Top Stories of 2025, #3: Millionaire Maker Controversy at 2025 WSOP
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One of the year’s biggest controversies occurred at the end of June during the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. It involved two well-known poker pros, millions of dollars, and an alleged chip-dumping plan to take full advantage of a seven-figure promotion.
We’re talking, of course, about the controversy that came out of the 2025 WSOP $1,500 Millionaire Maker, a tournament that drew 11,996 runners, including Jesse Yaginuma and James Carroll. The former had qualified for a ClubWPT Gold “Gold Rush” promotion that entitled him to a $1,000,000 bonus if he won a gold bracelet in a short list of WSOP events, including the Milly Maker.
Unfortunately for Yaginuma, he was at a 9:1 chip deficit entering heads-up play after Josh Reichard bowed out in third place. After the final two players took a lengthy break, Yaginuma doubled about 30 minutes into the match in a standard bad beat hand, but after that, there were some questionable hands that caught the attention of poker sleuths watching the live stream.
Over the course of 59 heads-up hands, Carroll proceeded to lose his chip lead and the tournament, which ultimately led to speculation on social media that chip dumping had occurred.
Chip dumping is the act of intentionally losing chips to another player. In this case, the purpose of chip dumping, if it occurred, would have been to ensure Yaginuma won so that the $1 million bonus would be paid.
The WSOP rulebook has a rule in place to prevent collusion of any sort, and it states: "Poker is an individual game... Chip dumping and other forms of collusion will result in disqualification."
WSOP Takes Action
Rumors continued to circulate overnight, and in the morning, the WSOP released the following tweet:
“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 awarded.”
While the investigation was underway, ClubWPT Gold took the spotlight by announcing via their ambassador, Doug Polk, that regardless of the outcome, they would pay out the $1 million bonus to Yaginuma. Indeed, they ended up doing it at a Friday evening ceremony at Ole Red, a bar on the Las Vegas Strip that sits right outside the Horseshoe Casino.
Days later, the WSOP reached a conclusion, one that saw Yaginuma denied what would’ve been his fourth gold bracelet.
"The investigation into WSOP Event 53 has been completed. We have concluded that in order to uphold the integrity of the game and to uphold our official WSOP Tournament Rules, no winner will be recognized and no bracelet will be awarded for this year's tournament. The remaining prize pool will be split between the final two players," the WSOP tweeted. The remaining prize pool was comprised of the original $1,255,180 top prize and $1,012,320 for the runner-up.
It was also revealed that neither player would be welcomed back to the WSOP, though it is unknown if the ban was for the remainder of the summer or in perpetuity.
The Aftermath
Reactions to the controversy were mixed. Some players were highly critical and likened the incident to outright cheating, while others supported the players, suggesting they simply did what they had to do to take advantage of a seven-figure promotion without hurting anyone else in the process.
Neither Yaginuma nor Carroll, who each got more than $1 million in prize money, has spoken publicly about the scandal since the tournament ended on June 25, though the incident did attract mainstream news attention, including multiple reports from ESPN.
While both players were banned from the WSOP, that didn’t stop them from enjoying the fruit of their labor. Two months later, both players traveled to the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona, where they were seated close to one another in the Main Event.
Both Yaginuma and Carroll continued to grind non-WSOP tournaments throughout 2025, and while neither ended up with the gold bracelet, both walked away poker millionaires and etched their names in poker history, though, as heroes or villains, depending on your perspective.
You can watch the final table of the 2025 WSOP Milly Maker below:
