WSOP Bans Third-Party Contests to Prevent Future Controversies

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) has introduced a new rule to prevent controversies similar to the ClubWPT Gold promotion from the 2025 WSOP. The 2025 WSOP Millionaire Maker event sparked controversy when James Carroll and Jesse Yaginuma played heads-up for the bracelet and the more than $1.25 million prize. ClubWPT Gold awarded a “gold ticket” to certain players, offering an additional $1 million if they won a WSOP bracelet while wearing a ClubWPT Gold patch.

The WSOP opened an investigation into the matter and decided to withhold the bracelet from Yaginuma and chop the money from the top two spots between the finalists. The WSOP banned both James Carroll and Jesse Yaginuma from future events.

Rule 40(e) prohibits players from participating in any similar promotion to ClubWPT Gold’s. The rule bans players from receiving any additional financial gain based on their finish in a WSOP event. Rule 80 addresses scenarios regarding calling the clock on a player and states that players determined to be intentionally stalling or depleting time banks to ladder up the payout scale will be subject to reduced clocks or incur a penalty.