Nik Airball Scoops $900K Pot Against Rick Salomon on High Stakes Poker

Jon Sofen Senior Editor U.S.

Apr 21, 2025 4 min read

Quick All In Pot
Poker Players Play for it All
Airball on a Roll
Past High Stakes Poker Season 14 Episode Recaps

The penultimate episode of High Stakes Poker Season 14 on Monday featured a barrage of all in pots played between Alan Keating and Rick Salomon. But the biggest hand of them all went to Nikhil "Nik Airball" Arcot for over $900,000.

Last week's show on PokerGO — Episode 12 — saw the second largest pot in High Stakes Poker history, with Salomon blasting off a $1 million pot with ace-rag to newcomer Sam Kiki, owner of the Monkey Tilt sportsbook. There would be no pot hitting the seven-figure mark on Episode 13, but the action at the table was intense from start to finish. Here's a look at the stack sizes when the cameras began rolling.

Player	Chip Stack
Sam Kiki	$1,046,500
Rick Salomon	$558,000
Peter Wang	$548,500
Allen Keating	$529,500
Nik Airball	$431,000
Just Gavri	$111,000

Quick All In Pot

One hand, one preflop all in and call. The first hand of Episode 13 was merely a precursor for what was to come. Keating raised the $2,000 straddle to $15,500 from the small blind with K♠Q♠.

Justin Gavri, previously the unluckiest player on the show, had far and away the smallest stack — $111,000 — and A♠Q♣ in the straddle. He wasn't too concerned with the raise coming from Keating, a loose-aggressive player. So, he moved all in and received a snap-call from an inferior hand.

Both players agreed to run the board twice for the $223,000 pot. The first board came out A♦2♠5♥6♥6♦. Round 1 went to Gavri. But the second board went Q♦K♦4♥Q♥4♠, giving the other half of the pot to Keating, who was quite active on the newest edition of High Stakes Poker.

Gavri ran into some misfortune later in the show with A♠9♠ on a board of Q♥3♠5♦2♠4♥. His straight was no good as Salomon had 7♠6♣ and got paid off with a $200,000 bet.

Poker Players Play for it All

Alan Keating High Stakes Poker — Alan Keating

Many of the hands on Episode 13 involved Keating playing for stacks. He'd first scoop a $360,000 pot with AxKx against Gavri's KxQx on two runouts. He'd then tangle with Salomon for much of the remainder of the show.

In the first battle, Keating raised to $5,000 from the button with A♦J♠. Salomon, who showed last week he loves ace-rag, three-bet from the small blind to $15,000 with A♣2♣. Keating then re-raised to $136,000, enough to exactly match the stack of Salomon, who called it off. They decided to run the board twice. Keating took the first board and would end up collecting three-fourths of the pot when the players chopped the second board.

Salomon then went all in for his remaining $68,500 with J♦6♦ and was ahead of Keating's 7♣5♠. This time, the smaller stack would earn a full double-up to $145,500. The same two players would get it all in later for a $188,500 pot with Keating holding K♥6♦ against K♣4♠. The first board went to Keating, who paired up his small card, and they'd again chop the second board.

Salomon, down under $50,000, would earn consecutive double-ups against Kiki, bringing his stack back over $200,000. He'd then flop top pair with 6♥5♥ on a board of 2♣2♦5♣. The pot had $47,000 in it and Kiki, with seven-high and no draw, bet $20,000. Keating called with A♠K♠ before Salomon moved all in for $188,000. Kiki folded, but Keating decided to gamble with ace-high. They'd again opt to run it out twice, and both went Salomon's way. He scooped a $442,000 pot, nearly 10 times his stack earlier in the show.

The run came to an abrupt halt, however, when he folded A♥A♦ to a $110,000 bet from Kiki, who had Q♦7♦ and was bluffing on a board of 7♠2♠J♠9♠.

Airball on a Roll

Nik Airball has been on a televised poker heater as of late. The polarizing high roller hasn't lost on Hustler Casino Live since his one-year ban from Hustler Casino ended March 28, and he'd continue in the positive direction during this week's High Stakes Poker.

The fourth largest pot of Season 14 started with a raise from Kiki to $15,000 with 9♠8♠. Aitball would three-bet to $45,000 with 10♥10♦ before Salomon four-bet to $245,000 from the small blind with A♥K♣. Kiki couldn't continue in the hand, but the high-stakes grinder with the pocket pair moved all in for $445,000.

Salomon called it off and called for running it twice. The first runout showed 7♠J♣10♠4♥7♦, a set plenty good for Airball. He'd hit another set on the second board, which came 10♣3♠2♠2♥6♥, allowing the Hustler Casino Live regular to take down the entirety of the $908,000 pot.