Nobody is above the law?
Seven weeks ago, GGPoker and the World Series of Poker (WSOP) took decisive action, sending a clear message to would-be cheaters that nobody was above the law. Ren Lin, a popular figure and big raking player on the poker circuit, was found to have ghosted his friend at a huge online final table, offering real-time advice on how to play a hand. He was immediately disqualified in-running from a WSOP Circuit event and handed an ‘indefinite ban’ by the company, for whom he was an ambassador.
questions are now being asked whether GGPoker and WSOP can be taken seriously
Yesterday, Lin, who never disputed the charges against him, took his seat in a WSOP Paradise bracelet event. His ban seemingly lifted with no explanation, questions are now being asked whether GGPoker and WSOP can be taken seriously on matters of game integrity. This all comes within a few days of the WSOP facilitating a chop for two players in another bracelet event, something that the company has always insisted is off the table because it damages prestige and tarnishes their brand.
Beyond the brazen hypocrisy, which is in itself difficult to swallow, it’s hard not to read between the lines here and think that this is the WSOP deploying a two-tiered system – one for highrollers and one for the rest of us. It was only five months ago that a bracelet was confiscated and two permanent bans were handed out on the grounds that two players had made a heads-up deal.
No deals?
Back in the Summer, after the dust had settled on the WSOP Millionaire Maker Final Table, a five-day investigation ensued into alleged collusion between Jesse Yaginuma and James Carroll. The former was eligible to win a bonus $1,000,000 as part of ClubWPT Gold’s ‘Gold Rush’ promotion were he to be victorious in the event. Yaginuma did come out on top after overturning a big chip deficit, leading to speculation that a deal had been reached between the final two.
the bracelet that was briefly held aloft by Yaginuma was requisitioned
Deals are commonplace at the end of poker tournaments but it is a longstanding WSOP policy that they may not be made when competing in one of the 300 or so bracelet events each year. With that in mind, the events that took place during the endgame of the Millionaire Maker were scrutinised and a decision was ultimately reached that the outcome had been tainted. The optics simply didn’t pass muster, and the bracelet that was briefly held aloft by Yaginuma was requisitioned. Both players were also given permanent bans by the WSOP.
That decision was a signal from GGPoker and WSOP that bracelets – the most sacred prizes in poker – are not be treated as promotional props. That decision was somewhat undermined, however, when Matthias Eibinger and Mike Watson chopped the $75,000 PLO event at WSOP Paradise last Friday.
Unless you’re a high-roller
This year, at WSOP Paradise, there is a collaboration with Triton Poker with winning players receiving both ‘tridents’ and ‘bracelets.’ Triton players are allowed to make deals. WSOP players are not. As soon as high-rollers Eibinger and Watson were allowed to split the prizepool and play on for the bracelet, it became clear that WSOP’s decades-long policy, that they are willing to ban players to uphold, had been trumped by Triton Poker’s modus operandi.
it turns out that an ‘indefinite ban’ by WSOP is more like a sojourn in Coventry
Fast forward to yesterday and another high-roller was receiving ‘special treatment’ at WSOP Paradise. As Ren Lin took his seat in the $100,000 event, it turns out that an ‘indefinite ban’ by WSOP is more like a sojourn in Coventry as the high-roller is back to battling for bracelets.
Just seven short weeks after he ghosted a player on a high profile high-stakes GGPoker final table, he has been welcomed back with open arms by the brand who strangely, but I guess now not so strangely, never terminated his ambassador deal. Lin bagged 237,000 in chips, good for 23 big blinds when Day 2 resumes later today.
The message from GGPoker and WSOP is now crystal clear: Make deals when bracelets are on the line and you will be banned, unless you’re a high-roller. Provide real time assistance to cheat other players out of money and you will be banned, unless you’re a high-roller.
Note: This is an opinion-based article. Any opinions expressed within are those of the writer and not VegasSlotsOnline News or its affiliated partners.
