ShareIn a bizarre twist to an already incredible story, the investigation into the Hustler Casino Live alleged cheating scandal involving Garret Adelstein and Robbie Jade Lew has discovered that an employee stole $15,000 of chips from Lew’s stack after the show.
High Stakes Poker production crew member, Bryan Sagbigsal, has reportedly “admitted stealing $15,000 in chips from Robbi’s stack” after the broadcast ended.
And in further shocking news, it appears he was employed despite having multiple previous criminal convictions.
The background
One week ago, Garrett Adelstein stormed off the Hustler Casino Live set after losing a monster $270k pot to poker newbie Robbie Jade Lew, convinced he had been cheated.The situation spiralled out of control as claims, counterclaims, allegations, and denials took centre stage on poker Twitter. The story went viral, with Doug Polk at the centre of those convinced Lew had cheated.
The story then grew wings and made it outside of the poker world, with claims of misogyny hitting the headlines, and eventually Hustler casino Live bosses, Nick Vertucci and Ryan Feldman, decided to launch an internal investigation to get to the bottom of the mystery.
Last night that investigation produced shocking results, with Doug Polk again putting himself at the centre of the drama with a cryptic tweet...
The Bombshell
That new information was explosive, HCL revealing: “During a review of video of the Sept. 29 hand between Robbi and Garrett, our investigators observed an employee of High Stakes Poker Productions removing chips from Robbi’s stack after the broadcast had concluded and while Robbi was away from the table.“Today, during our investigation, the employee, Bryan Sagbigsal, admitted taking $15,000 in chips from Robbi’s stack. We immediately terminated Mr. Sagbigsal’s employment and contacted Robbi and the Gardena Police Department to file a criminal report.
“Robbi told High Stakes Poker productions and the Gardena Police that she does not wish to pursue criminal charges against the employee. Without a victim, Gardena police told us they do not intend to pursue a criminal prosecution at this time. Our investigation team is ongoing.”
The Fallout
This bombshell had poker twitter in a frenzy yet again, some smacking their heads in disbelief that someone would steal so brazenly on such a high-profile televised show.Twenty-four-year-old Sagbigsal, however, appears to have previous for less than straight-up behaviour, having been jailed previously, with robbery, battery and a prison escape peppering his sheet.
This revelation about Sagbigsal’s apparent history of criminal behaviour is at odds with Lew’s own statement yesterday, in which she explained her decision not to pursue charges against Sagbigsal.
Claiming she “could not recall having met the employee”, Lew - who follows Sagbigsal on Twitter after he tweeted in her support last week – “came to the conclusion that pressing charges was unnecessary to damage a young man’s life...”
When asked by PokerNews if she was aware of Sagbigsal's criminal past, she claimed "the detective said he did not" have prior convictions.
"I specifically asked that. They put me on hold and came back on the phone and said no priors," she explained.
As for the $15k in chips stolen from Lew, the Hustler Casino Live owners announced: “In good faith, we are offering to reimburse the stolen funds to Robbi. We are taking steps to prevent this from happening again.”
This is far from the end of an already remarkable and, for many, truly unbelievable story. We will bring you more on this breaking news as and when it becomes available, so stay tuned.
