Tensions at the poker table appeared to boil over at Red Rock Casino on Thursday night. A video posted on Twitter/X showed a brief fight in which one man delivered a single blow to send an opponent to the ground.
The video begins with a man in a black shirt standing up from the table and yelling, “Do what you’ve got to do? You think I’m fucking afraid of you, dude!”
The second man with a cap on appears to move away from the scene as another player tries to separate the two. The man in black, who is much larger than his opponent, continues moving toward the player who has apparently been the source of his anger.
He then moves closer and says: “I’ll fucking slap the…”
At that moment, the player in the cap appears to have had enough and delivers a single punch, sending the player in the black T-shirt sprawling on the ground. The victor then exits the room.
“I’m scared? I’m scared? I’ve got this guy coming at me, what the fuck am I going to do?” he said on his way out.
A source at the casino told Card Player that the man who threw the punch was thrown out and banned from the property. There were no other details on any discipline meted out against the other man or what might have caused the fracas.
Watch the video of the fight below:
Poker night fight @snipethighlight pic.twitter.com/KB5VVe7cgC
— Snippet Highlights (@snipethighlight) May 11, 2025
Simmering attitudes, clashing personalities, and long hours at the table have led to quite a few fights over the last couple decades.
In the late 1990s, poker pro Sam Grizzle and Phil Hellmuth engaged in some fisticuffs of their own. The two had a long history of needling each other and that apparently morphed into a fistfight in the parking lot of Bionion’s Horseshoe.
The two often verbally sparred while playing and once again got into a dispute at the table, this time choosing to “take things outside.” Grizzle apparently landed a punch to the much-taller Hellmuth and the scuffle ended quickly, according to reports.
In 2023, Italian player Michele Nizzardelli was disqualified from an event at the European Poker Tour Prague stop after fighting a player he had just eliminated. Nizzardelli headbutted Ghattas Kortas after Kortas grabbed his hat after his bust out.
Two players also resorted to their fists rather than chips at California’s Hustler Casino in 2022. An insult to one player’s mother was the last straw and led to one player ultimately getting tased by a security guard.
In 2020, a fight broke out at the Aria that saw the dealer chasing a player. The dealer got in a couple of shots as the player ran away.
Supporters of the dealer set up a GoFundMe page for him. He was reportedly popular with players but lost his job after the altercation. Farah Galfond said the dealer had been berated and attacked with the player throwing beer on him.
A Massachusetts man received three years in prison in 2015 after “sucker punching” a fellow player at a poker event at a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall. The pugilist thought the other man had insulted his girlfriend.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock
