Adelstein Says J-4 Fallout Cost Him Millions
The poker pro says the Hustler Casino Live split likely wiped out $1 million to $3 million a year, while the full story is being held for a memoir and video.
Garrett Adelstein said the fallout from the J-4 controversy likely cost him about $1 million to $3 million a year after he walked away from Hustler Casino Live. In a Reddit AMA on Aug. 19 that PokerListings said drew 225 messages, he also said he is probably leaving poker full-time, though he plans to keep appearing in high-stakes streamed games a few times a year in smaller doses.
As covered in an Aug. 20 report, Adelstein had already been teasing a fuller version of the story in connection with an upcoming memoir. In the AMA and related reporting, he said the complete explanation for the J-4 episode will be saved for a book and a separate video, rather than given away in the Reddit thread.
The AMA also put his personal life front and center. Adelstein said fatherhood has made him preoccupied, and that he has been working on writing and a 35-plus-hour poker course while raising children who are 3 and 1.
He also addressed the lingering fallout with Ryan Feldman. Adelstein said he is not a fan of Feldman anymore, even though he credited Feldman’s gamebuilding from 2017 to 2022 with helping create the livestream-era platform that built his profile.
The conversation circled back to the hand that changed everything. Adelstein participated in the AMA revisiting the controversial J-4 hand in which he accused Robbi Jade Lew of cheating, and he said he thought only about 10% of people would side with her. Instead, the reaction was far more split, and he said the constant criticism and hate pushed him into a dark place very quickly.
PokerNews reported that Adelstein called his public post about the dispute an unedited, meandering tweet and a colossal mistake. He also said he was basically staking his reputation that Lew cheated, while describing the aftermath as an avalanche he did not see coming.
The wider Hustler Casino Live fallout is still part of the backdrop. Adelstein said he never returned to the show after the Sept. 29, 2022 incident, and PokerNews reported that he was later banned from it. PokerOrg previously reported that Ryan Feldman and Nick Vertucci decided he would not be invited back indefinitely, even after the show had brought in Gaming Laboratories International to review the broadcast and GLI found no conclusive evidence of wrongdoing.
Adelstein’s memoir, Beneath the Cards, is due Sept. 1.
