In reality, it was never a battle. In way less time than the parameters of the match dictated, poker professional Matt Berkey was able to crush Nik ‘Airball’ Arcot in a heads-up cash game battle. The final verdict? Berkey walked away from the “fight” with more than a million dollars and Arcot left with more questions (and challengers) than answers.
Berkey Never Threatened in Match
From the start of the heads-up, $200/$400 ($400 BBA) cash game, Berkey was in command of his game and the action. The parameters of the tournament stated that the duo would play for 100 hours, with the leader at that point being declared the winner. There was also a caveat in the deal that, if a player got down by $1 million or more, they would have the option of stopping the match and taking the loss at that point.
Berkey’s play through the early action was immaculate as he raced out to roughly a $650,000 advantage. On Saturday, ‘Airball’ brought the last of his stack for the match to the felt – $350,000 – giving all indications that he was either going to cut into Berkey’s advantage or end the action that day. It was a foregone conclusion how the day was going to end up as, only a few hours into play, the entirety of that $350,000 ‘Airball’ stack was in Berkey’s pocket and Arcot waved the white flag to end the extremely one-sided “match.”
The statistics from the session were stunning in showing Berkey’s dominance. There were only nine sessions that were played between the twosome, with Berkey winning most of those confrontations. The final total won by Berkey was $1,029,700, and Berkey said that he was open to playing more against a player whom he had significant verbal altercations with.
Is A New Challenger on the Horizon?
Although there appears to be a willingness from Berkey and Arcot to potentially pick up the fight again – along with grudging respect between the players – there could be another person that wants to get in on the action.
As news of the Berkey victory wafted through the poker world on Saturday Garrett Adelstein, who has not been seen on a poker table since he was ushered off Hustler Casino Live following the Robbie Jade Lew debacle, piped up from the Peanut Gallery with a challenge for ‘Airball.’ This one might take a little bigger bite out of the Arcot bankroll, however, if Adelstein’s Tweet is to be believed.
Whether that match comes off or not is the problem. Adelstein has been persona non grata in poker because of his continued contention – without any evidence and after extensive investigation – that Lew somehow cheated him in the famous J-4 hand. Arcot may use this to his advantage in avoiding the match, because ‘Airball’ has been shooting blanks and losing well over a million dollars to Berkey and in his visits to the Hustler Casino Live high-stakes cash games.
There is also a little issue with the World Series of Poker on the horizon. Berkey might want to take part in some of the action there, while Arcot and Adelstein do not appear to have any interest in the tournament action. Whether there will be another matchup – be it Berkey or Adelstein versus ‘Airball’ – might have to wait until after the WSOP.