Ryan Feldman, former EP of Live at the Bike, signs deal to set up stream with Hustler Casino.

I just read on Twitter that Ryan Feldman, who ran the LATB stream for years before leaving because of an apparent disagreement with ownership, has signed a deal to run a live-stream from the Hustler Casino. He signed along with a Nick Vertucci, who is a recreational player & a staple in the LATB High Stakes Friday Stream, and also promises to bring big name regs such as Garret Adelstein along for the ride.

Feldman announced months ago that he was let go from the Bike due to the pandemic. At that time he also disclosed that he had not been involved in running LATB for 6 months prior and he was only working at the Bike in his capacity as hosting the big game off stream. He was clearly upset with the Bike, who he felt had made promises to him that they did not keep. It seems like he will be getting his revenge, as if he is able to get all these players to move, it should dramatically effect the LATB stream. This seems like a major coup.

https://twitter.com/TheRyanFeldman/s...344701952?s=20

https://twitter.com/TheRyanFeldman/s...602360320?s=20

https://twitter.com/HCLPokerShow/sta...766517248?s=20

https://twitter.com/TheRyanFeldman/s...906242562?s=20

Few initial thoughts-

I was a casual viewer but did tune in for the High Stakes Friday streams pretty often. I did notice Feldman was conspicuously absent from doing any commentary for many months before the casino shut down. Looking back now, it is obvious he wasn’t involved but strange that this was not acknowledged by any one else at LATB. The news was only broke after Ryan disclosed it in Twitter after he was let go from his hosting job at the Bike during the pandemic cut backs.

Looking back the quality of the games were just not as good during the time Ryan was no longer Executive Producer. It does not surprise me that many players felt more loyalty to Ryan than either the Bike or LATB (which is a separate entity).

I would imagine this was a pretty lucrative deal. Nick Vertucci being the conduit to the other regs. It always struck me that the Bike took full rake from these games. I am sure the players were given other perks but it will be interesting to see the setup at Hustler. With PokerGO behind a paywall and Feldman taking many popular regs with him, I would expect this to be a success.

good find jeff...

looks like LATB might be done and dusted if they lose guys like garrett and andy...high stakes fridays were must watch viewing if you enjoy watching poker...

Good pickup for Hustler. Interesting that they're starting up a stream during the time of COVID.

I get along well with Ryan. Maybe we can have him on radio soon.

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Good pickup for Hustler. Interesting that they're starting up a stream during the time of COVID.

I get along well with Ryan. Maybe we can have him on radio soon.

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That would be a great interview. I wonder if he had a 1 year non-compete clause in his contract with LATB like many in sales/marketing jobs? If he didn’t, that will certainly now change moving forward. That could explain the timing of the deal. Was he negotiating with a number of LA casinos or was Hustler the only real alternative? I doubt the vaccine announcement from Pfizer has anything to do with this, but it is quite the coincidence.

I would imagine you know the ins and outs of the LA Poker scene better than most anyone. Can you see this potentially giving more exposure and bringing more players to the Hustler? I am not at all aware of the geographic and other particulars that would come into play to ultimately move the needle.

Yes, it could definitely help.

The Hustler is significantly smaller than The Bike and Commerce, but it's held its own since it opened about 20 years ago. My very first hand of Texas Holdem occurred there.

It's a more relaxed environment than Commerce (where everyone's constantly angry and stressed out) and The Bike (which is like a somewhat-less-intense Commerce).

Also, the 25-50 limit hold 'em game is stuck in a time warp, and still plays like back in the poker boom. Like, you have 7-8 players seeing flops and chasing the whole way. This may sound like a great game -- and often it is -- but it can present its own challenge, because it becomes impossible to know where you are in the hand given the intense chasing going on.

Last time I was there, I got clobbered for $2700 in that game because I got ran down every single time I hit, and I also missed a ton of flops. Anyway, it's pretty amazing people still play that way in today's day and age.

If Hustler could get a bit more notoriety, it could start to grow. It's still kept up fairly well, and it has a medium-sized-cardroom charm, whereas Bike and Commerce seem huge and impersonal.

BUMP

https://twitter.com/TheRyanFeldman/s...54731856179201


:what

That is real petty from the Bike. Ryan is a nice guy but it’s time he buries the Bike and LATB. Got to go scorched earth after they do something this ridiculous to him.

https://twitter.com/HCLPokerShow/sta...251288579?s=20

major coup?

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Originally Posted by Sidewinder

major coup?

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This has been in the works for some time now. I only really tune in to high stakes Friday on LATB and Garrett has been in those games. It will be interesting to see how things shake out. I think Ryan has very good personal relationships with a lot of these guys and the Hustler will offer player’s incentives for sure in the beginning.

At the end of the day it’s going to be who is spreading the better games. Garrett may be friends with Ryan & Nick but if LATB is putting together a better game for him, that’s where he has to play. Will be more poker content on YouTube which is a good thing.

This was pretty good last night. I like Tuchman and Bart Hanson as the announcers. I hope they continue on.

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Originally Posted by JoeD

This was pretty good last night. I like Tuchman and Bart Hanson as the announcers. I hope they continue on.

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Production quality was very good and Ryan and Nick brought dealers, players and staff with them. Where there will be blood is the High Stakes Friday streams. It’s tough enough to fill one game in LA every Friday at those stakes and now both will be going at it to get the big game on their turf. The key guy is clearly Garrett Adelstein.

Garrett seems to be friendly with both Nick and Ryan. But I am sure he is very friendly with the LATB guys as well. At the end of the day he has to play where it is the best for him. But he has been the “star” of the game for sometime and if he moves to Hustler there is no doubt the game will come with him as well.

Don’t expect to see Garrett or Andy on this Friday. I see they advertised Antonio for Friday, who is notorious for only wanting to play on stream in rec heavy lineups. No disrespect, but I don’t think Antonio is a draw anymore. I think they will have a great game but doesn’t appear that there will be a coup this Friday.

I was sweating the Women’s Olympics Golf so I got to listen to the interview live. Was really a great interview by Druff. Ryan went through his journey and comes off very sincere about the whole thing. He was professional in the way he talked about what happened at LATB without disparaging the other guys at LATB.

The Bike as an entity really did him dirty. It does seem that they didn’t give him his due for filling up those games after he had broken apart from the separate entity that is LATB. He talked about how he came to the doing the stream at Hustler in a sincere way and doesn’t come off likes he’s just trying to plug it. Got to feel good for the guy that he was able to get this new chapter started.

I won’t spoil the interview, you really need to give it a listen. You won’t be disappointed.

You are correct that GManPoker Garrett Adelstein will be a big factor to the success of the now dueling high stakes Friday night poker streams out here in LA.

I just hope that The Bike does not go all Johnny Carson on the players and perma ban any player that appears on the Hustler stream.

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Originally Posted by JeffDime

I was sweating the Women’s Olympics Golf so I got to listen to the interview live. Was really a great interview by Druff. Ryan went through his journey and comes off very sincere about the whole thing. He was professional in the way he talked about what happened at LATB without disparaging the other guys at LATB.

The Bike as an entity really did him dirty. It does seem that they didn’t give him his due for filling up those games after he had broken apart from the separate entity that is LATB. He talked about how he came to the doing the stream at Hustler in a sincere way and doesn’t come off likes he’s just trying to plug it. Got to feel good for the guy that he was able to get this new chapter started.

I won’t spoil the interview, you really need to give it a listen. You won’t be disappointed.

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Great interview with Ryan, but don’t feel sorry for him. He is a smart guy, but let the Bike take advantage of him. He isn’t bitter, learned from it, and moved on. That kid is going places,

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Originally Posted by Jayjami

Great interview with Ryan, but don’t feel sorry for him. He is a smart guy, but let the Bike take advantage of him. He isn’t bitter, learned from it, and moved on. That kid is going places,

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I agree, I don’t feel bad for Ryan. He is a “Producer” in the purest sense of the world. It’s why big time salesman who have the contacts and the skill have sign non-compete agreements in most cases when taking a new job.

Ryan is uniquely qualified with the rolodex & contacts he has accumulated to bring a shit ton of revenue to a casino very quickly. It’s clear from his telling he was never compensated correctly for that from the Bike. But as you said, he has lived and learned. The Bike either didn’t care or underestimated the power of the interpersonal relationships he had built. Probably a combination both.

As for the LATB crew they all seem like nice guys. Ryan seemed to want to take it to the moon and the others had a different vision. Shit happens and just because it didn’t work out I don’t look at LATB as bad guys. We know relationships breakdown all the time and it doesn’t mean one side is the heel.

I do hope as Joe said they don’t sort of “shadow” ban players who defect and allow them to hop from stream to stream if they like. If you are a known quantity you probably will be able to jump back and forth. If you are the new guy and just trying to get on stream for the first time, then you may have to pick a side, at least for now. I’ll watch them both.

Well I just turned to the LATB stream and they are going to show an old game featuring Helmuth & Antonio right after the steams ends. Antonio who is the special guest at Hustler tonight. So the gloves are out. So much for them playing nice. They’ve never done this before. Can’t be a coincidence.

For those who haven't heard it, Ryan was on PFA Radio for over an hour last night.

https://pokerfraudalert.com/forum/sh...-From-the-Bike

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