Jesse Yaginuma pulled off a wild comeback on Wednesday night at the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) to win a gold bracelet, which normally would be celebrated by the poker community. But the victory has become controversial as many poker players have made allegations of chip dumping during heads-up play.
The champion took down Event #53: $1,500 Millionaire Maker for $1,255,180. He also received an extra $1 million from a ClubWPT Gold promotion. Yaginuma won a Gold Rush ticket from the sweeps coin poker site, which made him eligible for the seven-figure bonus if he were to take down a qualifying WSOP event.
James Carroll, the second-place finisher, earned $1,012,320 as a consolation prize. But social media blew up during the PokerGO livestream with players accusing the heads-up opponents of chip dumping to allow Yaginuma to win the tournament so that the $1 million bonus would be awarded.
https://twitter.com/ClubWPTGold/status/1938090565863719263
Michael Lavin Wins $1 Million Promotion and WSOP Bracelet
Carroll and Yaginuma are accomplished pros with nearly $9 million in combined live tournament cashes entering the Milly Maker. But some poker players on social media were critical of the heads-up play, and pointed to a few hands as evidence they believe proves collusion.
In one of the most criticized hands, with the blinds at 1.5 million/3 million, Yaginuma limped on the button with J♣8♠and Carroll raised to 13 million with 6♣3♦, receiving a call. The flop came out 10♣5♣J♠and the preflop raiser bet 17 million, a bet that was called. Both players checked the 7♣turn before Carroll bet, and was called, 57 million on the Q♠river.
Yaginuma took down the 174,000,000 pot to move into the lead for the first time after trailing nearly 10-1 in chips a half hour before. That lead was just over 5-1 in chips at the time.
Poker is an individual game... Chip dumping and other forms of collusion will result in disqualification.
- 2025 WSOP Official Tournament Rules
Throughout the heads-up battle, Carroll frequently folded to Yaginuma’s preflop pressure. In another hand, Yaginuma limped in with 9♣8♥, prompting Carroll to raise to 13 million with Q♥6♣. Yaginuma responded with a three-bet to 32 million, and Carroll quickly folded.
A similar pattern played out several hands later. Yaginuma opened to 8.7 million with 8♠7♣, and Carroll three-bet to 23 million holding 8♣3♦. Yaginuma came back over the top with a four-bet to 42 million, forcing another fold from Carroll.
PokerNewsreached out to a representative from ClubWPT Gold, who said "we're looking into the matter," but was unable to say anything further.
The final table aired on PokerGO, and some poker fans began to take notice of what they alleged to be questionable play. Eric "Barstool Nate" Nathan, a Barstool Sports personality and avid poker player, was among the first to bring forth the allegations.
https://twitter.com/BarstoolNate/status/1938090644443971873
https://twitter.com/RobKuhn_/status/1938086980627071486
Many others chimed in, echoing those sentiments. Joe Stapleton, a commentator on the PokerStars livestream, replied to a tweet in regards to the heads-up match, saying, "total embarrassment."
Dogecoin co-creator Billy Markus, known online as "Shibetoshi Nakamoto," also reacted, remarking, "If Carroll bets an odd amount, he doesn’t have it and will fold to a re-raise?"
https://twitter.com/billym2k/status/1938088396892807338?s=46
Back-to-back bracelet winner Mark Seif also took to X to allege the situation was "deplorable outright cheating" and called the heads-up battle "another terrible look for poker".
https://twitter.com/markseif/status/1938111101251817751
Yaginuma is the second Gold Rush ticket winner already this summer to win a bracelet to earn the $1 million bonus prize. Michael Lavin, who won Event #20: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em SHOOTOUT, was the first.
This is a developing story. PokerNewswill continue monitoring any further developments.
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