The WSOP heads-up controversy

Until the World Series of Poker allow final table deals, we will see stories like we did from yesterday's Millionaire Maker.

Yesterday, Jesse Yaginuma won the $1,500 Millionaire Maker, and in doing so won an additional $1 million from WPT Club Gold as part of a special promotion. It immediately raised eyebrows because his heads-up opponent, James Carroll, appeared to be 'chip dumping' to him.

Despite getting to heads-up very short stacked, Yaginuma managed to take the lead despite never being all-in for his tournament life. Carroll raise/folded a lot of weak hands, and played his strong hands face up, at one point simply open shoving Pocket Aces. There was even talk of him betting odd amounts with his bluffs and even amounts with his value. 

There was an obvious reason why two players might do this. Yaginuma was the only player who could win the $1 million bonus, and if they made it so that he won, they could split it. 

The story got so huge and is being reported in mainstream media, accusing the players of colluding and chip dumping. It got so big that the WSOP responded by saying that, as yet, they have not awarded the bracelet or the prizes, and are investigating:

Last night, we were made aware of a potential breach of the official WSOP Tournament Rules during heads up play in Event 53. An investigation is underway. At this time, 1st and 2nd place have not been confirmed and neither the prize money nor the bracelet have been officially…

— WSOP - World Series of Poker (@WSOP) June 26, 2025

You can't collude heads-up

There has been notable outrage about this story, but in my opinion, it is misguided. This is not collusion, because there is no victim. To collude, two or more players need to cooperate to work against at least one other player. This was heads-up, there were no players to work against.

There is currently no evidence to suggest Yaginuma and Carroll colluded before heads-up, in fact the live poker reports stated they had an extended break before heads-up play started, which would suggest any agreement was made when it was down to two.   

The World Series of Poker are famous for not allowing deals at final tables, which makes them the exception. Almost every other operator allows them, and in the case of the European Poker Tour, they even broadcast the deal negotiations. What happens when the WSOP will not allow deals? The players do them privately instead. 

Private deals happen all the time at the WSOP, but with no mediator, the risk of something dodgy happening is far more likely. There have been many stories of players agreeing to deal privately, then one player not honouring the deal, at the WSOP. What essentially happened during this heads-up match was a de facto deal. The two players made an agreement on how they would chop up the money that was rightfully theirs.  

It's time to allow deals

Some have argued that they are cheating the World Poker Tour, which is nonsense. The WPT encouraged this behaviour; they had probably planned for it, and they almost certainly are loving the attention they have been given. This has become the biggest story of the year, and we are all talking about the WPT during the World Series of Poker. 

The weakest argument I have seen is that this diminishes the integrity of the WSOP, the bracelet, the broadcast or is a kick in the face to poker fans. Poker players are not professional athletes; very few of them are sponsored, and all of them pay to play. They are customers, not products. The two final players paid their entry fee and earned the right to divvy up the remaining prize money however they saw fit. They were not beholden to the audience or the legacy of the bracelet.  

It would be almost impossible to withhold their winnings, as many pointed out online, a court was unable to prove Mike Postle cheated; there is no way they could prove cheating in this case. I can't see any situation where the WPT don't pay out, Doug Polk has said they plan to. It would be the biggest PR disaster ever for the WSOP if they went with a punitive option here. 

It's not cheating when every single party involved is happy with the outcome. It's not cheating when there is literally no victim. The only way to deal with this story is to pay the players their money and for the World Series of Poker to finally allow deal making. 

Was this cheating in your eyes? Let us know in the comments: