Poker World Weighs In On Extremely Controversial Hand

Published on October 1st, 2022 11:51 am EST

It was the call heard around the world.

In a high-stakes poker hand (broadcast live on the "Hustler Casino Live" stream), Robbi Jade Lew made one of the most unbelievable calls in the history of poker.

With the board reading 10h-10c-9c-3h, Adelstein put out a $10,000 bet and Lew mini-raised to $20,000.

After a bit of thought, Adelstein went all-in for $129,000.

Lew was holding Jack high (with no flush draw), while Adelstein was holding 8c-7c for a straight flush draw.

After a bit of thought, Lew elected to make the call, and ended up winning the pot after the river was a brick.

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Garrett Adelstein, who is well-liked and usually good-natured at the table, immediately saw red when Lew flipped over Jack-high.

Adelstein sat stunned for several minutes, wondering exactly how Lew managed to call him with just Jack-high.

The rest of the table (including Phil Ivey) was stunned as well.

Lew eventually said to Adelstein - "you look like you want to kill me."

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Lew and Adelstein would discuss the hand off-camera - Lew said that the conversation took place down a "dark hallway".

Lew gave Adelstein the money back that she won in the hand.

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Now, the poker world is extremely conflicted over what happened.

Did Lew cheat? Did she misread her hand and was embarrassed to admit it? Did she just make a good read on Adelstein?

Why did she give the money back?

Lew's story changed at the table.

First she said that she thought she had Ace-high, and then she said that she thought she had Jack-Three for a pair of threes.

Adelstein thinks that Lew cheated, which is why she returned the money.

Lew is adamant that she didn't cheat, and Adelstein is simply a sore loser who intimidated her into returning the money.

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Many of poker's top names weighed in on the hand.

Some, like Phil Ivey, believe that Lew simply misread her hand.

Others believe that there is a decent chance that Lew cheated (theories here range from Lew seeing Adelstein's cards across the table to more sophisticated cheating techniques).

Adelstein continues to be adamant that Lew cheated, while Lew says that this isn't the case.

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The hand exploded into the mainstream media, with publications like the New York Post covering the hand.

There is talk of the two settling the matter through a heads-up match.

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Here is the hand in question - what do you think?



Names like Mike Matusow, Tom Dwan and Shaun Deeb all seem to be firmly in the camp of "she cheated".

Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu and others all seem to fall into the "likely didn't cheat" camp.

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Filed Under: Poker Scandals