ShareDaniel Negreanu has blasted Garrett Adelstein on Twitter for causing the Hustler Casino Live cheating scandal by his reaction after the infamous J4 hand. The Canadian was embroiled in an argumentative thread with Alex Jacobs and Ryan Depaulo, the former claiming Robbi Jade Lew’s innocence and Depaulo firmly in the guilty camp, and opined that the whole scandal was unnecessary.
Was All the Fuss Unnecessary?
It’s nearly been a month since Robbi Jade Lew was targeted over her suspicious play on the Hustler Casino Live stream. Opinions are still divided but the steady flow of information has had many chopping and changing their minds on an almost daily basis.Garrett Adelstein has done his best to stay out of the discussions, choosing only to make a detailed statement on 2+2 and then staying in the background.
Daniel Negreanu often shares his strong opinions publicly but isn’t known for making personal criticisms unless he feels what he has to say is the truth.
“The root cause of ALL of this is Garret. He handled this terribly. If he just got up and went to production or just STFU then none of this would have happened. Imagine she is innocent- look at what he has caused if so.”
“If you make millions in a game and you think you may have been cheated, you tap the table and say nice hand. What he did is fucking terrible.”
Negreanu is almost certainly correct in that this would never have blown up into such a scandal if Garrett Adelstein had just left the table quietly and privately explained his suspicions to the production team, but obviously emotions were running high on the night.
He added that he would never have asked the question to begin with.
“I would never have asked the question. Asking the question itself is doing either this: 1) Calling someone a fish when you are the top pro in the game 2) Saying you think she cheated If I suspected something I’d quietly go to production.”
It’s a tough ask for people to criticise Garrett Adelstein for his behaviour given his spotless record and reputation as a gentleman at the table. There are few characters in the game thought of as highly. One poster reminded Negreanu of this.
“No offense either Daniel, because I respect your opinion and what you’ve done for poker, but I don’t think you’re one to chime in on other player’s etiquette. Garrett had an immaculate track record of proper etiquette. Hard to crucify him here for an alleged mistake.”
There was also an exchange over the morality of Lew not immediately admitting that she misread her hand to relieve the tension. Alex Jacob reckons this was because she didn’t even realise that there was an accusation of cheating in the air.
Negreanu continued: “Did you not hear Ivey’s take Ryan? She is at a poker table. Lying about misreading your hand isn’t immoral. It’s poker bro. What IS immoral and inexcusable is accusing someone of cheating without evidence. It’s the nut low thing you can do morally.”
There was also a contrary take on Lew handing the money back which does make sense. Anyone cunning enough to join a sophisticated scam in full view of the cameras and two of the best poker players in history would understand that giving the money back makes them look guilty and they wouldn’t likely do it.
“Giving the money back makes it less likely she cheated. A cheater won’t do that. It only raises suspicion and they don’t want to be caught. A wealthy innocent person is more likely to give it to him to stop the crying.”
Robbi Jade Lew Passes Lie Detector Test
In an attempt to clear her name, Robbi Lew underwent a polygraph lie detector test and passed with flying colours, posting the results on Twitter.She also submitted her mobile phone records to the LA Times to prove that she had no historical contact with Bryan Sagbigsal, the Hustler Casino Live employee who was caught stealing $15,000 in chips on the night in question.
The tester asked a series of questions with the following three, that answered “no” to, seen as the most important.
- Were you using any cheating devices while engaged in the Hustler Casino Live poker games?
- Did you cheat in any way during the Hustler Casino Live poker games?
- Did you conspire with anyone during the Hustler Casino live poker games to cheat?
Former GGPoker and ACR Team Pro Vanessa Kade thinks this is all Lew can do to silence the doubters.
“Not sure what more she could do at this point to clear her name. Tuned into a couple of @Joeingram1’s pods and to me she comes across as someone willing to openly do/answer anything to clear herself. Unless new evidence arises that isn’t speculation, she should be vindicated.“
Not everybody was convinced though. Todd Witteles questioned why Lew didn’t take up Eric Persson’s offer of what he called a “more trustworthy” test and drove 300 miles from her home for this specific one.
“Why did @RobbiJadeLew do her own lie detector test 300 miles away in Vegas instead of where she lives? Why did her own PR firm arrange it and submit the questions, instead of doing Eric Persson's more trustworthy version which she previously agreed to?”
“We have no proof that she didn't do previous lie detector tests which she could have failed. There were only 3 questions, submitted by her PR firm, which she could have rehearsed and practiced answering. This is not the way reliable polygraph testing works.”
Nick Vertucci and Matt Berkey
In the middle of all the investigations, Matt Berkey and Hustler Casino Live operator Nick Vertucci have come to virtual blows on Twitter. Berkey has been outspoken about Hustler Casino Live needing to shut down while the integrity of the operation is confirmed as good.Check out the video below where Berkey and Vertucci clear the air.
If this story is going on a bit long for some readers, Doyle Brunson explained how things were different back in his day and issues like this were sorted out very differently.
As for what Robbi Lew has been up to while the shouting finally dies down, she was the last woman standing in the $10,400 No Limit Hold'em - WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic, finishing 49/569 for a nice $22,400 score.
In case you missed anything from this story over the last week, check out our coverage so far in the links below:
Garrett Adelstein Storms Off Hustler Casino Live Amid Suspicious Play
Doug Polk Says it’s 90% Likely Robbi Lew Cheated on Hustler Casino Live
Poker Community Still Divided Over Hustler Casino Live Cheating Allegations
Hustler Casino Live Cheating Scandal Takes Bizarre Twist as Employee Steals $15k from Robbie Lew
Hustler Casino Live Cheating Scandal Update
Garrett Adelstein Posts Damning Statement on Hustler Cheating Scandal
Bryan Sagbigsal Responds to Hustler Casino Live Scandal
The Biggest Winners and Losers on Hustler Casino Live
