Did players collude at the World Series of Poker's final table to collect $1 million bonus?

LAS VEGAS — One of the World Series of Poker’s largest events is shrouded in controversy Thursday after two players were accused of collusion during heads-up play.

Professional poker player Jesse Yaginuma won the WSOP’s $1,500 buy-in “Millionaire Maker” No-limit Hold’em event Wednesday night at Horseshoe Las Vegas, overcoming a massive chip deficit to defeat fellow pro James Carroll.

Immediately after the victory, suspicions were raised on social media that Carroll was “chip-dumping” and deliberately allowed his opponent to win pots. Poker commentators David Tuchman and Joe Stapleton also were skeptical during the PokerGO online stream of the event of what took place.

The WSOP released a statement Thursday that it has launched an investigation into the result of the Millionaire Maker event, which drew 11,996 entrants.

“Last night, we were made aware of a potential breach of the official WSOP tournament rules during heads-up play in event 53,” the statement said. “An investigation is underway. At this time, first and second place have not been confirmed, and neither the prize money nor the bracelet have been officially awarded.”

First prize in the tournament is $1,255,180, with second place worth $1,012,320. In addition, Yaginuma won a $1 million bonus from rival promotion ClubWPT Gold, which gave the bonus to any eligible player who won one of 11 preselected summer events.

Yaginuma previously won a ClubWPT Gold ticket to make him eligible for the bonus and was the only player who qualified for the $1 million promotion.

ClubWPT Gold has yet to comment on the outcome and whether it believes Yaginuma and Carroll colluded to ensure the $1 million bonus.

“Thrilled but tired,” Yaginuma told PokerNews after the win. “It’s a long tournament.

“It feels great. I mean, everyone always calls my (online) bracelets fake bracelets. You know, that’s to be argued. But it feels great to have a live one.”

WSOP rule 40b states: “Collusion is defined as any agreement between or among two (2) or more Participants to engage in illegal or unethical acts against other Participants. Collusion includes, but is not limited to, acts such as: chip dumping; soft play; sharing card information with another Participant; sending or receiving signals from or to another Participant; the use of electronic communication with the intent to facilitate collusion; and any other act that Host Properties deem inappropriate.”

The WSOP defines chip-dumping “as any agreement between or among two (2) or more Participants for one or more of the Participants to bet chips with the intent of increasing another Participant’s stack.”

Suspicious hands

According to the live tournament updates published by PokerNews, Yaginuma and Carroll took an unscheduled break that lasted approximately 25 minutes before the start of heads-up play. When they returned, Yaginuma started with a nine-to-one chip deficit.

A hand less than 20 minutes into the heads-up duel stood out on the PokerGO stream.

Carroll, who didn’t use his big chip stack to pressure Yaginuma during heads-up play, opted not to raise preflop after his opponent just called from the small blind with seven-five offsuit. Carroll was holding 10-six offsuit and had three-of-a-kind after the flop came seven-six-six.

Carroll led out with a bet of 4 million chips into a pot of 7.2 million.

“It’s over, right?” Tuchman said on the stream. “I assume this is it, right? I mean, we’ve got trip sixes versus top pair. ... It’s just hard to imagine a scenario where the chips don’t go in here.”

Yaginuma, who started the hand with only eight big blinds in chips, thought about his decision for 40 seconds and then folded.

“Oh, my goodness!” Stapleton said as Yaginuma’s cards went into the muck. “Does Carroll have some kind of crazy live tell?”

“I don’t understand,” Tuchman responded.

“What just happened?” Stapleton said. “I do not think I’ve ever seen someone fold top pair with seven big blinds behind to one bet. ... What in the world?”

As the two continued to express their shock, Tuchman said, “that’s just the most insane fold I’ve ever seen. I don’t get it.”

‘Literally done nothing wrong’

Yaginuma slowly chipped up with well-timed aggression before another hand about an hour into heads-up action also was heavily criticized online.

Yaginuma just called the big blind with jack-eight and then called a re-raise to 13 million chips by Carroll, holding a lousy six-three.

The flop of 10-five-jack gave Yaginuma the advantage, and he called Carroll’s bet of 17 million chips. Both players checked the turn, which was a seven, and Carroll bet 57 million chips after the queen on the river.

Yaginuma eventually called and won the massive pot to take the lead. He finished off Carroll a few hands later following approximately 75 minutes of heads-up play.

“He has literally done nothing wrong heads-up,” Tuchman said. “It’s amazing.”

Should the result hold, Yaginuma would earn his fourth career WSOP bracelet and first in a live event after winning online bracelet events each of the past three years.

Carroll is a two-time WPT champion and has two WSOP Circuit rings, which are awarded for tournament wins.

Yaginuma is the second player during the WSOP to collect the $1 million bonus from the ClubWPT promotion. Michael Lavin won the $1,500 buy-in No-limit Hold’em Shootout on June 6 and also snagged the seven-figure promotion.

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