Destroy Live Cash Review: Is Garrett Adelstein’s Course Worth It? (2026)
Garrett Adelstein spent 25 years refusing to teach. Then in September 2026 he released a 35-hour course. Here’s what’s actually in it, who it’s for, and where it falls short.
Quick Verdict
Destroy Live Cash is the best live cash game course Upswing has released, and probably the best hand-review course on the market for $2/$5+ live players. It’s not a fundamentals course, it’s not a solver course, and it’s not cheap at retail. But if you play live, run deep, and want to understand how a top player actually thinks through a hand against real opponents, there’s nothing else like it.
| Rating | 4.5 / 5 |
| Best for | Live cash players, $2/$5 and up |
| Length | 35+ hours, 9 sections, 87 lessons |
| Format | Hand-by-hand video breakdowns, 50 hands |
| Retail price | $999 |
| Discounted | $67 at PokerVault.eu |
Who Is Garrett Adelstein?
If you’ve watched any high-stakes poker stream in the last decade, you know him. Garrett was a winning online high-stakes regular for seven years before moving to live cash, where he became one of the most consistent winners on Live at the Bike and later the centrepiece of Hustler Casino Live. He’s known for relentless aggression against every player type, an unreadable table presence, and the ability to switch between theoretically sound play and pure exploitation mid-hand.
What he’s not known for is teaching. Until this course his coaching was private, reportedly at $1,000+ per hour. That matters for the review: this is a first-time course from someone with a lot of material and no track record of packaging it.
What’s Inside Destroy Live Cash
The structure is simple: 50 hands from Garrett’s streaming career, in roughly chronological order, each broken down over one to three lessons. The opponents include Tom Dwan, Matt Berkey, Andy Stacks and Art Papazyan, but the majority of hands are against the players you actually meet in a live game — VIPs, recreational players and “thinking recs.”
Every hand runs through the same three-step process:
- Establish the GTO baseline for the spot
- Identify the exploitative deviation the opponent is offering
- Punish it — merge theory and read into the highest-EV line
The nine sections:
- Welcome to the Course (2 lessons) — A short PioSOLVER orientation. Not how to run sims, but how to look at output without memorising it.
- Live at the Bike: Early Streams and Exploits (Hands 1–7) — The pre-study era. Reading river sizing, spotting who’ll stack off, using physical tells to trigger bluffs.
- Leveling Up: The Study Era Begins (Hands 8–13) — Three-street bluff sizing, position when deep, wide-range leaks.
- Million Dollar Cash Games (Hands 14–20) — 300bb+ play vs Berkey, Andy Stacks and transparent VIPs. Big preflop sizes, overbets, quick math for huge calls.
- The Hustler Casino Live Era (Hands 21–30) — The biggest section at 17 lessons. Punishing players who never fold, when a read beats theory, hands vs Dwan.
- Unorthodox Lines in Massive Games (Hands 31–34) — Overbets, odd sizes, bluffing with showdown value.
- Deviations vs Elite Opponents (Hands 35–38) — Finding edges vs studied pros, and the cost of exploiting in the wrong direction.
- Exploiting Thinking Recs (Hands 39–43) — The $2/$5–$5/$10 reg who’s done some work. Wider 3-bets, relentless value, overbets that fold out aces.
- Taking Hands to the Limit (Hands 44–50) — Three-street bluffs GTO doesn’t approve of, bluff catches vs elite hand readers, big folds.
Bonus: Garrett’s deep-stack preflop ranges — 200+ charts for 300bb+ games built with the Lucid Poker solver team, using live-game structures rather than the usual 100bb/no-ante assumptions.
What’s Good
The reasoning, not the result
Most hand-review content tells you what happened and whether it worked. Garrett spends most of each lesson on what he knew at the time — the opponent’s history, the sizing tells, the table dynamic — and how that shifted him off the baseline. Several hands are ones he lost or misplayed, and he says so. That’s rare in a course sold on someone’s reputation.
It’s about live opponents
The course is organised by opponent type more than by hand category. The section on thinking recs alone is worth more to a $2/$5 player than most full courses, because that’s the player who actually costs you money: too good to be a pure fish, not good enough to be balanced.
Theory is used properly
This isn’t an “ignore GTO, play the player” course. Every deviation starts from a stated theoretical baseline, and Section 7 is explicitly about the mistake of exploiting when you shouldn’t. Studied players won’t feel talked down to.
The preflop ranges fill a real gap
Almost nobody publishes 300bb+ ranges. Live games at $5/$10 and up regularly play that deep, and the standard 100bb charts are wrong for them. The bonus alone has practical value.
What’s Not
The price
$999 is a lot for a hand-review course with no drills, no quizzes and no community component. Upswing prices it as a flagship product. If you’re paying retail, you’re paying for Garrett’s name as much as the content.
It assumes fundamentals
There’s no preflop or postflop theory module. If you don’t already understand ranges, position, pot odds and basic bet sizing, the lessons will go over your head. This is a course for players who are already winning or close to it.
Some lessons run long
Thirty-five hours is a lot. A few hands could have been covered in half the time, and the chronological ordering means the early Live at the Bike hands — from before Garrett’s study era — are less sharp than the later ones. It’s worth watching everything, but start with Sections 5, 8 and 9 if you’re short on time.
Live-only
Almost everything here is tuned to live dynamics: physical tells, table talk, VIPs playing 400bb deep. Online players will find the theory sections useful but the exploitative content less transferable.
Who Should Buy Destroy Live Cash
- Buy it if: you play live cash at $2/$5 or above, your games regularly run deep, and you want to understand how to deviate from theory against specific opponents.
- Buy it if: you’re an intuitive live player who’s never used a solver and wants theory explained without grids.
- Skip it if: you’re under $1/$2, still learning fundamentals, or play mostly online. The Upswing Lab is the better starting point.
- Consider instead: Elite Cash Game Exploits by Uri Peleg if you want exploitative theory for online play.
Destroy Live Cash vs Other Live Cash Courses
| Course | Focus | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Destroy Live Cash (Adelstein) | Hand review, exploitative live play, deep stacks | $2/$5+ live players with fundamentals |
| Smash Live Cash (Petrangelo) | Theory-first live strategy | Players wanting a systematic live framework |
| Elite Cash Game Exploits (Peleg) | Exploitative theory, online-leaning | Online and live players who study |
| Upswing Lab | Fundamentals across formats | Beginners and intermediates |
Final Verdict
Destroy Live Cash delivers exactly what it promises: the thinking behind 50 of the most-watched live hands of the last decade, from the player who played them. It’s too expensive at retail and too advanced for beginners, but for its target audience — live cash players with solid fundamentals — it’s the most useful course Upswing has put out.
Rating: 4.5/5. Docked half a point for price and the lack of any structured practice material.
Get Destroy Live Cash for $67 at PokerVault.eu →
FAQ
Is Destroy Live Cash worth it?
For live cash players at $2/$5 and above with solid fundamentals, yes. It’s the most detailed live hand-review course available. Beginners and online-only players will get less from it.
How long is Destroy Live Cash?
Over 35 hours of video across 9 sections and 87 lessons, covering 50 hands.
Do I need a solver to follow the course?
No. Garrett teaches theory through heuristics, and the short Pio orientation at the start is designed for players who’ve never opened a solver.
What stakes is Destroy Live Cash for?
Primarily $2/$5 and up, or lower-stakes games that regularly run 200bb+ deep.
Is Destroy Live Cash an anti-GTO course?
No. Every hand starts from a theoretical baseline and then explains when and why to deviate against a specific opponent.
What’s the difference between Destroy Live Cash and Smash Live Cash?
Smash Live Cash (Nick Petrangelo) is a theory-first, systematic live course. Destroy Live Cash is hand-review based and focused on exploitative deviations. They complement each other rather than compete.