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The hand resulted in one of the biggest scandals of the post-COVID era of poker. Lew correctly called off nearly $130,000 on the turn with just jack-high against Adelstein’s straight flush draw. Her hand held up and she scooped the pot.
Then, the former Survivor contestant quit the game, believing the stream was compromised and he was cheated. In the aftermath, another player in the game said that Adelstein asked Lew for the money back and she gave it to him.
Former HCL co-owner Nick Vertucci and his partner Ryan Feldman both confirmed that story. But Adelstein says it’s not true. In a nearly three-minute video as part of promotion for his upcoming new book, Beneath the Cards, Adelstein said that never happened.
He alleged that Lew gave the money back voluntarily and that the two co-owners pushed a lie to the public. Moreover, Adelstein said he took certain statements from Vertucci as threats.
Compromised Stream?
In the video, Adelstein describes some of what went on that night. He said he immediately went home with $2 million worth of casino chips and later had several discussions with Vertucci and Feldman.“Ryan, I think your stream’s compromised, what’s the plan?” he said he remembered telling Feldman.
He also recalled that Vertucci wanted to cut the HCL stream to keep the hand from going public. Adelstein said he objected to that plan and remained confident that he’d been cheated in the hand.
“I immediately go, ‘Nick, there’s no fucking way I’m doing that, man,’” Adelstein said.
According to the video, Vertucci wanted Adelstein to continue playing, but he again declined.
Money Returned To Adelstein
The story became that Lew returned the money to Adelstein in an attempt to diffuse the situation. The narrative became a source of controversy in the poker world.“Obviously, I didn’t force her to do that,” Adelstein said. “That’s crazy. All of a sudden, thousands … of direct messages started coming in. For some stupid reason, I’m reading every single one of these comments. I just can’t stop. I went into a dark place pretty quickly.”
Later that night, Adelstein sent out a “meandering tweet” that said he’d be able to prove that Lew cheated.
In the video, he described that as “another colossal mistake.”
Poker Pro Claims He Was Threatened
At 1 a.m., another call came from the HCL team. Vertucci allegedly said the team was going public with Feldman’s assertion that Adelstein asked for the money back. Adelstein adamantly denies that claim. At 4 a.m., Adelstein says Vertucci texted him that he should give the money back.Adelstein said the text read: “The more you dig in, the worse it is for us and for you long term.” The poker pro said he saw that as a threat and promised that the book will reveal what went on in the saga behind the scenes.
Watch the complete video below:
The Aftermath
The aftermath of the hand saw Lew deny that she cheated. She said she passed a polygraph test while in Las Vegas.HCL announced that employee Bryan Sagbigsal was fired for stealing $15,000 from Lew’s stack after the livestream had ended. Some believed that Sagbisal was Lew’s accomplice behind the scenes and was taking payment for cheating.
In 2024, several women made sexual harassment claims against Vertucci. In response HCL cut ties with Vertucci, announcing he was no longer part of the stream.
So far, HCL hasn’t commented on Adelstein’s video. Card Player reached out to Feldman for comment, but did not receive a response.
source: https://www.cardplayer.com/poker-ne...stler-casino-live-lied-in-wake-of-j-4-scandal
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