Major controversy erupts: WSOP withholds bracelet & prize money and expands investigation

The WSOP has opened an investigation into suspected collusion and chip dumping during the end stages of the $1,500 buy-in Millionaire Maker tournament on Wednesday night. It has also withheld the bracelet and prize money from the top two spots.

In a post on its X account on Thursday morning, the WSOP said, “Last night, we were made aware of a potential breach of the official WSOP Tournament Rules during heads up play in Event 53. An investigation is underway. At this time, 1st and 2nd place have not been confirmed and neither the prize money nor the bracelet have been officially awarded.”

Winner denies collusion

The event — one of the biggest of the summer, with 11,996 entries — was won by Jesse Yaginuma for his fourth WSOP bracelet. He defeated James Carroll heads-up to win the $1.2 million first prize. He also won a $1 million bonus from ClubWPT Gold, as he was holding one of its promotional Gold Rush passes. 

ClubWPT Gold, the sweepstakes arm of the World Poker Tour, has been running its promotion all summer. If a player holds a Gold Rush pass and wins one of a number of qualifying WSOP tournaments, they receive a $1 million payout.

Another Gold Rush winner, Michael Lavin, had already been paid out earlier in the series. Yaginuma’s win proved more controversial after he started heads-up with a huge chip deficit, which he clawed back through a series of hands that online sleuths saw as suspicious. 

You can read a full recap, along with a number of the heads-up hands, in Matt Hansen’s report from the floor last night. Hansen talked to Yaginuma after he won and asked about whether a deal had been made. “No, not really,” he replied. “We talked for a little bit about poker, but yeah, that was about it."

Jesse Yaginuma has denied doing a deal with James Carroll.

Players: Pay the man his money

Instant player reactions to the WSOP investigation have made it clear where they stand on the issue.

PokerOrg Player Advisory Board member Matt Berkey took a strong stance, saying, “Not paying them would be the dumbest PR move imaginable. This is hardly the first time in WSOP history a chop has been privately facilitated in this manner, & not paying is just a spiteful attempt at saving face from the embarrassment brought on by the WPT freeroll. Truly insane stance here by the WSOP.”

Ari Engel posted to say, “Pay the players! Completely unacceptable to not pay."

And other players took a similar view. 

Eric Baldwin said, “Are you guys going to pay the players their prize money or not? Trying to map out the rest of my summer schedule.”

Adam Levy argued, “If you allowed deals like every other establishment in poker, this wouldn’t be a situation, and ClubWPT wouldn’t have done their silly promotion."

What do the rules say?

WSOP has a rule in place against chip dumping. Rule 76 states, “Poker is an individual game. Soft play will result in penalties that may include forfeiture of chips and/or disqualification. Chip dumping will result in disqualification.”

As players have pointed out, though, if a 'deal' was done here, it was between two players with no one else affected. Many other tours facilitate chops. 

ClubWPT Gold has a more general rule in place that would disqualify anyone “acting in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner, or with the intent to disrupt or undermine the legitimate operation of the Promotion.”

In the PokerOrg report from last night, Hansen wrote, “Bigger questions, though, have to be asked about the position WPT has put the players in.”

The Gold Rush promotion also applies to three more WSOP events this summer – the $300 Gladiators that is running at the moment, the $1,000 Mini Main (#75) and the $10,000 Main Event (#81).