Latest news with #MillionaireMaker
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
World Series of Poker investigating after winner and runner-up at event accused of 'chip dumping'
Attendees pass by signage for the World Series of Poker on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, at Paris Las Vegas. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @csstevensphoto The World Series of Poker is investigating after the winner and runner-up of a Millionaire Maker event have been accused of collusion. The announcement came after the completion of a $1,500 buy-in no-limit Hold'em tournament at the Horseshoe in Las Vegas, which finished on Wednesday night. At the final table of the event, which began on June 21, James Carroll held a 9-to-1 chip lead over Jesse Yaginuma. But Yaginuma pulled off a comeback to win the event, earning the first-place prize of $1.26 million. Carroll earned $1 million as the runner-up. Advertisement However, in the wake of the matchup, Yaginuma and Carroll have been accused of engaging in "chip dumping," with viewers speculating that Carroll was intentionally losing hands to increase Yaginuma's stack as part of a prearranged agreement. Throughout the comeback, Yaginuma often won hands by raising or re-raising without Carroll contesting, per ESPN. On Thursday, WSOP released a statement saying that it had opened an investigation. "Last night, we were made aware of a potential breach of the official WSOP Tournament Rules during heads up play in Event 53," the organization wrote. "At this time, 1st and 2nd place have not been confirmed and neither the prize money nor the bracelet have been officially awarded." In other poker tournaments, side deals between players are allowed. But WSOP official rules state that chip-dumping is a form of "collusion," and is considered an "illegal or unethical act." Under WSOP, collusion can result in forfeiture of prize money, ejection from an event, and exclusion from future WSOP events. Advertisement Chip-dumping is usually done with the intention of splitting prize money. Though the difference between Yaginuma and Carroll's prize money was less significant, there was an additional $1 million on the line as a result of an independent promotion run by online poker service ClubWPT Gold. Yaginuma was eligible for the promotion as a result of a previous win; Carroll was not. Yaginuma, speaking with denied that he and Carroll had colluded. If WSOP upholds the win, Yaginuma will be the second person to cash in on the ClubWPT Gold promotion, after Michael Lavin won a similar contest earlier in June. While WSOP has scrubbed posts congratulating Yaginuma's win on social media, ClubWPT Gold's congratulatory post is still up.
USA Today
a day ago
- USA Today
The 2025 WSOP collusion 'scandal' and investigation, explained
The World Series of Poker has had its occasional controversies over the years with some wild moments that made headlines. This time? A 2025 WSOP event might be a scandal. Here's what we know: Their $1,500 Millionaire Maker event was down to two players, with James Carroll up on Jesse Yaginuma. But it was Yaginuma who ended up with the bracelet and a cool $1.26 million. That's not the controversy. Here's what could be that's led to an investigation, per ESPN: "Many of the hands won by Yaginuma came in the form of raises or reraises that were continually not contested by Carroll. Viewers of the event's livestream, including a number of professional poker players, began to speculate that Carroll was chip dumping to Yaginuma -- intentionally losing hands to build up his opponent's stack -- so that the two could split some portion of the prize money." Is that collusion? Let's dive in further: What are the WSOP rules about collusion? Per the Las Vegas Review-Journal: 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.' What did WSOP say about the investigation? So the prize money and bracelet haven't been given out yet. Why would the two players collude in a WSOP event? There's some speculation over a prize from ClubWPT Gold: a player could win an additional $1 million if they won a WSOP event and a "ticket" from a poker summer event. Yaginuma had one of those tickets, so maybe Carroll was trying to help him out? What did the poker players say about the collusion allegations? Per Yaginuma told us there was no heads-up deal in his post-win interview, though the two did meet. "No, not really. We talked for a little bit about poker, but yeah, that was about it."
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
World Series of Poker investigating after winner and runner-up at event accused of 'chip dumping'
The World Series of Poker is investigating after the winner and runner-up of a Millionaire Maker event have been accused of collusion. The announcement came after the completion of a $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em tournament at the Horseshoe in Las Vegas, which finished on Wednesday night. At the final table of the event, which began on June 21, James Carroll held a 9-1 chip lead over Jesse Yaginuma. But Yaginuma pulled off a comeback to win the event, earning the first-place prize of $1.26 million. Carroll earned $1 million as the runner-up. Advertisement However, in the wake of the matchup, Yaginuma and Carroll have been accused of engaging in "chip dumping," with viewers speculating that Carroll was intentionally losing hands to increase Yaginuma's stack as part of a prearranged agreement. Throughout the comeback, Yaginuma often won hands by raising or re-raising without Carroll contesting, per ESPN. On Thursday, WSOP released a statement saying that it had opened an investigation. "Last night, we were made aware of a potential breach of the official WSOP Tournament Rules during heads up play in Event 53," the organization wrote. "At this time, 1st and 2nd place have not been confirmed and neither the prize money nor the bracelet have been officially awarded." In other poker tournaments, deals between players are allowed. But WSOP official rules state that chip dumping is a form of "collusion," and is considered an "illegal or unethical act." Under WSOP, collusion can result in forfeiture of prize money, ejection from an event, and exclusion from future WSOP events. Advertisement Chip dumping is usually done with the intention of splitting prize money. Though the difference between Yaginuma and Carroll's prize money was less significant, there was an additional $1 million on the line as a result of an independent promotion run by online poker service ClubWPT Gold. Yaginuma was eligible for the promotion as a result of a previous win; Carroll was not. Yaginuma, speaking with denied that he and Carroll had colluded. If WSOP upholds the win, Yaginuma will be the second person to cash in on the ClubWPT Gold promotion, after Michael Lavin won a similar contest earlier in June. While WSOP has scrubbed posts congratulating Yaginuma's win on social media, ClubWPT Gold's congratulatory post is still up.
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Poker controversy amid ‘chip dumping' investigation into star's £1.6million win
Jesse Yaginuma beat James Carroll heads-up to win a grand prize of more than £1.6 million on the World Series of Poker, but the contest has been marred by allegations of chip dumping The poker world is in up in arms after a tournament finale that saw more than £1.6million in winnings distributed to the champion was marred by accusations of chip dumping. Jesse Yaginuma triumphed over James Carroll at the final table of the World Series of Poker 's $1,500 Millionaire Maker on Wednesday, sparking a whirlwind of controversy. At one stage, Yaginuma had less than 10% of the total chips in play before staging a daring comeback to clinch victory. Consequently, he pocketed the main prize of just over £915,000, along with an extra £730,000 thanks to a ClubWPT Gold promotion. Among the two heads-up players, only Yaginuma was eligible for the ClubWPT Gold promotion, having secured a Gold Rush ticket from the sweeps coin poker site. That entitled him to the bonus if he won one of the qualifying events at the WSOP. While it's typically a cause for celebration when any player secures a WSOP bracelet, this wasn't necessarily the case this time around. That's after legions of online users noticed some questionable hands in the heads-up match that raised eyebrows. Chip dumping in poker happens when a player deliberately loses hands to favour their opponent. This is done to effectively transfer funds to one's adversary, either through intentional folding or irrational betting. Carroll, who pocketed a runner-up prize of around £750,000, was accused of making several nonsensical moves as the finale reached its peak. His behaviour was described as particularly out of character given he had built up such a substantial lead not long before. One of the most scrutinised hands saw Yaginuma take the lead for the first time after winning a pot with 174m chips at stake. With the blinds set at 1.5m and 3m, Yaginuma called the big blind pre-flop with a Jack (clubs) and an eight (spades), prompting Carroll to raise to 13m with a six (clubs) and a three (diamonds), which his opponent called. The flop produced a 10 (clubs), five (clubs) and Jack (spades), leading Carroll to bet another 17m, which was called again. Both players checked when a seven of clubs came out on the turn, then raised the stakes once more when Yaginuma called Carroll's 57m bet after the river produced a Queen (spades). There were also several instances where Carroll folded to some significant pre-flop bets courtesy of Yuginama. Again, poker enthusiasts were quick to highlight some concerns over the integrity of their play. PokerNews said it reached out to a representative from ClubWPT Gold, who responded that the company was "looking into the matter." However, they were unable to comment anything further. "Hope you guys don't honour it," said one enraged fan on X. "It was clear chip dumping and such a f-----g horrible look for poker and the community. Absolutely disgusting." "Did they forget this was live streamed? Just absolutely disgusting and bizarre chip dumping," echoed another critic. Meanwhile, a third poker enthusiast wrote: "Jesse Yaginuma and James Carroll should be disqualified with no prize money and permanently banned from the @WSOP and @WorldPokerTour. The bracelet should go to 3rd place Josh Reichard." This scandal has erupted almost exactly one year after Jonathan Tamayo faced backlash over his simulator use during a WSOP Main Event. He won £7.7m in July 2024, but critics quickly scrutinised Tamayo after he appeared to be consulting a simulator mid-game at the final table. Tamayo had just celebrated a major hand victory against runner-up Jordan Griff before turning to consult his coaches and friends, where a laptop featuring a running simulator was allegedly spotted. Both professional and amateur poker players decried the move, arguing Tamayo should have been penalised at the time.
Daily Mirror
5 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mirror
Mystery National Lottery winner has just hours left to claim £1 million jackpot
A National Lottery ticket owner who won a mouth-watering £1million jackpot last December has not yet claimed it and the punter has now just two days left to come forward A punter has just two days left to claim £1million after winning the National Lottery but not yet coming forward for the prize. It would be enough to change your life, where you could maybe give up your job and buy your dream house but the winner has only until Wednesday to claim the mouth-watering sum. The draw was made on December 27, last year, and under the rules the person with the prize ticket has 180 days to claim it. The National Lottery website says that the punter took part in EuroMillions for the UK Millionaire Maker and they are believed to be from the Wiltshire area. The winning numbers are: XDQM36414. If the money goes unclaimed, the jackpot goes to the National Lottery Good Causes fund. Andy Carter, senior winners' advisor at Allwyn, operator of The National Lottery, said: 'We are rapidly approaching the deadline to claim this amazing EuroMillions prize, but we've not yet been contacted by the rightful ticketholder to claim their money, despite numerous appeals. 'There is still time though, but there are just days left for this ticketholder to get in touch. We've received valid claims on major National Lottery unclaimed prizes right up to the very last minute before. 'All that we ask is for all EuroMillions players in the area, and those who might have visited family and friends in Wiltshire over the festive season, to take some time out of their day to have a search and check their tickets. That five minutes out of your day could end up making you a millionaire.' Across the UK there are four other unclaimed £1m National Lottery prizes including two more Millionaire Maker prizes - one of which was bought in Liverpool and another in Birmingham. The second outstanding £1m prize was won with a ticket bought in Liverpool. This was another Millionaire Maker win from a EuroMillions draw on February 14. The deadline for claiming this is August 13. Another £1m prize was in a Lotto draw back on May 10. The ticket-holder matched five balls plus a bonus ball - the numbers were 3, 14, 15, 27, 33, 36 plus bonus 18. This player has until November 6 to come forward and claim their £1m prize. A fourth £1m prize lies unclaimed from a EuroMillions draw on May 23 with a ticket bought in the Stevenage District. The winning code was MDQK77569 and the ticket-holder has until November 19 to claim their cash. And finally, the last millionaire matched five balls plus a bonus ball in a Lotto draw on May 24. The ticket was bought in Birmingham and the winning numbers were 9, 12, 13, 26, 38, 40 with bonus 4. This player has until November 20 to claim their £1m prize. On Tuesday, June 17, one National Lottery player scooped a whopping £208m in a EuroMillions draw - which is the largest amount of money ever won in a lottery draw. The life-changing ticket was bought at a shop in County Cork, Ireland, and the winner has now come forward to claim their prize, according to National Lottery operator Allwyn. Before this £208m win, the former record for the largest UK Lottery win was an anonymous ticket-holder who scooped £195m in July 2022. A EuroMillions draw takes place every Tuesday and Friday, and a Lotto draw takes place every Wednesday and Saturday.
