Payouts pending
We have our first big controversy of the 2025 World Series of Poker and it is quite the doozy. On Thursday, the WSOP announced that it has launched an investigation into the conclusion of the big $1,500 Millionaire Maker event and has withheld the top two payouts and the bracelet.
Though the WSOP did not specify exactly what rules were broken, what investigators are almost certainly looking at is the possibility of collusion between the winner, Jesse Yaginuma, and the runner-up, James Carroll.
Curious play from both men
Carroll entered the heads-up match with a 10-to-1 chip lead, a margin that would nearly guarantee victory in most cases. But this is poker, and of course, anything can happen. He was up by even more at one point – 270 million chips to 17 million – but Yaginuma came roaring back to play as perfect of a game as one could ever play.
And that was the problem. To many onlookers, it seemed like he played too perfectly. He doubled-up at one point early on, but otherwise, he was able to climb all the way back and win the tournament without having all his chips at risk. Normally, facing the kinds of chip deficits Yaginuma faced, players have to get lucky on several all-ins to mount a comeback.
To some people, and apparently enough that the WSOP has started a probe into the heads-up match, not only did Yaginuma’s play look too good, but Carroll’s play looked oddly bad.
The most vocal of critics has been ACR Pro Rob Kuhn, who posted a thread on X showing what he believed to be evidence of collusion. According to Kuhn, Carroll signaled to his opponent the strength of his hand via bet sizing. If Carroll had a weak hand or was bluffing, he bet an odd multiple of a million (so 9 million, 15 million, etc.), and if he had a strong hand, he would bet an even multiple.
It was through this bet sizing signal, says Kuhn, that Yaginuma was able to make the correct betting decisions every time, plus give cover to Carroll when the eventual runner-up decided to fold after previously raising.
Another million at stake
Some have argued that even if the players colluded, it didn’t matter because they were heads-up. Players make deals at final tables all the time (though the WSOP does not officially sanction them), so this was effectively just another deal.
There is one other factor in play, though. Yaginuma held one of ClubWPT Gold’s Gold Rush passes, which awards an extra $1 million should the player win one of a select group of WSOP events. The Millionaire Maker was one such tournament.
Thus, in addition to the $1.2 million for first place, Yaginuma won another $1 million. The theory among those who think the two players were colluding is that they made a deal to share the million-dollar bonus. So while collusion, if it existed, wouldn’t harm other players, it would affect ClubWPT Gold.
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