Inside The Heat

Hustler Casino Live Creator Says Jimmy Butler No Longer Welcome On Poker Show

Shandel Richardson

Apr 29, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) comments on the game from the bench during the first quarter of game four of the first round for the 2024 NBA playoffs, against the Boston Celtics, at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Laughlin-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 29, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) comments on the game from the bench during the first quarter of game four of the first round for the 2024 NBA playoffs, against the Boston Celtics, at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Laughlin-USA TODAY Sports / Michael Laughlin-USA TODAY Sports
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Apparently, Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler is no longer welcome on the poker show at Hustler Live Casino.

The show's creator, Nick Vertucci, said Butler was rude to the staff during his visit in late June.

"Jimmy Butler, I don't like him. He was rude to everybody, including our staff," Vertucci shared during an episode. "I don't want him back.

Vertucci said Butler was difficult to deal with. He made them wait until the arrival of close friend Neymar, the Brazilian soccer star.

"First of all, he got here and waited an hour and a half for Neymar to get here, and he wouldn't play until he got here, which is okay. We had to move his seat because he wanted to sit by Neymar. That's OK, too. Little Primadonna stuff. Then what happened was that they straddled, and he didn't understand what it was, and he got very upset."

Butler left the casino with $200,000 in winnings.

""He got into an argument with someone else and he was just being an asshole," Vertucci said. "Got up and said, '[expletive] this.' It gets better. He has met me and he knows I'm one of the owners, so I come up and do this [hand touch on arm] and say, 'Hey Jimmy, listen, is there anything I can do for you?' and he says, 'Yeah, the first thing is to get your hand off my [expletive] arm.'"

Vertucci made it clear he doesn't want Butler back.

"I don't care how many viewers he brings, I don't want him back," Vertucci said. "He was rude to the dealers, other players, and the staff. He has a whole entourage of people, and his guys are all there with phones [out]. He takes out $100 bills and starts giving them to people, but they're his guys, so they're going to give the money back to him, so he had it on video."

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Miami Heat On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here