Hustler Casino Live Parts With Co-Owner Accused of Sexual Harassment

Hustler Casino Live on Wednesday parted ways with co-owner Nick Vertucci following allegations of sexual harassment, per a statement from the casino.

Poker enthusiast and frequent patron of Hustler Casino Live Julia McBride, known by the online handle “Julia from Palmdale,” posted screenshots of alleged harassment in text messages to X (formerly Twitter) last Saturday. 

Several card players came forward with similar stories in the following days, leading to the casino removing its affiliation with Vertucci.

Controversy

Hustler Casino Live is a popular YouTube channel that streams high-production poker games at Hustler Casino in Los Angeles, California. 

Despite Vertucci being a co-owner of the account, Hustler Casino claimed that he will not have any involvement moving forward.

“Effective immediately, Nick Vertucci will no longer be involved with High Stakes Poker Productions,” Hustler Casino Live co-owner Ryan Feldman posted on the company’s X account. “We look forward to continuing to deliver the best high stakes poker content to the community.”

Screenshots shared by “Julia from Palmdale” from September 21, 2023, show an anonymous phone number, supposedly belonging to Vertucci, making remarks about intimate areas of her body. 

She also accused him of blocking her from appearing on a show because she didn’t show romantic interest in him.

Other notable figures in the poker community, including Kitty Ku, Ash Kardash, and Arden Cho came forward with corroborating stories and sentiments regarding Vertucci’s behavior.

What’s next?

Veronica Brill, a presenter on Million Dollar Cash by Hustler Casino Live and co-host of a podcast with Vertucci, said during an interview with PokerOrg on Wednesday that Vertucci had acted suspiciously in the days leading up to “Julia”s” posts.

“Julia’s tweets came out and I was at Nick’s place, and I remember him being pretty stressed out all weekend,” she said. “I remember, in the back of my mind, thinking, ‘Why is this guy so stressed out? Why is he acting like such a nervous wreck? If it’s just some disgruntled employee, I’m sure the casino will help him deal with it.’ 

In hindsight, anytime I would question him, he just told me what I wanted to hear, but Julia’s tweets surfaced, and I was, like, ‘Oh, these texts are pretty bad.’”

Despite hustler claiming to have severed ties with Vertucci, it likely cannot completely remove him since he is a co-owner of the brand. That means that he is likely still entitled to future revenue generated by Hustler Casino Live.

That said, a report from Poker Fraud Alert claimed the Vertucci agreed to sell his stake.

Vertucci has not responded to the allegations. His X account was also disabled earlier this week.