The 2026 World Collection of Poker kicks off on Might 26 at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas with 100 bracelet occasions and 749 tables. It’s the most important schedule in WSOP historical past. However a number of recognizable names are locked out of Las Vegas completely, and others are selecting to remain residence.
Between a drug arrest at US customs, the primary bracelet ever withheld for dishonest, and a brand new playing tax cap that has pushed a 10x bracelet winner into semi-retirement, the listing of professionals who can’t or gained’t play the 2026 WSOP is unusually lengthy.
Right here’s each story and what it means for the sphere heading into this summer season.
Charlie Carrel: Banned from America Since 2017
British poker professional Charlie Carrel gained’t be on the 2026 WSOP. He gained’t be on the 2027 WSOP both. Carrel has been banned from coming into the USA for over eight years, and for the primary time, he’s informed the total story publicly.
The Arrest That Ended His WSOP Profession
Carrel revealed what occurred in a YouTube video titled “I Messed Up” in February 2026. The story resurfaced this week, one week earlier than the 2026 collection begins.
In early 2017, shortly after Donald Trump first took workplace, Carrel flew to Las Vegas. Border safety had tightened. A customs agent searched his baggage and located three pink drugs inside a jar.
“A whole lot of the border safety had sort of tightened up on foreigners, and to this present day, I’m nonetheless outraged, as a result of he didn’t imply me, he didn’t imply English foreigners. However they needed to be non-discriminatory.”
Carrel says he wasn’t certain whether or not the drugs had been unlawful. He additionally didn’t know if there have been extra medicine elsewhere in his suitcase. He was arrested and spent one night time in Clark County, Nevada jail.
“I received arrested in America, and I received banned from America. I’m at the moment not allowed in the USA of America, until I’m certain if I got here within the South border. Oh, no, no, Trump’s in, can’t even do this. I’m accomplished for, I’m screwed.”
His final WSOP look was that very same 12 months: 88th place within the 2017 Fundamental Occasion out of seven,221 entries for $72,514. 9 straight summers have handed with out him.
Carrel’s Profession Numbers
The place Carrel Performs Now
Carrel has shifted to crypto poker platforms. He’s a CoinPoker ambassador and competed within the 2026 Money Sport World Championship collection earlier this 12 months. His YouTube channel focuses available opinions, teaching periods, and the occasional confessional just like the one which broke this story.
The US ban doesn’t block him from on-line play. WSOP On-line bracelet occasions run on GGPoker in parallel with the dwell collection, so Carrel might nonetheless chase a bracelet from London with out ever boarding a flight to Las Vegas.
Yaginuma and Carroll: Lifetime Bans After the Millionaire Maker Scandal
The 2025 $1,500 Millionaire Maker drew almost 12,000 entries and may have produced one of many largest feel-good tales of the summer season. As a substitute, it grew to become the primary occasion in WSOP historical past the place no bracelet was awarded, and each finalists had been banned for all times from all Caesars properties.
The $1M Bonus That Created the Incentive
Jesse Yaginuma entered the Millionaire Maker holding a ClubWPT Gold “Gold Rush” ticket. The promotion was easy: if Yaginuma gained any of 11 designated WSOP occasions, he’d acquire a $1,000,000 bonus on high of the common prize cash.
He made it to heads-up play towards James Carroll, a two-time WPT champion with $7.6 million in profession dwell earnings. Carroll held a commanding chip lead. Yaginuma was down 9 to 1, a deficit that swelled to 16 to 1 at its worst.
Then the comeback occurred. Yaginuma erased the whole deficit in 59 arms. Viewers watching the PokerGO stream couldn’t consider what they had been seeing.
The Fingers That Set Off the Investigation
The stream captured a string of performs from Carroll that made no strategic sense at any degree of poker:
