On Wednesday, a trio of the game's most talkative and contentious players took to the felt for Hustler Casino Live's High Stakes Wednesday. Nick Palma and Martin Kabrhel made their returns to the set while Nik 'Airball' Arcot resumed his role as the self-proclaimed King of LA – and all three of them came ready to fight, both on the felt and with words.
With the stakes set at $100/$200 and regular straddles and side games in play, big pots came regularly, but it was the barbs that accompanied them which made the viewing all the more interesting.
'I dream about guys like you'
It didn't take long for the needles to start. Within the first few orbits, Phong 'Turbo' Nguyen and Kabrhel took issue with Palma – both unhappy about the Bronx native's missed straddle and overall tight play. Palma, never one to back down when challenged, rose to his own defense.
"Be careful what you're talking," Palma said to Nguyen.
"See, if I cared about that I would have answered that," Nguyen responded.
"Just watch what you're saying out of your mouth," Palma continued.
Later, after tabling a bluff in a relatively inconsequential hand, Palma took it up a notch. "If you guys are talking all this sh**, I'm going to f**king destroy you," Palma barked. "I told you, I would've walked here to play with you, Turbo. I wake up and I think about people like you. I dream about guys like you."
"If I knew you were here, I probably wouldn't want to play, to be honest," Nguyen said later.
'This is gonna suck'
Throughout the next five hours, the table talk continued. It escalated at times, but fell by the wayside during others. While Nguyen raked in pot after pot – he finished as the game's biggest winner with a profit of $434,900 – Palma was treading water for the most part, protecting his profits. As the game drew to a close, the pot of the night arrived.
It started with a raise to $2,000 from Pipi with 
. Palma called with 
, as did Arcot with 
, before Big Mike looked down at 
in the big blind and three-bet to $10,000. Pipi quickly matched the raise while Palma somewhat reluctantly threw in his calling chips. Arcot fled the scene entirely, leaving the three players to battle it out on the 
flop.
Big Mike fired a $20,000 continuation bet into the $33,500 pot. Pipi returned his cards to the dealer despite improving to second pair, but Palma couldn't fold just yet with top pair, top kicker. The 
turn connected with a few potential straight draws, but Big Mike wasn't worried with two queens in his hand and bet $50,000. With only $81,000 remaining, Palma opted to play for all of it.
"This is gonna suck, I'm all-in," Palma told the table after tanking for the better part of a minute.
Big Mike made the call and declared one time.
"F**k," Palma declared as he took to his feet.
The dealer rolled over the 
river to secure the $235,500 pot – the largest of Palma's career – for Big Mike. Unsurprisingly, the table wasn't kind to Palma as he made his exit.
"Grand opening, grand closing, baby," Nguyen said. "Martin, you made a lot of bad decisions today, but that's a great decision to play one more round. Good job by you. Was that your suggestion?"
Palma said nothing as he removed his microphone pack and exited the stage.
The King of LA says no more Palma
With Palma felted, the mood at the table turned triumphant as Nguyen, Arcot, and Kabrhel openly celebrated his exit. Arcot went so far as to make a ruling on Palma's future appearances, or lack thereof, on the show.
"I can guarantee one thing: he'll never play a big game here again," Arcot asserted. "As long as I'm in the game, he won't play again."
"Too f**king annoying and too f**king nitty," he concluded.
"The combination is horrible," Kabrhel agreed.
