Updated on 23 Feb 26 by
Barry carter
Poker Expert

Berkey vs Airball is on

A 100 hour grudge match starts this week with at least $1 million potentially on the line between Nik Airball and Matt Berkey.





Following a week of bad-natured feuding online, the inevitable heads-up match between Matt Berkey and Nik Airball is on. 

The match, which was goaded on by Doug Polk, will last 100 hours at $200/$400 stakes and it seems will be a seven-figure affair. It doesn't look like it will be streamed online. 

Phil Galfond was the arbitar: 

Galfond's amiable ways did not rub off on the participants who quickly got back to trashing each other as soon as the match was confirmed:

Berkey, who was somewhat dragged into this match against his will when Polk and Airball started calling him out, took a moment to vent before his social media hiatus:

And of course Polk could not resist the urge to needle Berkey on his way off social media:

Polk takes on all comers

The ringleader in all of this, Doug Polk, also threw down the gauntlet. He made an open offer to play anyone in the world heads-up for $100,000 at his Lodge Poker Club. Despite a reputation for being one of the best heads-up players in the world, it seems he had no shortage of opponents agreeing to play him. 

The first one being Bill Perkins, who played against Polk over the weekend and beat him for $29,800. 

It looks like we are in another golden age of heads-up grudge matches. It seems inevitable that if Berkey takes Airball for a reasonable sum, there will be demand and certainly needling to get him to play Polk heads-up afterward. 

Who will win the match? Let us know in the comments:


Barry carter
Poker Expert

Barry Carter is the editor of PokerStrategy.com and the co-author of The Mental Game of Poker 1 & 2, Poker Satellite Strategy, PKO Poker Strategy, Endgame Poker Strategy, GTO Poker Simplified, Mystery Bounty Poker Strategy and Beyond GTO. In 2025, he won the Global Poker Awards for Best Book and Twitter Personality of the Year.