ShareGarrett Adelstein has announced his return to high-stakes poker, tweeting to his fans and followers how he misses the game and competition.
It has been more than one year since the infamous J4 hand against Robbi Jade Lew took place and, although it feels like that story isn’t finished yet, Adelstein just can’t do without poker in his life.
“After not watching or playing a hand for over a year, recently my mindset has shifted: I miss the competition. I miss the strategy. I miss taking souls. I miss gambling—telling the dealer “1 time” vs my nitty pro opponents. I miss poker. And I’m ready to battle. DMs are open.”
The question is: where can he go and play? Nick Vertucci made it clear that bridge has been burned. Adelstein’s steadfast refusal to believe there wasn’t something shady going on means that he is unlikely to ever appear on Hustler Casino Live ever again.
So where does that leave? Pretty much only The Lodge Poker Club and Bally Live Poker. Nothing wrong with that, though.
Doug Polk along with co-owner Brad Owen and Andrew Neeme have done a great job with their project in Texas, building a profile that is among the best around. Bally Live Poker is the only other option that regularly spreads stakes high enough.
And then there’s the trust issue to sort out. Speaking to the World Poker Tour, Adelstein said:
“Without question, part of the reason I have avoided streaming poker stems from a serious concern about game integrity.
What I’m hoping for most, and something several streams like Bally’s and The Lodge have incorporated, is a nearly trustless system where the real-time hole cards are not seen by anyone, including ownership.
“When a streaming company has a multitude of low-paid employees with this access — especially if they are, say, lifelong criminals — it’s only a matter of time before we see the next Robbi or Postle scandal.”
He added that he’s going to be extremely rusty when he returns to the felt but that doesn’t seem to worry him at all.
He feels it won’t take him long to get back into the form that makes him one of the most feared cash game players in the world. Let’s face it, most of the Hustler Casino Live regs were happy to see the back of him. No doubt their bottom lines look a lot healthier for his absence.
Something to take into account is Adelstein’s motivation. His first daughter was born in April of this year and a cursory look at his Twitter account shows you a man who is living a new lease of life.
There can’t be any greater motivation for a man to wake up in the morning to work hard to provide for his family.
If there isn’t already, there should be plenty of regs in the high-stakes cash scene feeling a bit worried now that their games aren’t going to be as soft as they have been recently.
One exciting possibility for the coming months is a heads-up grudge match against Nik Airball. The pair clashed multiple times on Hustler Casino Live and it’s probably fair to say they don’t like each other too much.
But Airball did say he was looking to challenge Garrett Adelstein in a heads-up match so the action is on him.
Adelstein has already posted a tweet saying he is more than ready to play high-stakes with his own bankroll.
“I would like to officially accept @nikairball challenge to play me $500/$1000+ heads up now that things have settled down a bit at home with my newborn. As he loves to say, enough talking, let’s just settle this on the felt. I will have every cent of my own action as requested.“
Of course, not everybody is keen to see Garrett Adelstein back in action. One angry poster called for an industry-wide ban from major events including live-stream shows.
“Garrett Adelstein should be banned from playing all major poker events (WPT, WSOP, TRITON, HUSTLER LIVE, BALLY LIVE, etc.), till at least 2025. He shouldn’t be allowed to just waltz back in and play like he’s done nothing wrong. “
