Just days after the ‘Skillsrocks’ cheating incident took place on Hustler Casino Live, Barry Wallace, the player who was targeted by ‘Skillsrocks’ by actively looking at his hole cards in the middle of a hand, returned to the live stream game and opened the show looking to “address the elephant in the room” talk about the scandal.
“I was 100% responsible for protecting my hand as a player,” Barry said, looking to take some responsibility for the situation. “100%. I own all of that. But motherf***ers is leaning over you on purpose, kicking other people that’s the cheating part.”
.@BLWBARRY & @GmanPoker started tonight’s show by addressing the elephant in the room
Watch the entire episode here: https://t.co/uybWBDlt0D pic.twitter.com/e88ZeAvmkZ
— Hustler Casino Live (@HCLPokerShow) February 5, 2022
Much of the focus of the ‘Skillsrocks’ stream has been centered on ‘Skillsrocks’ not just seeing Barry’s hand but going out of his way to do so. The fact that ‘Skillsrocks’ also tried to warn another player by kicking him under the table, took a bit of a backseat, something that Barry wanted to shine a light on.
“The cheating part isn’t what he did, he didn’t cheat when he looked. I’m responsible for my own hand. The cheating part is when he kicked the other dude and was addressing him trying to tell him to fold when I had the straight.”
It’s unclear whether ’Skillsrocks’ was trying to get the other player – Antonio (who wasn’t “in on it”) – to fold. Or, possibly, ‘Skillsrocks’ was trying to get the Antonio to check the turn so that ‘Skillsrocks’ who had flopped two pair, could see a free river to try and fill up and stack Barry who had the straight.
“The idiot was looking at my hand, he was purposefully leaning back…trying to get into my hand. That’s the cheating part,” Barry continued. “So I don’t mind what he did, it’s part of the game. I should have been smarter and I should have held my hand better. I should have protected better…so I’m responsible for that. But him? He’s responsible for being a…”
After Barry trailed off, high-stakes cash game pro Garrett Adelstein weighed in. Adelstein, widely consider one of the most respected high-stakes cash game players in the game today, respectfully took issue with Barry’s notion that part of what ‘Skillsrocks’ did was simply “part of the game.”
“One thing you said that I just take strong issue with, on behalf of the poker community, looking at other people’s hands, if you can, is not part of the game,” Adelstein said. “That is not part of the game…that’s completely f***ing unacceptable.”
Adelstein went on to talk about the decision to cheat is more than about the game, with Barry chiming in that it’s about integrity.
“Now, is there a small segment of people in poker, and in life, who are going to take every edge like that if they can get away with it? Absolutely,” Adelstein continued. “But that’s not part of the game, that’s completely f***ed up and I think I stand for the vast majority of poker players that when someone is showing their hand they go out of their way to ensure they don’t look at it, they don’t see it, they say something – even if they have to say something to the guy every five minutes.”
“I don’t think poker is this community where everyone’s just trying to rip each other’s head off…
“That like life, some people in life are going to try to take every spot and other people are more interested in looking in the mirror at themselves and feeling ok about it,” Adelstein concluded.
Barry followed that up by talking about the support he’s received.
“Well, I appreciate it,” Barry said. “I’ve got a lot of support out there and I appreciate everybody reaching out.”
‘Skillsrocks’ remains banned from everything having to do with Hustler Casino Live and the establishment itself.
The conversation about the incident continued during parts of the high-stakes cash game which you can watch right here (or on YouTube).