The Only Friends podcast, hosted by high-stakes poker regular Matt Berkey, became known for its candid conversations around industry controversies, player disputes, and headline-grabbing scandals in the poker world.
“A lot of people confided in me during the run of the show," Berkey says. "It’s good to know they trust me and know I won’t breach that trust.”
Speaking to Craig Tapscott for the latest episode of PokerOrg’s The Interview, available later this week, Berkey takes a deep dive into the most controversial moments during the show's run, on the tail end of the Mike Postle scandal at Stones Gambling Hall.
“I had been discussing the whole Postle scandal for weeks," Berkey shares. "Soon thereafter, I became aware of what was happening behind the scenes regarding the Ali Imsirovic allegations before the story broke.
"It was the worst-kept secret in poker that Ali was cheating. Everybody in the high-stakes arena knew you run a lot of risks being the whistleblower. I give kudos to Alex Foxen for finding a way to get that out there.”
Here’s a sneak preview of the candid and uncut interview with Matt Berkey premiering this week on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.
Adelstein vs. Lew: 'I was in contact with Garrett every day'
The J-4 hand that happened between Garrett Adelstein and Robbi Jade Lew was the highlight of the trust I had with a number of people in the industry.
When stuff like that occurs and there's rumbling throughout the community, I often end up with a lot of privileged information.
I was in contact with Garrett every single day. And for the first week, I also talked to Nick Vertucci at Hustler Casino Live. I was Nick’s first phone call when it happened.
People don't know this, but the big reason why there was such a large fallout between Nick and me is because he confided in me a lot, not really so much as a confidant, but like an advisor of sorts.
He confided in me because I had been through the whole Postle scandal and saw how many stream houses handled it so poorly. I effectively wrote High Stakes Productions' first public statement regarding the incident. I all but dictated it to Nick over the phone.
Where things went sideways with Hustler Casino Live
I believe that's where things went haywire between HCL and me. Because my stance was not that she cheated or she didn't cheat. Obviously, I gave my opinion on the matter. I believed that there was a high probability that Robbi had cheated. The hand was clearly not on the up-and-up.
But one thing I did was dig in very harshly on the fact that the whole situation was preventable. My main concern was that poker streams should have higher standards and security measures moving forward.
When I took that stance, Nick no longer wanted my advice. I advised him that the stream should take a weekend off, maybe a week, and figure out all the in-house stuff. HCL should put out the fires rather than trying to start a larger one elsewhere and distract people from what's happening.
On one hand, I was talking to Garrett. On the other, I was in touch with Nick and Ryan Feldman. And then there was Robbi. I had met her that prior summer at the World Series and I didn't put two and two together. She came up to me and gave me a great big hug, thanking me for the podcast. I had no idea who this person was.
Fast forward a few months, the whole thing happens between Garrett and Robbi, and it clicks... My God, it's the same person.
Now I’m texting back and forth with everyone after J-4 happened. And somehow throughout the course of those two weeks, I managed to piss off all parties somewhere along the lines.
Putting out fires and lessons learned
Every day, I felt like I was putting out another fire with one of those people. There was the famous Robbi appearance on Joey Ingram's stream. He was doing videos daily, saying, ‘I've never seen a hand this questionable.’
Then Doug Polk put out a video saying she's 99% guilty. And I'm fence-riding a bit, but mostly saying the security should be changed. Then Robbi did an interview and, out of the blue, looks at the camera and goes, ‘…and f*** you, Berkey.’
At that point, I realized the Only Friends Podcast had somehow become the center of something that didn't involve us in any capacity. That was a whirlwind of lessons learned and understanding the space a lot better, and where we fit into it.
I learned about where to insert yourself into a story and when to try your best not to.
The full episode of The Interview with Matt Berkey premieres this week on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.
Watch previous The Interview guests Phil Galfond, Maria Ho, and Daniel Negreanu.
