it regardless of whose feelings it hurts. Fuck the censors, let it fly.

[@olivierrun8364]

Yes, but it's one thing to lie...Several times...

[@dewey-cox]

🙏 01:37 Dans lil wrists are soy cute omfg!

[@Tarasyoutube]

Gossip is far from truth.

[@rockybullshite927]

​@@Tarasyoutubeyeah, it's getting a little tabloid'ish

[@MeMe-in8tj]

Doug went over the line. Even he admits it, jeez .

[@DR.64A9]

I just finished a forensic accounting course for my undergrad. Airball checks almost every red flag. Inheritance is best-case.

[@dangendelman]

Would love to hear airball describe one thing an investment banker does

[@lordfarquard9902]

He’d say something along the lines of “read the graphs all day”

[@LukeBartell]

These videos just keep getting better. Hellmuth at the lodge with a min Buyin would be so good to see.

[@junito1008]

The only job that Airball had was to wash his father’s car on Saturday so He can get his allowance !! 😂

[@chaidez1402]

As long as it is truthful I will do it no matter the consenquences. Thanks so much Doug as your audience this is all I ask for.

[@daveythehand4964]

Likewise.

[@TehMarc919]

true story. keep it up Doug.

[@yovirg]

@8:55 could you imagine if DGAF had asked Nik, "What are the NAMES of those three investment banking firms?" The stumbling and the silence would have been cringe-worthy. "People reached out to my office." What office Nik? Nobody KNOWS where you work. LOL

[@jarrodfulton]

He’s so fake

[@seviren]

Lol. Mean Girls is such a part of my youth. It makes me so happy to see them in the memeing of the cool kids. You should make a whole damn movie about it. I feel like you could make a joke with, "HE DOESN'T EVEN GO HERE!"

[@greatscott3663]

Good for you Doug. I agree with you completely. Make the videos and don't worry about the rest. You can't worry about everyone's feelings.

[@rockybullshite927]

Do you think that a bank would fire an employee because they hung out with Robbie and rip and those two people happen to be being questioned by the poker(gambling) community? Outside of the poker community, nobody has even heard of the Jack 4 hand.

[@madamkirk]

Great video Doug!!! Gotta work on those one liners.

[@christhecop-dq7gj]

I personally don’t believe a word Airball says..just my opinion..

[@aaronbonannosydney3094]

I must say Doug, I've been pretty critical of you in these comments over the past few months. But this Doug Polk is perfect. Love the video

[@jasonwalker28]

It doesn't matter where his money came from he is giving it away so be happy to have him at the table.😊

[@mattymcsplatty5440]

love a maniac at the tables lol

[@deadprezful]

Exactly crazy they aren't just keeping the money flowing. He is a great action player.

[@bryanhurdle2992]

Amazing as always Doug!

[@toddfarkman2177]

If Nik is so rich, why is he wearing a Casio watch?

[@jamesbuchanan2001]

You keep being you Doug, you've been my favourite in the poker community for years!! First person I got into was Jason Somerville but since he's taken a back seat, I love your content, but for your personality, never taking life to seriously but also addressing factual stuff.

[@officeofpeaceinformation5094]

Nik Airball is an investment banker like I am the Crown Prince of Denmark

[@user-gu8mx6hs3y]

Doug Polk with the freaking glow up of 2023 🥵

[@LaI]

3:30- 3:33 Doug instantly changed his clothes 😆

[@DaHanG]

I feel like these videos are just a bunch of commercials. So many tiny segments and video cuts, just all over the place. It’s unwatchable for me. Can there be some kind of a basic headline to know what topic we are even on?

[@AmitSharma-qu7wq]

Regarding Airball's career: When I first saw that, my only thought was that this is the biggest mistake he's going to make in his life if he "chooses" poker over investment banking at a firm. My guess would be that he got fired and it's too tough to find a similar job now because of internet rep. I don't think it's backers or family money. His story is not crazy - seven figure incomes in investment banking are pretty common, as are the 80+ hour work weeks. You make some good investments (crypto, real estate, etc.) with your income and you can really spin it up. It's easy to get lucky in that world, and most people in their 20s think rushes last forever and behave irresponsibly. When you're working that hard, you look for ways to blow off steam. Poker is a good outlet for smart and successful people. It's tragic if the poker cost him his career. It's easy to see that he's still a young kid (27?). I made similar dumb decisions (on a smaller scale) in my 20s when I started earning a pretty good living. It's easy to be wasteful and assume you will excel in anything. But poker is a blood sport with a lot of smart people, especially at the higher levels. No Indian parent would ever subsidize a poker lifestyle, especially losses. Life can be a long lesson in humility.

[@tn15_]

Assuming he made lucrative investments outside of his job would be a plausible explanation for his wealth, but if that were true it would be weird for him to never claim it. An investment banker's salary alone for 7-8 years doesn't explain how he could lose $1MM+ and not flinch.

[@AmitSharma-qu7wq]

@@tn15_ I am also in an Indian family with a lot of very successful members. It's easy to take crazy risks with your money if you know you will never truly descend into poverty. I did a lot of dumb stuff in my 20s (dropped out of medical school, divorce, blowing through 6-figure bankrolls playing above my head w/ WCGRider, OMGClayAiken, Patrick Antonius, and even a big pot going to Phil Ivey). I had a 6-figure income outside of poker and I was reckless because I thought I would live and make money forever - mindset of a lot of people in their 20s. It's called learning humility and wisdom by making mistakes. What we are seeing is not a professional at the top of his game, it's a young kid that made a lot of money early in life that thinks that's standard and self-sustaining. He would do much better to open and grow businesses or follow other paths that truly are self-sustaining. But we are all gamblers here, we know that our thinking is riddled with flaws because of our nature.

[@jiivii3o]

​@@AmitSharma-qu7wqimagine losing so much money ur still name dropping 15 years later to get your moneys worth....

[@AmitSharma-qu7wq]

@@jiivii3o That’s funny, but the point I was trying to make is that I was playing way above my skill level, didn’t care about bankroll management, and acted rather recklessly in retrospect. It is very likely that Nik is making a lot of the same mistakes because he’s not worried about losing. You don’t know what you don’t know.

[@Dowhatusupposetodo]

@@jiivii3o such a bitter and irrelevant comment. The guy expressing what he went through in his 20s. At least he had a memorable journey. I bet he also had some great nights and runs that he will remember it forever. Im in my 20s now. Built my poker bankroll playing and running private game while covid hit. invested my winnings early in pump and dump stocks. At the end lost my portfolio and then went heavy on poker eventually destroyed my bankroll as well. Next month I’ll be 28. Survived the tough times and now building my business which is picking up. Everything he said I went through as well. Im not done with poker but I’ll be back with my running business and multiple source of income. Lessons learned is what matters at this point.

[@victorgr54]

I love your videos. Your humor gets me through my day.

[@MrDeerings]

Love your work Doug! Great editing

[@ercaelis2053]

Perfectly said Doug! We cannot replace reality, and humor based on reality for sensitive "feelings" of those with the inability to take responsibility for their actions. GTF-up, peeps, learn how to laugh at yourself as well as others

[@Masoch1st]

'you're not on the in group' cracks me up every time.

[@a88pockets]

The fact in my mind is, if Robbie and the Cowboy were cheating, it falls on Hustler Casino for not guaranteeing the safety of the games within their casino. It falls next to HCL for what appears to be lackluster game security, but mostly on the casino which holds the gaming license and allowed the stream to occur without proper security around the RFID solution and the element of production that could see cards live. It sounded like people were in and out of the room with the live cards on screen, but I cannot say for certain.

[@raywestcoast98]

Nick Vertucci and the other donks 100% was involved in the Robbi scam. They wanted Garrett out. The only way to do it is to cheat him out. But they must put Robbi, a new player to do it. But, there is a big problem to put a complete idiot to do the ditry job, because you can't reason what you are doing. You can't call w J high when putting your opponent to A high lol etc...

[@jambasket211]

“I worked at……three firms” Take your time to think over the BS you’re about to spew.

[@derekjp6043]

Native Texan and Austinite here to support!!

[@dustinburns4550]

Truff hurts !!!! ------ great to see you dropping more videos and content lately, keep up da hott 🔥🔥🔥

[@SpicyNuggs562]

Doug, I love your videos, but please give some kind of spoiler alert before revealing the results of stuff like High Stakes Duel. You spoiled both Deeb/Matasow and Negreanu/Persson out of nowhere. I was pretty bummed. 😕 By the way, yes, I'd like to see Hellmuth play at the Lodge. 😅

[@lukem636]

Great work! Keeping to who you are, but also acknowledging that anything unfairly represented is something you'll try to stay away from. Look forward to the future videos!

[@mayanaztec6440]

Yeah he’s a fraud who does shit for clicks, the. When confronted, he can’t back up his shit.

[@Oblivion2Abyss]

Doug, Do you have a permit for those guns? Looking good sir and Keep up the great work; content is amazing!!

[@lisalove7303]

The reason why airball doesn't take his time when making decisions is because he assumes he is getting bluffed and doesn't to get *shown up*

[@greglist2991]

I would argue 1. He’s not that good of a player. 2. Wherever I got his money, it was too easy and too much to care about the consequences.

[@danalexander2149]

If Garrett got Airball fired, you can now officially consider me an Adelstein fan.

[@backseatsamurai]

Thats disgusting of you to celebrate someobodys intentional detruction of another mans career. Especially becuz you dont even know the parties involved, and are basically just dog piling on Nik.

[@Colin-yv3kh]

​@@backseatsamuraiit's a joke, if you looked up you would have seen it go whoosh right over your head

[@EmperorNerox]

Its a toss up who's a bigger douchebag...hard to pick. Gotta pick addelheeb for his being a biatch over the Robbie thing

[@chrischester7465]

😂

[@lev269]

@@Colin-yv3kh there is very little to suggest that was a joke.

[@hardwaylearner]

10:00 Nik complaining about ppl being over the line is rich 🤣😂

[@jordohiz1493]

Bahahaha the picture of you with Dnegs had me in fucking stitches 🤭🤌

[@Oleleh]

Thank you for another video

[@Squeech77]

I don't really care about poker all that much, I do enjoy the attitude Doug has towards life and enjoy seeing that shine through in his videos. Truth, respect, fairness and self-reflection is all more important than how big your bankroll is.

[@charliedurham4248]

Nik Airball falling apart. Seems ok with me

[@danalexander2149]

🤷 LOL

[@theramguy7937]

Another great video!

[@CharlieCrack9980]

Dont ever change Doug... glad to see that outro!!!

[@ckysusanliu]

I did not even know that Airball links to Robbi, now make sense why he trash talk about Garrett!

[@charlestompkins8819]

“And let the Chips fall where they may!” Priceless!

[@ScottieQuick85]

We do need to see Phil on The Lodge stream. Also he must buy in $100k or deeper. None of that low ball shyt he normally does.

[@manifestyourlife7]

This is the Doug I love, we must protect this man. 😍😍😍😍

[@mero40k]

I followed the J4 very closely and my recall is very strong (have been told by other people) I dont recall Niks name being brought up at all. What the fuck is he even talking about? People calling his office....I call bs.

[@BSweetVideos]

To Airball's defense (I work in finance), I do think it's possible the J4 ruffled some feathers at work. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if he just got fired it's rare you get to "make a choice." Gotta be careful when working with securities. Just my thoughts.

[@satchelyork]

I think so too, he got canned.

[@Bynming]

People saying "my truth" annoy the fuck out of me, goddamnit Garrett.

[@mikefigures5075]

Airball looks up at the ceiling while relaying where he worked a few years ago. Shouldn’t be that hard to recall something so significant.

[@lylelong9530]

Dudes in tank tops cartooning on dudes in tank tops.....

[@sporer_]

8:50 the ultimate "cool story, bro" moment...

[@CoachBaileyCooper]

😂 Doug, you're part of the Texas cool kids club now 😎

[@ILmachiner]

This just in: Nik airball having a bad month!😂

[@bigslick75093]

What firm was he working at? If people were calling his office and making nasty comments about him, then it must be common knowledge about where he was working, right?

[@DaveDepilot-KFRG]

I worked on Wall Street for 19 years. No firm wants anybody associated with gambling to be involved with money in any capacity, it's a conflict of interest. So if he worked for a financial services company, especially in IB that deals with huge money deals, he was definitely let go. And now that his name is linked to high stakes poker, his career in financial services is effectively over.

[@tomf5823]

curious- how long ago did you work on Wall Street? Attitudes may have changed on this as gambling becomes more socially acceptable.

[@satchelyork]

I think so too, he isn't totally lying, he probably worked some bank, a good job but not something he got rich from, and then he got fired/forced to resign

[@jfriend349]

"It's Fucking Bullshit" Doug Polk 2023

[@bradleybaker3718]

Love to See Phil on lodge Stream

[@mr.onethirtyeight5088]

Doug Polk is quickly becoming my favorite person in poker ever.

[@SandSeven]

"Let the chips fall as they fucking may." Respect good sir!

[@tjtinaj83]

Best one yet. 😂😂. Your production team have up their game 😉

[@fmcdomer]

Airball called berkey a scammer and had to apologize Garett called airball a cheat in a cheating ring but Berkey calls Garett every week on the phone

[@westerngerry]

Good on ya Doug, keeping it real

[@andrewgray7079]

The content king! 👑

[@andrewneiding954]

As a know body poker player that plays a lot and a KZbin watcher, I have to say Doug has the best poker information/ scandal news channel. Keep at it Doug, F the haters

[@charlottedawn7334]

😂😂lol😂😂 OMGosh…the plaid matching outfits!!

[@jessielaird5171]

You can be in my inner circle Doug. There really isn't much going on, but you are more than welcome.

[@ronhunt2254]

Garrett did not say he thought Andy was a bad player.he said he was bored of keeping saying he was a good player

[@ronhunt2254]

And it made no sense that Nik gave up a great job because a poker player was rude

[@penpal222]

Dude how fucking cool would it be to see phil on the lodge live, I'd hope he doesnt only stay 3 hands. But he might be on the up swing cause he acted like an actual person last time he left last hustler live!

[@vedran17]

it's the shirts that make these vids..

[@brettgreen853]

Imploding the Rio and using the open space in that area to build a new stadium for the A's is what I am hearing from locals.

[@cronstrubzo]

this is bs, dog park doesnt know whats hes talking about. i'm 24 and i'm an investment banker and one of the finest. ever see the recruitment scene from boiler room with ben affleck? i do that for aliving. stay in your lane dog park

[@jeffthompson53]

"in the spirit of trying to join the inner circle..." LOLOLOLOL

[@dipdo7675]

I’m on Team Airball!! I wasn’t (and didn’t like The Ball) until…drum roll here…The Doug Polk Airball interview!! And I realized that Airball is good (great!!) for poker!! Dude has personality and Large cajones!!

[@OperationNonsense]

nick airball most likely got rich overnight from gambling on crypto during the hype period. there are too many people who are ashamed to say their money came from luck, and pretend they have the capability and ability to have earned their wealth.

[@Zadkinz]

Trust fund

[@2011blueman]

Neither of those are the most likely explanation. His money is inherited.

[@dans_pool]

Exactly. Its crypto or meme stocks in 2021.

[@Rerpesentz]

Doug has mastered the click bait titles, great job Doug!

[@HKLpodcast]

Hellmuth would be a great addition to The Lodge. You have to play with him the first game though.

[@esp86]

He’s playing in Houston because he owns a club there now.

[@stt5v2002]

There is already too much annoying drama.

[@matmodaboss]

My brother recently just got an investment banking job in Chicago right out of college so I can speak on this. Is is impossible that all of the money Airball uses is from banking jobs. Even with a salary of 200-300k there is no way you could save 1 mil+ liquid in 5-6 years.

[@christian9387]

"QT of diamonds" when the Qd is on the board 🤔

[@timplaystennis]

If he can afford to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars per session…why even have a “normal” job?

[@mcpartridgeboy]

I love the brrreeeaaaakkkkiiinnnggg news intro, i can tell you enjoy it too !

[@urassisdragon]

Technically all banks are investment banks…. So would say story checks out. I think it is likely he received heat at work not necessarily for Robbie lew story but just gambling in general may not sit well with a boss who is more conservative.

[@Ragnar42]

LOL. Nice to see Polk dunking on calling him a bully.

[@beachfraser3747]

loved the vlog, hilarious, regards from the uk,

[@gilgosseyn6602]

I mean, if you're Andy and you hear Garrett say that... is any amount of apologizing ever going to convince you that he didn't mean it? It's not like it was a heated, angry argument between Garrett & Andy at which point people say things they don't mean to get under someone's skin. He just randomly brought it up. He could've just said "I'm tired of saying that are great poker players" or something of that nature, he clearly thinks Andy is bad...

[@raintrunberg2195]

yeah, because he himself is the swettiest of them all, fu garrett

[@howard5992]

that *was* sort of the least random random thing for Garrett to say

[@allengiacchetti5567]

Yes to Phil at the lodge! Love to see Tara's felt him with some bs hand and him erupt....lol

[@ericschram5278]

Doug talks so slow that I play all his videos at 1.5x and it sounds normal

[@ThePokerLife]

Phil should 100% come to the Lodge and you should go visit Phil's new room in Houston. You know, to get in the inner circle 🙃

[@robrever]

Dude, how could you say Nick didn't get coolered non stop and then show 3 disgusting coolers that almost any player would go broke with?

[@trga2568]

Hey Doug I remember playing you on Full Tilt. One of the few I admitted had game. I am going to be back soon. Getting a business off the ground first.

[@VaughnGTO]

Investment bankers make all their money right before retirement and after retirement. Investment bankers in their 20’s make 100-200k tops 😂