Did Robbi Jade Lew Cheat or Simply Call Garrett Adelstein’s Bluff In £240,000 Scandal?

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Hands of Female Poker Player with ChipsThe mind of the erstwhile poker pro is an incredible machine, able to calculate winning percentages and probability theories quicker than it takes many of us to remember where we left our car keys.

And so they typically know with great regularity when they are in a strong position in a hand and when they are struggling….not accounting for the masterful bluff, of course.

So when Robbi Jade Lew and Garrett Adelstein collided at the Hustler Casino Live tournament in October, the latter must have felt he was in a position of authority over the former when they went heads-up and he was dealt hole cards of 8-7 suited.

What unfolded….well, only Lew can explain as she ignored statistical probability and general poker-based common sense to go all the way and win a pot worth $269,000 (£240,000) against all odds.

So did she call Adelstein’s bluff….or was she cheating?

Who Is Robbi Jade Lew?

Empty Chair at Poker Table

The 35-year-old is a veritable novice in the poker world, and at the time of writing her Hendon Mob page featured just 15 results.

Mind you, the former pharmaceutical exec has got off to a decent start in her fledgling career, cashing $65,000 (£58,000) from those appearances.

It was during the global crisis that Lew decided to put all her chips in the middle as a professional poker player, and she scored herself invites to a pair of Hustler Live events, which are held in conjunction with the World Poker Tour and BetMGM Poker.

And it was at one of these that she made headlines in the most controversial of circumstances….

Beating the Odds

Jack of Clubs Against Black Background

Lew and Adelstein were seated at the Hustler Live table, and after their opponents folded the pair found themselves heads up.

Adelstein, as mentioned, was in a position of strength after landing a stronger pair of hole cards:

  • Adelstein – 8c 7c (win probability: 58%)
  • Lew – Jc 4h (win probability: 42%)

Pleased with his draw, Adelstein raised the pot to $3,000. Lew called, with the commentator describing her as ‘mixing it up’ after she called the raise with such a weak hand. The pot was now $6,900 in total.

The Flop

The dealer laid down the first three of the community cards, and Adelstein would have quietly been delighted with what he saw:

  • The flop – 9c 10c 10h
  • Adelstein – 8c 7c (win probability: 70%)
  • Lew – Jc 4h (win probability: 30%)

The flop set Adelstein up with a flush draw and an open-ended straight, while Lew’s win probability fell despite her landing the possibility of a straight draw of her own.

Adelstein bet $2,500 to let his rival know about his supremacy, and Lew – seemingly without pause for thought – called right away. The pot now totalled $11,700.

The Turn

As the turn card came, the hand was set up to be a potential bloodbath for Lew, who seemed calm and composed nonetheless.

  • The turn – 9c 10c 10h 3h
  • Adelstein – 8c 7c (win probability: 53%)
  • Lew – Jc 4h (win probability: 47%)

In truth, the turn card was a complete non-event as it did nothing to improve either hand, and that’s something that an experienced player like Adelstein would have known.

Unsurprisingly, he bet $10,000, which effectively doubled the pot and confirmed his belief (rightly) that he was in a position of absolute authority.

It would have been unforeseen to him that Adelstein was effectively in the lead with a jack high at this point, but he had so many potential outs that the percentage play was to bet big. Lew, who must have felt that her J-4 combination was leading, saw her opponent and raised him to $20,000 – the commentator querying aloud ‘what is she thinking of here?’.

Although doing his best to retain his poker face, Adelstein looked somewhat bemused, but made the big play: he called all-in, risking his $129,000 chip stack on the possibility that Lew had lost her mind.

After some hesitation in which Lew claimed she thought she had a three in her hand and not a four, she eventually decided to call – going all-in herself and increasing the pot to $269,000.

Adelstein is caught on camera laughing out loud, and even in the laidback surrounds of the Hustler Live event that was out of character – he must have felt he was a shoe-in for victory. The commentator yelps ‘my god!’ in a somewhat comical falsetto, and even questions whether the graphic displayed on screen is showing the correct cards.

The River

In Lew’s defence, it was Adelstein that needed something to happen on the river.

  • The turn – 9c 10c 10h 3h 9d
  • Adelstein – 8c 7c (win probability: 0%)
  • Lew – Jc 4h (win probability: 100%)

Incredibly, none of the myriad cards that would have handed Adelstein an insurmountable position came up, and so Lew would claim victory given that her jack kicker was stronger that Adelstein’s 8 to go with the two-pair dealt in the community cards.

The colour drains from Adelstein’s face as he realises that he has suffered an incredible bad beat, his eyes darting around the table seeking some kind of explanation or divine inspiration.

After several minutes he eventually leaves the table, but clearly Adelstein believes something improper has unfolded. You can judge for yourself from the tweet below:

Did Robbi Jade Lew Cheat?

Red Question Mark Under Spotlight

It should be said at this point that Garrett Adelstein isn’t some wet behind the ears novice who can’t believe he lost.

There are three trains of thought as to what happened: a) Lew is a genius who called Adelstein’s bluff, b) she doesn’t really know what she’s doing and got lucky, or c) she had somehow cheated.

For Adelstein, it was very much c) that he was believing in. He would later claim that Lew was wearing some kind of ‘vibrating device’, which could be used to communicate to her when she was in the winning position.

Lew has alleged that Adelstein confronted her after the tournament had finished, and to make matters even more confusing she allegedly offer to refund Adelstein the money she had won.

He later tweeted a series of notes that suggested Lew’s calls in the final hand were out of character for her normal playing style, and he accused Lew’s ‘face of melting’ when he claimed the video would go viral to an audience of millions (as it has).

Meanwhile, a DraftKings blog post claimed:

“Forget ranges or game theory optimal play, even the most novice players simply don’t ever make that call simply based on the strength of their hand. You can always bluff in poker, but once your opponent moves all-in for twice the size of the pot, that’s where the bluffing stops.”

They also claimed the possibility that an accomplice of Lew had used some kind of technology to read the RFID tags in the playing cards. Meanwhile Nick Vertucci, the founder of Hustler Casino Live, suggested her ‘inexperience’ may have been behind her making such a strange call.

WSOP legend Phil Ivey believes Lew thought she had J-3, rather than J-4, hence her action when the three came out on the turn, but it’s all guesswork until we find out for sure – if we ever do – what happened on that fateful evening.

Perhaps we should leave the last words to Lew herself: