The recent fistfight involving Adrian Peterson at the JokerStars poker club in Houston was the result of trash talk from the former NFL running back, according to his opponent in the fight.
Joe “Baby Joe” Castaneda told TMZ this week that Peterson insulted one of his friends, which led to the altercation. The professional poker player couldn’t recall the exact needle, but noted “that’s when the melee kind of broke out.”
Video of the incident shows the two men squaring off as another man attempts to intervene. The fracas spilled out across the room, leaving both bloody before they were eventually separated.
“My nose was leaking really bad,” Castaneda told TMZ. “It was definitely a lot of blood. It was kind of gory.”
Holding No Grudges
Neither man was arrested and Castaneda, 47, confirmed what Peterson said previously, the two were able to patch things up and move on. He said they have played poker together for a long time and hope to continue that.
“It was a fight – we got it out of our system,” said Castaneda, who didn’t plan on contacting police or filing a lawsuit. “And as soon as I get back from Vegas, we should be cool playing poker again.”
The 40-year-old former Minnesota Viking and Oklahoma Sooner echoed those sentiments to the outlet after the incident, who also said alcohol may have been involved.
“Me and the guy, we’re cool,” Peterson said. “We’ve known each other. It was literally like a brother situation. We agreed to disagree, we had our words, and we threw blows – and that was it. I felt really bad. It’s a situation where I kind of regret it.”
JokerStars also made news this week after staff uncovered a high-tech cheating operation that included a former employee and ambassador using an RFID-enabled deck of cards.
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