It’s been a big week for outspoken poker pro Nick Palma. Drafted by Daniel Negreanu for his $25K Fantasy team this summer, Palma captured his first WSOP bracelet on Sunday, then made his Hustler Casino Live debut just days later to showcase his cash game chops.
We were expecting fireworks — and got them, in one hand that let Palma display both his poker skills and his vocal range.
Palma played relatively snug for most of the session, but seized the moment with pocket aces in a key pot against Hustler regular Mariano.
Pocket aces spark a $60K pot and fireworks
In the hand, Henry raised to $600 from the lojack with 
. Palma made it $2,200 to go from the cutoff with 
before Kevin called with 
and Mariano made it $8,000 with 
from the big blind.
Henry got out of the way, and Palma took his time — double-checking his aces, eyeing his opponents, tanking, and finally five-betting to $17,200. The pot was $37,500 and Mariano had less than that left in his stack.
The 
flop was a “bad one for him” as David Tuchman noted on comms. Mariano check-called a bet of $5,300 from Palma.
The 
turn locked it up for Palma, who had been running hotter than the sun — making sets or quads four times during the Hustler session, with nines, kings (twice), and now aces. Both players checked to the 
river.
Mariano checked and Palma tanked and riffled chips for around a minute before moving all-in. Mariano snap-folded and said, “Can we just go a little faster?”
'You’re a clown': Heated exchange between Palma and Mariano
That’s when things got a little heated.
“We’re playing a f***ing $60K pot,” Palma shot back.
“I know but we’re not going to get any hands if they go super slow,” Mariano replied. “It’s all good.”
“You’re a joker?” Palma asked.
“I’m not joking,” replied Mariano.
“No, you’re a clown then because we’re playing a $60K pot. What are you talking about?”
“You don’t have to listen to me,” Mariano said, “I’m just asking.”
Nicky Palma won the pot but who was in the right in the war of words?The two players went back and forth before Palma took it to the table, who seemed to side with Mariano.
“This isn’t aging well for you, maybe let’s just play faster and it’s all good,” Mariano said.
“How about this, I’ll play poker with you every day and I’ll destroy you,” Palma said. “I’ll destroy him at poker any day. Especially heads-up, because then he has to play poker. Then I’ll just wipe the floor with him.”
“Well then all the more reason to go faster,” Mariano said. “If you’re going to destroy me let’s just speed that up. The faster we play the more money you make. If you’re so much better than me, why not play a bit faster?”
“Dude it was a big hand, relax, I’ll play 20 seconds faster in the next $60K pot I play, okay brother?” said Palma. “An average American salary… I’m a real nice guy but I’m a savage. He’s a clown. Oh no, Mariano’s going to be all like, ‘He can’t come in my fish pond no more’. F***ing jokes. Can you imagine, he sits here and prints money and then he’s going to complain about 50 seconds. Unbelievable.”
Palma profits while Mariano takes a hit
So, who was in the right?
Hustler ran a poll on X where Mariano came out on top — just with 57% of the votes.
However, Palma didn’t leave it on the table. He recorded another video when he got home, having rewatched the hand. And then managed to unearth a clip of Mariano tanking with kings in 2024 before getting scolded by Nik Airball for taking so long to make his decision.
Either way, Mariano took Palma’s barrage with relative class — though he probably wished he’d kept quiet. Palma ended the night with an $18K profit and the lowest VPIP at the table (just 23%). Mariano, meanwhile, posted a 45% VPIP — the second-highest at the table — and finished with an $84K loss.
Palma and Airball are back in action today on Hustler Casino Live for Tilted Thursday, which starts at 4.30pm local time.
