Additional reporting by Adam Hampton
Following Garrett Adelstein’s role in the most controversial hand in livestream poker history, he didn’t play a hand for over a year.
A familiar face on streams such as Live at the Bike and Hustler Casino Live, Adelstein stepped away after the infamous ‘J4 hand’ vs. Robbi Jade Lew, in part due to concerns that certain livestream games might not be entirely above board.
Now, with a memoir on the way, he’s finally speaking out, beginning with a video posted this week and continuing with an exclusive conversation with PokerOrg, below.
‘Time to tell the full story’
The video promotes his upcoming book, Beneath the Cards: A High-Stakes, High-Anxiety Poker Journey, and looks at the aftermath of the controversy, which saw Adelstein turn away from poker to focus on other professional ambitions.
In the video, Adelstein runs through the events immediately following his departure from the game that night, after the bizarre and controversial hand that captured the attention of the poker world – and far beyond it.
He details the conversations he had with HCL’s Ryan Feldman and Nick Vertucci, the unproven allegations that he forced Lew to give the money back, and the fallout from the ‘unedited, meandering tweet’ he fired off in haste, staking his reputation on being able to prove Lew cheated in the hand.
The video ends with Adelstein sharing his side of a conversation with Vertucci, in which he states the former HCL showrunner decided to go public with a statement that Adelstein asked for the money back – something he denies and an allegation he clearly believes was made in bad faith.
“At 4am, I get a text from Vertucci telling me that he thinks I should give the money back,” Adelstein says in the video. “That this is going to get a lot worse for me if I don't.
“Honestly, I read this as a threat – a warning. And at that point, I knew I was on my own.”
Now Adelstein says it’s time to “tell the full story.”
Or it will be soon. The book, which uncovers the many ups and downs throughout Adelstein's’s twenty-plus year career, is scheduled for release on September 1.
Ahead of its release, we spoke with the man at the center of the storm.
Insane gambling stories and ‘endless mistakes’
I’m sure there are many people keen to hear more of your side of the story, but why wait until now to tell it?
It’s been a dream of mine to write a book for a while now. From countless insane gambling stories to the endless mistakes I’ve made on and off the table to some pretty serious mental health struggles, I realized I had a hell of a story to share.
But as I quickly learned, writing a memoir fit for wide-scale publication is an all-encompassing, multiyear journey. I’ve given this thing everything I’ve got for the past three-and-a-half years, and we still aren’t even at the finish line.
It’s been the most difficult yet rewarding professional experience of my life.
Is telling your story in this way something you always planned to do?
In the weeks after ‘Jack-Four,’ my therapist encouraged me to do some free-association writing. One thing led to another, and before I knew it, I had over 100 pages of text.
That’s when I decided to take on writing an entire memoir.
What did you do during those years away from the game?
During the last three-and-a-half years largely away from poker, nearly all my working hours have been focused on writing.
As crazy as it sounds, the satisfaction I got from nailing a passage often rivaled that of winning a big pot. It’s been quite the shift.
Can you tell us about the writing process? Was it painful to relive – and has it helped?
Writing is monumentally difficult, especially when it hasn’t been my day job for the last couple of decades.
Every day, I’d walk into my office convinced I couldn’t do it – that no one would care what I have to say, even if I could.
That’s part of why this journey has been so profound. All of us, when we really put our minds to it, are capable of some pretty cool shit.
Who is publishing the book, and how did the deal come about?
Permuted Press, a mid-size publishing house with distribution handled by Simon & Schuster.
The owner, Anthony Ziccardi, has been hands-on throughout the process. It was critical that I partner with a team whose passion matched my own.
Will we see you back playing on stream before the end of this year?
Absolutely. Now that I have a few more working hours available, I’ll definitely get after it on the felt a bit in 2026.
Adelstein’s memoir will be released on September 1. For more information on the book release and presales, visit his website.
