The poker cheating investigation is over. Here’s what it uncovered — and questions that remain

A nearly three-month investigation into one of the most controversial hands of poker ever played has concluded with no findings of wrongdoing against Robbi Jade Lew, who was accused of cheating by one of the game’s most prominent stars.

“That does not mean that no wrongdoing occurred,” said the 12-page report, released Wednesday by High Stakes Poker Productions. “It means that the investigation failed to find credible evidence.”

The saga began on Sept. 29, when Lew — a relatively new player to the high-stakes no-limit scene — won a $269,000 pot against poker pro Garrett Adelstein on an episode of “Hustler Casino Live,” a popular YouTube show that streams from Gardena five days a week.

Lew’s unconventional play in the wild hand, in which she called Adelstein’s huge all-in bet with jack high, immediately led her opponent to suspect foul play. Adelstein later accused her of colluding with at least one other player at the table and with a production employee; Lew has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Robbi Jade Lew at Hustler Casino in Gardena in October.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Video of the now-infamous J4 hand (Lew was holding the jack of clubs and the four of hearts) blew up on the internet. Viewed millions of times, the clip sparked raging debates — was Lew part of a cheating ring, or simply a newbie who didn’t know what she was doing and got lucky?

Poker fans obsessively rewatched the footage to dissect her play, body language, clothing, jewelry and water bottle, sharing their “findings” on social media and hours-long podcasts. The frenzied fascination over what happened prompted several poker players to offer bounties totaling $250,000 for anyone who came forward with information (no one did).

High Stakes Poker Productions, which owns and produces “Hustler Casino Live,” quickly launched its own investigation and hired cybersecurity, private investigation and legal firms to assist. The company said it spent more than $100,000 on the effort.

The Times has reached out to Lew and Adelstein for comment.

Wednesday’s extensive report detailed the investigation’s methodology, which included interviews with Lew, other players, and the show’s owners and employees. Investigators reviewed “dozens of hours of video” from “Hustler Casino Live” and from the casino’s interior and exterior security cameras to look for signs of suspicious behavior. They also inspected the card shuffler and dismantled the poker table to see if its radio frequency identification (RFID) system — which allows the unique suit and rank of each player’s facedown cards, known as hole cards, to be broadcast to a receiver — had been compromised.

“Upon inspection of the systems, table and network,” the report said, “there was no evidence of tampering, remote access, viruses, rogue hardware installed, or previously installed programs on the machines.”

But the cybersecurity firm did find some “critical risks” with the show’s production room setup and broadcast operations. Both have been subject to heavy scrutiny in light of the debacle, with players and viewers criticizing High Stakes Poker Productions for what they perceived as lax protocols that made the stream vulnerable to cheating.

The “Hustler Casino Live” stage. The show has quickly become the No. 1 cash game poker stream on YouTube thanks to its rotating lineup of elite poker pros and outlandish recreational players, and the enormous amounts of money at stake.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Noting that players’ card information “could be seen by anyone in the production room just by turning their head,” the report said several changes had since been made to improve security.

A wall and a door have been installed in the production room, and the door remains locked throughout filming. Now, only one monitor can display hole-card information and can only be viewed by the show’s director, and employees have to put their electronic devices into signal-blocking bags before entering the room.

The show is also implementing stricter player rules. Previously, they weren’t allowed to have their cellphones and other electronic devices during filming; now they must also put personal items in signal-blocking bags that are kept away from the poker table. Players are wanded by a metal detector every time they enter the “Hustler Casino Live” stage.

Despite the additional measures, the report noted that “no security solution or process can completely solve mechanical or electronic game cheating because methods and technology are continually evolving” and said the company would need to be vigilant going forward.

“With those changes,” it said, “security, technology, processes and yearly audits also need to be kept up.”

High Stakes Poker Productions made some low-tech changes as well, including requiring players to sign a waiver acknowledging that they have no financial investment in anyone else in the game. After Sept. 29, Lew, 37, revealed that she had been given the money to gamble that day by another player at the table, Jacob “Rip” Chavez.

“The undisclosed financial relationship between Ms. Lew and Mr. Chavez creates the appearance of collusion between the two players,” the report said. “Such conduct is widely considered unethical in the poker community and is prohibited in ‘Hustler Casino Live’ games.”

Although the show’s investigation has come to an end, one big piece of the scandal is still unresolved.

A week after the Adelstein-Lew hand, High Stakes Poker Productions announced that a video review showed Bryan Sagbigsal — a production employee who was in the control room on Sept. 29 — removing $15,000 in chips from Lew’s stack after filming had ended that day.

Lew, a former biopharmaceuticals rep from Pacific Palisades, initially declined to file a police report but changed her mind after the poker community accused the two of colluding. Gardena Police Department officers attempted to arrest Sagbigsal on Oct. 26 in Long Beach but were unable to find him.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office filed charges against Sagbigsal on Nov. 22. An arrest warrant has been issued for the 25-year-old, who faces two counts of grand theft; a spokesman said Wednesday that Sagbigsal was not in custody.

In the investigation report, High Stakes Poker Productions said it interviewed Sagbigsal about the alleged theft before firing him.

“He said he acted on his own out of financial desperation and repeatedly denied that he was involved in cheating or that he collaborated with any players,” the report said, adding that investigators “were not able to identify any prior relationship between Ms. Lew and Mr. Sagbigsal.”

High Stakes Poker Productions said it had not done a background check on Sagbigsal before hiring him and was thus unaware that he had a prior criminal record. In the future, the company said it would “pay a professional agency to search databases” for criminal records of job applicants and conduct “periodic financial background checks” on its employees.

“Hustler Casino Live” first aired on Aug. 3, 2021, and soon became the No. 1 cash game poker stream on YouTube thanks to its rotating lineup of elite poker pros and outlandish recreational players, and the enormous amounts of money at stake — some pots have exceeded half a million dollars. It now has more than 200,000 subscribers.

Prior to the disputed hand, Adelstein, one of the top cash players in the world, was the face of “Hustler Casino Live.” A former contestant on “Survivor” who lives in Manhattan Beach, the 36-year-old was featured heavily on the show and his image is plastered on digital billboards outside the casino.

Garrett Adelstein in his Manhattan Beach home in October. He has not returned to “Hustler Casino Live” since the Sept. 29 hand.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Neither Adelstein nor Lew has played on “Hustler Casino Live” since Sept. 29. When asked whether they would be invited back, co-owner Ryan Feldman said in an interview Monday: “There’s no hard decision one way or the other on that” and declined to comment further.

Feldman said the show was instead focused on looking ahead and learning from the ordeal.

“It will always be a mystery to a degree because, as I’ve said all along, there’s no way to 100% prove that nothing happened,” he said. “But I think a lot of people will be satisfied by this and see that we did everything we could to try to figure this out. We are ready to move on.”