Garrett Adelstein Rips HCL's 'Jack-Four' Response in Upcoming Scandal Memoir
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Garrett Adelstein, in a brief Instagram video announcing a book release on the infamous "Jack-Four" hand, took shots at Ryan Feldman and Nick Vertucci, co-owners of Hustler Casino Live, for how they responded to the cheating allegations he made aginst Robbi Jade Lew.
What unfolded on Hustler Casino Live over three years ago between Adelstein, the show's most prominent star, and then-unknown player Lew, quickly became one of the most debated hands in modern poker history, igniting endless discussion across the poker community.
Poker fans took sides, one side proclaiming Lew guilty of cheating Adelstein out of a six-figure pot. Others stood behind Lew, saying there is no evidence of cheating and demanding a full apology from the Los Angeles high-stakes poker legend.
Now, Adelstein is revisiting the moment that reshaped his career, announcing in a recent Instagram video that he is releasing a memoir to share his full account of the hand, the controversy that followed, and the lasting impact it has had on his life and the game itself.
Titled Beneath the Cards, which releases September 1st, 2026, he promises a deeper, more personal look at the events and the scrutiny that followed. In his recent video, "G-Man" gave a glimpse of what to expect from his upcoming book.
The Moments After
As Adelstein recounted in the video, the moments after the hand, he had "no idea an avalanche was coming," referring to the poker world's response to him accusing Lew of cheating during a livestream.
He wanted answers, but more than anything, he wanted out — quickly gathering roughly $2 million in chips and leaving Hustler Casino without even stopping at the cashier's cage. By the time he got in his car, the adrenaline had started to wear off, replaced by a wave of stress and anxiety as he tried to process what had just happened.
"My adrenaline is pumping. I'm stressed. I'm anxious. My phone just keeps vibrating," Adelstein recounts of his postgame actions.
He explained that while Vertucci, now a former Hustler Casino Live co-owner, was attempting to call him, he instead reached out to Feldman. After raising concerns that the stream may have been compromised, Adelstein says Feldman responded, “I have 25K viewers right now — I can’t deal with this," which Adelstein said was a "baffling response."
He continued to claim that Vertucci eventually got on the call and immediately pushed to shut the stream down. Adelstein said he told him "there's no f*****g way i'm doing that, man."
Looking back, he said that he genuinely believed only "10 percent" of people would side with Lew. Instead, the reaction was much more split, with a significant amount of skepticism and criticism coming his way — something he wasn’t prepared for at the time.
In a Dark Place
Adelstein the initial reaction from the poker community was largely on his side — describing it as a collective sense of “we smell a rat.”
But that quickly shifted once Jacob "Rip" Chavez, a friend of Lew who was also at the table, learned that she had returned the money from the hand. Rip then went on the livestream and told viewers that Adelstein had demanded for the money back — a claim Adelstein has firmly denied.
In the hours that followed, Adelstein said the situation continued to spiral. He received hundreds of messages — many of them negative — and, by his own admission, read nearly every single one. That constant stream of criticism and hate took a toll, he claims, sending him into a “dark place very quickly.”
As it started to affect him more deeply, he mentioned that his wife stepped in and suggested bringing in a crisis manager — which he didn't even know what that was at the time.
He also admitted that, in that state, he made what he now views as a significant mistake — posting what he described as a “unedited, meandering” tweet.
In hindsight, he said he was “basically staking my reputation that Robbi Jade Lew cheated,” a decision that only intensified the backlash at a time when emotions were already running high. He went on to call it a “colossal mistake” that around five million people saw — one that only poured more fuel on the fire and amplified the wave of hate coming his way.
"Let's F*****g Fight"
Adelstein said the situation escalated further when he received a call from Hustler Casino Live ownership informing him they were prepared to go public with Feldman’s account that Adelstein had asked for the money back. According to the accuser, he pushed back immediately, saying, “I remind Ryan what he well knows, that never happened.”
He recalls that Vertucci then cut in, responding, “Well, that’s how Ryan remembers, so let’s leave it at that,”
He also described a moment later that night that stood out to him. Around 4 a.m., Adelstein said he received a text from Vertucci suggesting he should return the money, adding that things could get “worse if you don’t.” Adelstein interpreted that message as a threat.
He went on to say that, in his view, most people in that position would have folded — returned the money and protected their place on Hustler Casino Live. But for him, it wasn’t about preserving a spot in the game. He explained that his sense of justice wouldn’t allow it, adding that he wasn’t going to let Lew or Hustler Casino Live get away with stopping an alleged cheating incident. As he put it, if “these people wanted a fight, then let’s f***ing fight.”
'Beneath the Cards'
More than three years removed from the hand that shook the poker world, Adelstein is now preparing to tell his side in full. His upcoming memoir, Beneath the Cards, is set for release on September 1, 2026, with preorders already available.
If you think you know the full story, you don’t. - Garrett Adelstein
Framed as both a personal account and a deeper look into everything that unfolded behind the scenes, Adelstein makes it clear this won’t just revisit what people think they already know.
Adelstein never returned to Hustler Casino Live following the Sept. 29, 2022 incident. He was banned from the show he was once the star of a few months later. The SoCal cash game grinder has since stepped away from the poker limelight, only popping up to compete on various livestreams once or twice a year.
Lew, on the other hand, has become a mainstay in the poker world, showing up regularly at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and numerous other events.
