Poker Player Caught Red Handed

Today, there are more live streams of cash games and poker tournaments than we have ever seen before. In addition to the World Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker, which are aired on cable television, nearly every big tournament series webcasts final tables with hole cards and commentary.

Fans even complained about cheating during one of these live-streamed games. According to the Daily Mail, Robbi Jade Lew, a very inexperienced player, was publicly accused of cheating on a hand to win the $269,000 pot during a live-streamed game at the Hustler Casino in LA on September 29, 2022. 

When And How Did The Cheating Occur?

Poker fans believe Lew used a vibrating ring to win a high-stakes table match. Her opponent, Garrett Adelstein, also accused her of cheating with the help of a hidden device that vibrates to indicate that the player has the best hand. For this scheme to work, Lew would have needed a partner who would monitor the game’s live broadcast to see the hole cards of other players that aren’t visible to others at the table. 

Fans noticed something weird after Lew put forward her winning cards. Adelstein stared at Lew silently for about a minute as the hole cards were revealed. The look was disturbing, and fans noticed that Lew became uncomfortable. 

She started playing with the rings on her right hand, including a unique red and round ring on her middle finger. She put her hand below the table for a few seconds, and when she brought it back up, the large setting of the ring could no longer be seen. This shows that she was trying to hide something. 

Lew had offsuit Jack-Four in hole, and Adelstein had 7 and 8 of clubs. The flop revealed 10 of hearts, 10 of clubs, 9 of clubs, which meant that Adelstein required any six, jack, or club for a win. At this point, Lew called Adelstein’s bet of $2,500, and the turn gave a three of hearts that didn’t help either player. Adelstein made a bet of $10,000. Lew raised it to $20,000. Then Adelstein decided to go all in with $129,000. Now, only one card was left to be revealed, and Adelstein had a greater probability of winning. Lew fiddled with her chips for a few seconds and then went all-in, surprising the announcers. The river card that came up was the Ace spades which didn’t help anyone. Lew’s jack-high won the pot. 

Adelstein has featured more than fifty times on Hustler Casino’s live stream and has won $1.6 million. In contrast, Lew has only made two appearances and has won slightly over $100,000. Hence, there was no surprise that the entire incident received mixed stances from other poker enthusiasts and viewers. 

Lew returned the winnings to Adelstein after the incident. Many poker players supported Lew’s choice, while others claimed she was an inexperienced player who was intimidated into doing so. Many people have supported Lew stating that she was merely the victim of a sequence of terrible circumstances that occurred that night.

Adelstein openly accused Lew of cheating and said her hand had little equity. He also analyzed previous strategies of Lew and said that anyone could cheat with the help of a device that vibrates to indicate that the player has the best hand. Another common strategy used to cheat in poker games is through technology that allows a person to know who will get the best hand at the showdown. This is possible if someone hacks into the card reader. 

Adelstein has not backed up his claims with any solid evidence showing Lew was wearing a signaling device. He said that he told Lew that she had ruined the game for the millions of fans who were watching. Adelstein said that when he said these things to Lew, she offered to repay the winnings to him. He accepted the money because he believed that he had been cheated. 

Final Verdict

Cheating scandals can significantly affect the reputation of games. Recently Hans Niemann was accused of cheating in a chess game against the champion, Magnus Carlsen. It was a similar incident where the fans were surprised by Hans’ win against the best chess player. No evidence of cheating has been found in either case.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Geek Vibes Nation.