Garrett Adelstein Is Back: Big Week of Cash Game Poker Ahead
5 minutes
Last Updated: December 10, 2023
Live cash game streams have revolutionized the way we consume poker over the last couple of years, with nosebleed poker games, entertaining behind-the-scenes stories, and bigger than life characters making the streams more fun to watch than anything we have had a chance to enjoy in the past.
Few of those characters have given us more thrills than Garrett Adelstein, the high stakes cash game pro whose table demeanor and willingness to play for the highest stakes in the toughest lineups have made him a fan favorite.
In late 2022 Adelstein quit playing poker on live streams following a big scandal that happened on Hustler Casino Live, when a mysterious call by Robbi Jade Lew left a bad taste in Garrett’s mouth.
No cheating was ever proven, although Lew decided to return the money she won in the hand. Garrett, however, took a step back and left the live poker arena for quite a while.
After more than a year away from the tables, Adelstein took to Twitter earlier this month and announced that he is ready to come back and that his DMs were open.
After not watching or playing a hand for over a year, recently my mindset has shifted: I miss the competition. I miss the strategy. I miss taking souls. I miss gambling—telling the dealer “1 time” vs my nitty pro opponents. I miss poker. And I’m ready to battle. DMs are open.
— Garrett Adelstein (@GmanPoker) December 2, 2023
Quite naturally, it did not take long for some takers to bite, and just a week later we are looking at a return of the GMan, one of the most beloved cash game players in live stream history.
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Two Live Streams with GMan Announced
We don’t quite have all the details yet, but we do know that we will be seeing Garrett Adelstein on two separate live cash game streams this week.
While it was Doug Polk who snooped around first when GMan first posted he wanted a return, it appears that Eric Persson got first dibs, as he got Garrett to come out and play on his Bally Live Poker stream.
Mr. Maverick Gaming recorded and posted a video on social media announcing Garrett’s appearance on his live stream at the Tropicana Las Vegas on Wednesday, with himself and Patrik Antonius among the most notable names in the game.
Wednesday’s Bally Live Poker game will be the first time Adelstein has played poker in well over a year, so it will be interesting to see if his playing style has changed at all and whether or not he is still up-to-date with what his opponents are doing.
Just a couple of days later, Garrett will be playing on yet another exciting live stream, with stakes even higher and lineup even more competitive.
None other than Andrew Robl, the biggest winner in televised cash games, will be in the game, along with Santosh Suvarna, the Indian businessman who has been firing on all cylinders over the last few weeks.
The Friday game will be hosted by World Poker Tour, and will surely be played alongside the much anticipated WPT World Championship at the Wynn.
He’s back. 😈 @GmanPoker makes his return @WynnLasVegas for some $300/$600 action next Friday, December 15th.
Tune in 📺
— World Poker Tour (@WPT) December 9, 2023
With these two live streams already announced, it is likely that we will be seeing plenty more of Adelstein on live cash game shows in the near future, and it will be exciting to see how he does in such tough lineups following his long hiatus from the game.
What Made Adelstein Step Away?
In September 2022, Garrett Adelstein was the biggest name in live poker and the centerpiece of the popular Hustler Casino Live show, which has evolved and grown even bigger since his departure.
On September 29, a big game was going on at HCL and Garrett was seemingly having the time of his life when he pulled a big bluff on Robbi Jade Lew and got called by Jack-high in a situation where such a call seemed extremely improbable.
The consummate pro he is, Adelstein assessed the situation on the spot and realized something dodgy might be happening. After a bit of back and forth behind the scenes, Lew agreed to return the winnings of the hand to Adelstein, which in his mind was admission of guilt.
Believing he was cheated and disappointed with the whole situation, Garrett decided to step away from the game for at least a while, focus on his personal life, and re-assess the situation at a later date.
Over the period, Garrett has gone on record stating that he still believes there was cheating going on in the HCL stream at the time, although he believed the show’s producers were not in on any of it.
The HCL scandal was concluded by Robbi Jade taking a lie detector and passing it with flying colors, so we will never know exactly what happened to allow her to make such an improbable call against one of the best players in the world.
Ready to Take On the Poker World
After many months away from the game, Adelstein is now ready to take on anyone and everyone at the tables, as he claims he is hungry for action and competition and ready to “take souls” once again.
Over the years, this fierce cash game player has certainly taken more than a few souls at the tables, as he remains one of the biggest winners in live streamed cash games despite not even playing in many of the biggest games to date, which were all played in 2023.
With Garrett now coming back, and plenty of high stakes action going on across the board, we could be in for one hell of a year in 2024, as yet another incredibly talented player returns to his natural habitat.
After not watching or playing a hand for over a year, recently my mindset has shifted: I miss the competition. I miss the strategy. I miss taking souls. I miss gambling—telling the dealer “1 time” vs my nitty pro opponents. I miss poker. And I’m ready to battle. DMs are open.
— Garrett Adelstein (@GmanPoker) December 2, 2023
This week, make sure not to miss either of the two live streams Adelstein has been announced to play on, as they are guaranteed to generate some insane action, table banter, and all sorts of drama.
With any luck, Garret’s return to the ring will be a successful one, and we will get to see plenty more of the talented player in the months and years to come, as losing a player of his stature from the game forever would be a massive loss for the poker world as a whole.
