ShareDoug Polk has posted a video detailing his conclusions after a day of mulling over what happened in the Hustler Casino Live a couple of days ago. Polk reviewed many of the key points of Robbi Lew’s play over her three sessions in the high-stakes game as well as important details from the notorious hand against Garret Adelstein.
He concluded that in his opinion, there is a 90% likelihood of cheating but made it clear that this is his own conclusion and he does not know what happened with 100% certainty.
Clarity
When a scandal of this magnitude breaks in the poker world there has always been a tendency for people to jump straight to one side or the other and defend that viewpoint to the hilt. Although all of the footage is out there for everyone to see, it is clear that at least a couple of points were missed.The key issue that could end this matter once and for all is if Robbi Lew genuinely misread her hand and thought she had a pair of threes as she previously indicated.
Opinion was divided on this key point, with the disbelievers concluding that Lew’s rechecking of her hand for around 15 seconds makes it impossible.
This is not conclusive, as proven by the way that elite chess players throughout history have their own examples of spending too long down the rabbit hole of deep thought and completely missing a basic, fundamental point. As an inexperienced poker player, Robbi Lew could well have done something similar.
Matt Glantz is one player who does believe Lew’s story.
“She thought she had J3. She feels men are always trying to run her over & she's dying make big calls. She was embarrassed she actually had J4 & told nonsensical fibs in an attempt to cover up an innocent mistake. If she had turned over J3, Garrett would have said 'nice hand'.”
But Polk clearly shows in his review that Lew is asked if she has pocket threes, to which she says no. She also says no when asked if she has a three in her hand.
Glantz accepts this but claims she was flustered and still answering the first question.
Could a Vibrating Device Have Been Used?
The chess world is having its own controversy right now with World Champion Magnus Carlsen pulling out of a recent super-tournament amid cheating allegations. Theories have abounded with a vibrating device thought of as the most likely explanation for any unethical play. All top chess players need is a message that a winning solution is present in the position and they will most likely find it. A vibration can deliver that message.This is now a popular theory for the allegations directed at Robbi Lew. We have to make clear that there is no evidence for such in the public domain but the discussion continues.
In the Mike Postle case, it was alleged that he received his opponent’s exact holecards via his phone. In the case of Lew, it has been suggested that a vibrating device could transmit when she is ahead and can make big calls or folds in big pots.
Polk reviews other hands over the three sessions that Lew played and concluded that there were some unusual tanking episodes that used a valuable time chip that were completely unnecessary, the insinuation being that it could have been possible waiting time for a signal. Again there is no hard evidence for this, it is purely a discussion about observations.
Robbi Lew’s Coach Faraz Jaka Responds
Robbi Lew’s coach, Faraz Jaka also responded with his thoughts on the controversy. He started with some background on their relationship.“We did 3 sessions on MTTs pre WSOP & 2 more last min before this stream Robbi’s only been playing for about a year. Like any new player, she has trouble repeating back HHs & mixes up terminology. Usually, u don’t see new players HHs but she jumped right into big streams”
And then weighed in on the card checking moment from the hand in question:
"She checked her cards before calling so couldn't have misread. Talking to Robbie she told me she was only checking 1 card to see if her J was a club. She said she was confident he was bluffing because he would not shove w/ a big hand since she doesn't call light. Because she had the Jc she said this makes it less likely a club could come IF he had a draw. She thought she had J3 & decided to hero call w/ a pair of 3's. Keep in mind she's still in the process of learning to use blockers and when and how they apply.”
And then there appears to be a matter of confusion given what we now know.
“Garret asks if she has a small pair & she says no. My initial interpretation of this was that she thought he meant a pocket pair. I felt this because I've heard this same semantics error from newer players. When talking to Robbi about it she also confirmed she thought pocket pair”
We know now that Lew responded twice in the negative when asked about having a pair of threes, both as a pocket pair and a bare three in her hand. Question is was she genuinely mistaken with the questioning while thinking about her decision?
Mainstream Media
The scandal has grown to such proportions, possibly given chess’s own current scandal, that it has been covered in the mainstream media.The British Daily Mail published an accusation that Lew was cornered away from the table and threatened by Garrett Adelstein, an allegation that Lew also posted on her Twitter.
“Garrett blocked me. Guilty as charged. What an honest man. He cornered me & threatened me. If he has the audacity to give me the death stare ON camera, picture what it’s like OFF camera. I was pulled out of the game & forced to speak to him in a dark hallway. Full details to come.”
This is the opposite of what we were told during the incident, when everybody heard that she offered Adelstein his money back after being told that this was going to go viral and millions would hear about the story.
Check back tomorrow for an update on any new information coming to light and more opinions from the big names in poker.
