It doesn’t take a lot of experience in the poker world to know that trying to look at an opponent’s cards is wrong. With that as a given, let’s take it a step further. If a person is going to try to (wrongly) look at an opponent’s cards, it’s probably not wise to do so on a livestream.
This is a tale of someone who needed to learn this lesson the hard way.
It Started Like Any Other Game
Hustler Casino Live has been a hit. It delivered a livestreamed poker show consisting of cash game players doing what they do at the poker table. More than that, the players are invited, and some big names have accepted – Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey, Dan Cates, Antonio Esfandiari, Paul Pierce, Danielle Andersen, Lynne Ji, and Garrett Adelstein.
Ryan Feldman and Nick Vertucci host the shows at Hustler Casino in Southern California. They started putting their ideas into motion in 2020 and hosted their first show on August 3, 2021. Since then, it has been a whirlwind of growth. Shows started strong with 20K to 30K views but very quickly jumped to more than 100K for some of the videos. Their top video – featuring Ivey and Dwan – has garnered more than 1M views to date.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG7K_zq0MoQ
The livestream in question happened on the evening of February 2. It was a high-stakes No Limit Hold’em $10/20/40 cash game. Adelstein and Vertucci were in it, as were players who go by nicknames like Poker Bunny and So Flo Antonio. Others included Darren, Aaron, Barry, Candie, and Michael. And a new player to the table was one who went by the moniker Skillsrocks (first real name Julio), Doctor of Pimpology.
Yes, in 2022, a person actually chose that moniker for himself. And it went downhill from there.
Can I Just Take a Look at That?
Enter poker player and vlogger Alex Duvall. He was one of many watching the aforementioned Hustler Live stream when it happened. A lot of people expressed concerns about what they saw from Skillsrocks in the game, but Duvall put it all together in a concise video.
Duvall started by showing an early hand between Skillsrocks and supposed friend So Flo Antonio, in which it could be argued that the former angled. Barry seemed irked by it and asked for the two others to play straight. Then, the suspicious activity began.
Hand 1: Skillsrocks clearly looks at Barry’s cards, sees that Barry turns a straight, and kicks Antonio under the table. Antonio wasn’t in on the scheme and simply questioned what Skillsrocks was doing with his feet. Skillsrocks folds two pair, which was already a Postle-like fold. Barry won the hand but walked away afterward, saying that he knew something wasn’t right with the kicking.
Hand 2: Skillsrocks again looks at Barry’s cards. He holds Q-3 against the T-6 suited of Barry. After the T-J-K flop, Skillsrocks says he’ll go all-in blind on the turn. Barry folds, and Skillsrocks shows. Barry is annoyed.
Hand 3: Skillsrocks looks at Barry’s cards. Skillsrocks holds A-Q, Barry T-4, and Candie pocket sevens. On a board of 3-2-K-3-4. Barry continues a bluffing pattern, Candie folds, and Skillsrocks moves all-in. Barry folds the best hand, and Skillsrocks turns over the bluff in an over-the-top reaction. Barry is more annoyed.
Hand 4: Skillsrocks holds 9-3 and looks at Barry’s 9-7 cards. The board of 8-4-T-6-7 gives both of them a straight. Berry bets, which pushes Michael and his 8-3 out of the hand. Skillsrocks makes a point of declaring his love for Barry and then moving all-in and showing the 9. “This is how much of a fuckin G I am,” he says. Barry folds what would have been a chop, and Skillsrocks slams his 3 on the table and jumps up, praising himself.
Hand 5: Skillsrocks looks at Barry’s hole cards…again. He plays with 5-2, Barry with 7-6, and Candie with pocket kings. On a board of A-8-J-7-Q, Skillsrocks bluffs. Barry raises, Candie folds the best hand, and Skillsrocks moves all-in. Barry folds his pair of sevens, and Skillsrocks goes into another over=the-top celebration.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjVoWXvH3jI
Don’t Let the Door Hit Ya
The guys at Hustler Casino Live saw that the aforementioned livestream included many comments about Skillsrocks looking at Barry’s cards. When they read those and rewatched the video, they saw the problem.
While Barry should have protected his hands, the real blame for the cheating lied with the cheater himself. The statement from Vertucci and Feldman noted that Skillsrocks “acknowledged that what he did is unethical, and he accepts our decision to not welcome him back.” The show’s producers called the incident an unfortunate one and vowed to protect the players and the integrity of the game.
https://twitter.com/HCLPokerShow/status/1489370612518703108?s=20&t=ovf37n4q3em9Ofmp7OpLIA
Duvall noted that he received comments on the previous video from Vertucci, who said that Skillrocks was not only banned from the livestreamed show but from Hustler Casino. He also noted that players are ultimately responsible for protecting their own cards.
Barry also commented on the situation in a subsequent streamed game. He said that he knows he is responsible for protecting his hands. In his opinion, the specific cheating action was when Skillrocks used his unethically-garnered information to try to influence Antonio’s play. Garrett Adelstein chimed in to say that looking at someone else’s hand is unethical and wrong.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ggu0rjWLPs&t=4s
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