Jesse Yaginuma pulled again a 10-1 chip deficit to land WSOP gold and a $1milllion bonus however has sparked claims of a chip dumping deal.
The grand finale to Occasion #53: $1,500 Millionaire Maker noticed each heads-up gamers – Jesse Yaginuma and James Carroll – lock up $1million payouts, with $250k and the bracelet nonetheless to play for.
Yaginuma, nevertheless, was in line to select up a ClubWPT Gold promotional bonus of one other $1million, having certified by bagging one of many sweepstakes-style on-line website’s Gold Rush tickets.
One large drawback stood in his method…a ten:1 chip deficit to his opponent. That, it appears, wasn’t going to be an issue in any respect, in response to nearly everybody who watched the livestreamed showdown play out on one of many largest phases of all.
Wtf am I watching within the milly maker?
If Yagimuna wins he wins an additional 1million from the golden move
Carroll went from enjoying nice to trying like he is chip dumping to Yaginuma
It is a wild watch pic.twitter.com/WxqNXtBTOw
— Rob Kuhn (@RobKuhn_) June 26, 2025
Odds and Evens Signalling?
In an indication that maybe there was a pre-determined sign from Carroll when he was forward, Yaginuma discovered a flop fold with high pair and 7BBs behind…
Dogecoin co-creator Billy Markus noticed the betting sample fairly rapidly and tweeted: “Wtf is that this Yaginuma Carroll heads up poker match… if Carroll bets an odd quantity he doesn’t have it and can fold to a re-raise?”
Quite a few different arms have been shared that appear to help the claims of chip-dumping, probably the most egregious under:
Yaginuma: J♣ 8♠
Carroll: 6♣ 3♦
Yaginuma limped from the button and Carroll raised 4x his large blind.
Flop: 10♣ 5♣ J♠
Carroll wager 2/3rds pot, which was referred to as by Yaginuma.
Flip: 7♣
Play went verify, verify…
River: Q♠
Carroll wager nearly pot, 57million, and obtained a name.
X/Twitter Polarised
Poker X/Twitter was principally excoriating in its response to essentially the most high-profile allegations of the 2025 WSOP to date:
It took me 3 whole arms to see the collusion sample heads upHope you guys don’t honor it. It was clear chip dumping and such a fucking horrible search for poker and the neighborhood. Completely disgusting.Think about a extremely wealthy man is available in and simply bribes whole ultimate tables to punt so his buddy wins a bracelet. We’re not too removed from that.
There have been some large names within the recreation, nevertheless, who didn’t see something improper in what occurred.
Tonight is an especially telling night time within the poker world for who sides with a multi billion greenback non-public fairness agency over and particular person simply attempting to play some playing cards. Anybody selecting wrongly will be simply ignored from now till eternity about all issues
— Scott Seiver (@scott_seiver) June 26, 2025
Please cease speaking concerning the integrity. The event was over, offers occur on a regular basis. Not a single participant was affected AT ALL. The WPT promotion has NOTHING to do with this event (and once more no gamers in any respect affected there too) that is sarcastically in all probability the… https://t.co/N9VUPcZ6Go
— Patrick Leonard 🫡 (@padspoker) June 26, 2025
What the WSOP/WPT Say
The 2025 WSOP Match Guidelines disagree after all, and explicitly state that chip dumping is towards the principles:
“Chip dumping is outlined as any settlement between or amongst two (2) or extra Individuals for a number of of the Individuals to wager chips with the intent of accelerating one other Participant’s stack.”
The principles state that the WSOP has the best to sanction anybody “discovered to have engaged in or tried to have interaction in any act that WSOP officers consider of their sole and absolute discretion compromises or might compromise the aggressive integrity of the WSOP.”
The penalties “might embody, however shall not be restricted to, the next:
FORFEITURE OF CHIPSFORFEITURE OF PRIZE MONEYEJECTION FROM AN EVENT OR THE ENTIRE WSOP TOURNAMENTLOSS OF PRIVILEGE TO PARTICIPATE IN FUTURE WSOP EVENTSEXCLUSION FROM ENTERING THE PREMISES OF CASINO AND/OR ALL DESIGNATED AFFILIATES OF HOST PROPERTIES.”
ClubWPT Gold additionally has guidelines towards such unethical play however to date neither they, nor the WSOP, have made an official assertion on the state of affairs.
Yaginuma was requested in a post-tournament interview whether or not there was any heads-up deal in place with Carroll, answering: “No, not likely. We talked for a little bit bit about poker, however yeah, that was about it.” Carroll has but to touch upon the allegations.
UPDATE: The WSOP have tweeted out a brief assertion on the matter…
Final night time, we have been made conscious of a possible breach of the official WSOP Match Guidelines throughout heads up play in Occasion 53. An investigation is underway. At the moment, 1st and 2nd place haven’t been confirmed and neither the prize cash nor the bracelet have been formally…
— WSOP – World Sequence of Poker (@WSOP) June 26, 2025
