Nikhil Arcot, better known as Nik Airball, is a US businessman and high-stakes poker player. He’s got deep pockets, a loose-aggressive style, and loves talking smack at the tables: the perfect recipe for the type of player fans love to watch at the nosebleeds.
Our experts have performed a deep dive on Nik Airball’s net worth, his poker style, and whether or not he’s any good. Here’s what we found.
Nik Airball’s Net Worth
The net worth of Nik Airball is estimated to be in the region of $10 million, but this has not been confirmed by the man himself.
What we do know is that he’s eaten some huge losses. He’s been stuck for $750,000 and $1 million in two separate, streamed poker games, and also spoken of an $8 million downswing. Previously, he’s claimed to have had “90% of [his] net worth on the table”. Whether you believe that last statement is up to you.
It’s unclear what his main source of income has been to enter these high-stakes games to begin with. Speaking on 888Ride, Airball claimed that he “made some money in poker, made some money working, made some money in investments. Kind of all over the place.”
His evasive answer only adds to the mystery of Nik Airball’s net worth, but even a conservative estimate makes him a multi-millionaire.
How Much Has Nick Airball Earned From Poker
Nik Airball’s poker winnings in tournaments aren’t exactly jaw-dropping, with combined cashes of $22,952. Of that, more than 90% came in a single event: 214th at the 2022 No Limit Hold’em WPT World Championship, which had a buy-in of $10,400.
But Airball’s not known for tournaments. He’s a high-stakes cash game reg, and really came to the forefront of the poker community after his appearances on the California-based Hustler Casino Live streams. Live cash game trackers place him up over $500,000 – but it’s worth remembering these only catch the hands on streams, not all the after-hours stuff.
You can see Airball win multiple six-figure pots in various streams. That includes a huge hand against Henri “buttonclickr” Puustinen, where Airball flopped a straight to Puustinen’s set of sevens and scooped an $870,000 pot.
How Much Has Nik Airball Lost Playing Poker?
The St. Patrick’s Day massacre was one of Nik Airball’s biggest losing sessions, taking a hit for over $750,000 live on stream.
Back in March 2023, Airball was making a name for himself as a regular on Hustler Casino Live. Coming from relative obscurity just a year earlier, he’d run up over $1 million in front of thousands of online viewers. The man who claimed he was “here to save TV poker” had become one of those guys you tuned in to see, whether it was for the crazy bluffs or the trash talk.
Don’t give up hope yet, I’m here to save tv poker. pic.twitter.com/tH1udPIPdC
— Nik Airball (@nikairball) January 11, 2024
But a couple of his opponents – Stanley Choi and Ethan ‘Rampage’ Yau – had been watching just as closely, and were ready to leave Airball deflated.
Rampage Calls With Ace-High
Yau ended the session up over half a million, and a huge chunk of that came from calling a triple-barrel bluff against Nik Airball.
With blinds of $100/$200, Airball opened for $800 with A♦️3♠️. Rampage made it $2,000 from the cutoff before Airball aggressively popped it up to $10,000.
The flop came Q♠️2♦️Q♥️. Airball led out for $6,000 and got snap-called. The turn was a third queen, and Airball bet just shy of pot. It only took Rampage a few seconds to call.
The river was the 8♦️, completing some unlikely and largely irrelevant flush draws, but changing little else. Airball overbet $110,000 into the $92,000 pot and got snap-called by Rampage’s better ace high, giving the young pro a healthy $310,000 pot.
$405,000 Pot Against Choi
At first, Airball had been getting a fair few bluffs through against Choi. But his experienced opponent from Hong Kong was simply waiting for his moment to counter, and did so in devastating fashion.
Choi opened to $1,200 from the button with A♣️J♦️. Airball, who had a stack of $483,000 and was already stuck for nearly half a million, 3-bet to $6,200 with 7♦️3♦️. When Choi called, Airball offered his opponent a fist bump with the words “good luck” – but he was the one who’d need it.
The flop came J♥️K♦️2♠️ and Airball led out for slightly under half pot. Choi, with second pair top kicker, made an easy call.
The 10♣️ turn gave Choi the check mark, but he wasn’t to know that, and when Airball overbet for $30,000 into a $25,000 pot, it was a huge decision. Perhaps it was the previous hands, or perhaps it was Airball’s nervous chatter, but Choi found the call.
The river came 2♦️, opening up full house and even quad opportunities, and Airball again overbet. This time, it was even more polarizing – $160,000 into $80,000 – as he announced “I think I know what you have” and stared his opponent down. Choi wasn’t a believer, and made a gutsy call to take down the $405,000 pot, leaving Airball in disbelief.
Other Major Losses
Nik Airball has had a well-publicized rivalry with fellow player Matt Berkey, and the two entered a heads-up contest at $200/$400 blinds at Resorts World in Las Vegas. While Vegas is known for its massive live games, online poker for real money in Nevada gives players another way to compete legally without needing to hit the Strip.
Airball activated a clause to end the match after losing a cool $1 million, and was gracious in defeat despite their tense history.
Speaking on The Nick Vertucci Show podcast, Airball himself told the host he once went on an $8 million downswing. Poker players have a tendency to exaggerate sums, so you’ll have to make up your own mind on that one.
Is Nik Airball Good at Poker?
It might be fashionable to hate on Nik Airball, but he’s definitely a skillful poker player.
You can catch Nik Airball playing at numerous top poker sites. He even had his own VIP table at CoinPoker’s inaugural Cash Game World Championship, which is a huge deal as the platform is a leading crypto poker site. But Nik Airball primarily plays live poker.
Over the last 10 sessions on Hustler Casino Live at the time of writing, Nik Airball has a VPIP (voluntarily put in pot) of 42%, which means he’s not far off playing half the pots – and this is at the highest stakes they offer. Around 20-30% VPIP is enough to label a player loose, suggesting he’s super aggressive.
It’s a small sample size, but accurately represents his style of play. He’s also capable of making insanely large bluffs, which most players just don’t have the stomach for.
Of course, they don’t always work out. Airball seemed dumbstruck when Choi called his river bluff for that famous $405,000 pot, but from a pure poker analysis perspective, he either had a full house-plus or nothing. It was only the cash value which made it such a tough call.
Regardless of whether his bluffs work, having this weapon in your arsenal is huge. He’s also able to handle tremendous losses and bounce back, which isn’t the case for all players.
Earnings Outside Poker
Nikhil Arcot’s net worth isn’t purely from poker, although he’s cagey about the precise origins.
If you check out the early streams of Airball, you’ll see he dipped his toe into the water at lower stakes then quickly moved up. Combined with his lack of tournament results and huge swings, we can assume his poker success isn’t his only source of income.
Speaking on the Table 1 Podcast, Airball claimed to have played cash games with almost everything he owns on the table.
“There were multiple times where I’d be playing at Hustler and I would have 90% of my net worth on the table or whatever, like sitting $500,000 deep and I had, you know, $50,000 in the bank account.
“If I bite dust I’m good, I can pay rent, we’re good. I’ll just go back to work and get my $5,000 salary every month.”
That claim of earning around $5,000 a month would put him on $60,000 a year – far below the salary you’d expect for his previous role as an investment banker at KAL Capital. It also doesn’t explain how the New York University Shanghai graduate lost $20,000 on a poker game while studying.
If his claim to Doug Polk about that game is true, where did the money come from, considering this would’ve been when he was still learning how to play poker and before he’d started working?
Some in the poker community believe he has received a large inheritance (a claim he has denied), while others think he amassed millions in his banking days. Whatever the truth is, Airball’s keeping his cards close to his chest.
Conclusion
With a high VPIP, non-stop chatter and a penchant for big bluffs, Nik Airball is pure gold at the tables. Some will see him as a fish, but having the conviction to triple-barrel bluff for his entire stack is a skill which sees him win many pots others would fold. His all-action style means he’ll always have massive swings, making him just as likely to make a million in a day as he is to lose it. This makes it even harder to nail down Nik Airball’s net worth – but even more entertaining for the fans.