Banned WSOP Milly Maker Winners Seated Near Each Other in EPT Main Event
Two poker players who were banned from the World Series of Poker (WSOP) for collusion during the Millionaire Maker event sat close to each other on Monday in the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona Main Event.
Jesse Yaginuma and James Carroll made national headlines in June for chip dumping during heads-up play in Event #53: $1,500 Millionaire Maker, as the former stood to receive a $1 million bonus from ClubWPT Gold if he were to win the bracelet.
Yaginuma would go on to win the tournament, but the WSOP determined that chip dumping occurred and refused to award the gold bracelet. Both players were subsequently banned from the series. They are back in action, this time in Spain.
What are the Odds?
The banned poker pros, both Americans, have just one combined live tournament cash since the Milly Maker, and that was a $2,200 score from Yaginuma earlier this month in Florida.
Day 1b of the €5,300 EPT Barcelona Main Event, at the time of publishing, had over 250 entrants. But the two players who created the biggest controversy of the 2025 WSOP just so happened to find themselves seated behind each other at nearby tables.
PokerNews is live reporting the tournament at Casino Barcelona and hasn't yet noticed much chatter between the poker pros or any other players at the table discussing the Milly Maker scandal. Yaginuma and Carroll each registered a few levels into the session.
Carroll started off his Day 1 flight strong and had reached 100,000 chips, more than triple his 30,000-chip starting stack, with the blinds at 300/600. Yaginuma, at the time of publishing, was also above starting stack at 40,000.
Yaginuma and Carroll, following the WSOP's investigation, each received $1,133,750 in the Milly Maker, splitting first and second place money. The WSOP found that Carroll, who held a 9:1 chip lead at one point, dumped chips to ensure Yaginuma would win so he could earn the $1 million side bonus from ClubWPT Gold.
ClubWPT Gold agreed to pay Yaginuma the money even though he wasn't awarded the bracelet. It's unclear what sort of deal they arranged. Neither has spoken publicly about the scandal since the tournament ended on June 25. The incident attracted mainstream news attention, including multiple reports from ESPN.
The EPT Barcelona Main Event Day 1b session will run until Level 10 concludes. Day 1a on Sunday attracted 715 entrants, with 221 advancing to Day 2, which takes place on Tuesday.
*Feature image courtesy of David Salituro.
