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Pro poker scandal grows murkier after review reveals staffer 'stole' $15K in chips from Robbi Jade Lew

The staff member has been identified as Bryan Sagbigsal, who allegedly removed $15,000 in chips from Lew’s stack

GARDENA, CALIFORNIA: Poker player Garrett Adelstein had accused new player Robbi Jade Lew of cheating during a game on September 29. The game was live streamed by Hustler Casino Live (HCL) from Los Angeles, which turned ugly when “Adelstein shot Lew a death glare,” The New York Post reported.

Lew then fired back in a tweet, saying, “Garrett blocked me. Guilty as charged. What an honest man. He cornered me & threatened me. If he has the audacity to give me the death stare ON camera, picture what it’s like OFF camera. I was pulled out of the game & forced to speak to him in a dark hallway.”

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However, now a bizarre turn has come into the whole saga as a probe initiated by HCL has disclosed that a staff member of High Stakes Poker Productions robbed $15,000 in casino chips from Lew’s heap after the streaming ended. The alleged thief has been identified as Bryan Sagbigsal and the owners of HCL — Nick Vertucci and Ryan Feldman — said that the accused has been fired from his job. The NY Post reported that Sagbigsal reportedly stealing three $5,000 chips from Lew’s stack “was seen as some as him taking his cut of a cheating scam.” 

Later, Lew shared her thoughts over the new development after she was informed about it by Vertucci. She has reportedly decided not to carry forward with the case against the suspect because as per her, it’s “unnecessary to damage a young man’s life”. She also noted that since she now knew the person “had already spent the $15k, at which point moving forward with a criminal charge made even less sense to me.”

On Friday, October 7, she also posted screenshots of messages, she apparently got from Sagbigsal on Twitter that read: “Robbi I believe you. Someone who was so kind to give back the money to the crybaby Garrett and kind enough to SPARE ME wouldn’t not be as nice as you are.”

But many questioned Lew’s intention behind releasing her messages and also doubted her. A user tweeted: “I know this is probably a meaningless coincidence but I find it amusing how both Robbi and Bryan use words in cap locks mid-sentence for emphasis instead of asterisks or something.” Another user noted: “I don't think I buy this, a con artist would absolutely do this. Why were they following each other again? Doesn't this dude have a criminal record?”

In her defense, Lew shared a statement that explained: “There is zero evidence that I cheated simply because I did NOT. The truth will be liberating and will bring this exhausting process to an end.” However, people’s questions and speculations did not end there as well and a person asked: “Why would you release this in the middle of the night?” The second one said, “Just press charges on Bryan and no one will think you were conspiring together. That’s all you have to do,” the third one added.

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