It’s been over a year since we've seen high-stakes cash crusher Garrett Adelstein play a single hand of poker. That’s crazy.
The OG from the Live at the Bike stream had been one of the most profitable players on the Hustler Casino Live stream to the tune of $1.5 million dollars. That’s a lot of pots, and a lot of hands.
But for the last 14 months... Not. One. Single. Hand.
What’s that all about?
For most players, a week of no poker feels like an eternity. We’ve all felt the withdrawal symptoms, right?
Adelstein ready to return
Now it's time for him to return to the felt.
He opened his door for business again on December 2 via a short tweet.
We guessed Adelstein had been prepping for a big match and staying sharp by running hands on PIO Solver and absorbing the newest GTO strategies, and reached out for a chat.
“I’ve played zero poker,” confessed Adelstein. “Nor have I studied at all. I took a completely clean break from the game.
“It's been such a treat spending time at home with my wife and daughter, who just turned eight-months old,” beamed Adelstein. “The best part of dad life is the ear to ear grin my daughter gives me nearly every time she sees me.”
But come on. He had to have missed the game. Right?
Give it up, Adelstein
When push came to shove, he finally confessed a little something. “I do miss competing. I live to compete. And I miss the fans--every time a fan messages me, I’ve definitely felt like I'm letting them down when they ask when I'll play next. I had to say - I don't know.”
We wanted to know when he would be diving back into the fray and playing on stream again.
Is that too a hard question?
To distract Adelstein, we asked about his famous morning workouts pumping iron or pounding the mountain trails for a sunrise jog. And then we thought we saw a chink in his armor.
So, we took another crack at it. But no dice.
“Sorry. Nothing new to share about my prep. I will say, however, it's a hell of a lot easier sticking to my morning ritual knowing I didn't lose a half million the night before staying up all night playing poker.”
Damn. He’s good at keeping a secret.
We didn’t believe Adelstein’s laissez-faire attitude for a millisecond. So, we pressed even harder.
“Okay, I swear. It hasn't been hard at all to not play poker,” exclaimed Adelstein. “If I wanted to play at any point, I would have. Although my interest has been building a bit more recently. There was one day I woke up last week and just decided--it's time.”
He confessed. Read that line again --- “It’s time!”
Now, we planned to really start applying the pressure, but then…
WPT & Bally Live Poker announce live streams
It was the mic drop we’d been waiting for – breaking news from the WPT.
Adelstein will be butting heads against high-stakes superstar Andrew Robl and the play-any-two-cards enigma that is Santhosh Suvarna.
And then... Hold the press.
Bally Live Poker announced that Adelstein will make his first live stream appearance in over a year at the Tropicana Las Vegas studio next Wednesday.
Adelstein is going to butt heads with not only Eric Persson, but also high-stakes phenom Patrik Antonius.
PokerOrg reached out to Persson for a comment. He was quick to throw a taunting jab at both high-stakes regs. “Every hero needs two things: a sidekick and a villain. I’m fine being either since I’m obviously the more handsome one of the three of us.”
Persson also took the time out to record a video for us.
So, does this mean the return of Adelstein full-time?
Not necessarily.
“I make no promises on how frequently I will play after these initial games,” popped Adelstein. “But I will admit, I’m awfully excited about the first couple.”
So are we.
You can watch @GmanPoker when he makes his long awaited return to poker on December 13, starting at 4:00pm PT on Bally Live Poker and then on December 15 at 4:30pm on the WPT Stream at Wynn Las Vegas.
