The latest episode of the Chip Leader Coaching Podcast featured the one and only Daniel Negreanu.
Throughout the nearly two-hour-long conversation, Negreanu and host Chance Kornuth covered a range of topics – including the former's $50K Poker Players Championship win, poker's golden era versus the new solver era, the best ways to study poker in today's environment, and the toughest opponents they've faced on the felt.
The two also discussed the controversy at the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) surrounding ClubWPT Gold and its Gold Rush promotion – a campaign that promised an additional $1M to any player who managed to win one of a select number of WSOP events while in possession of a ClubWPT Gold Pass.
Jesse Yaginuma, a Gold Pass holder, clawed his way back from a 9-to-1 chip deficit during heads-up play against James Carroll to win the $1,500 Millionaire Maker. While Yaginuma denied making any sort of deal or agreement with Carroll, the WSOP opened an investigation into suspected collusion and chip-dumping.
Following its investigation, the WSOP announced that there would be no winner and no bracelet awarded for the event. Yaginuma and Carroll received an even split of the first and second place prizes – along with reported lifetime bans from Caesars properties and, by extension, the WSOP.
'I don't like lifetime bans for anything'
It's not the first time that Negreanu has addressed the controversy.
In a vlog released shortly after the incident, Negreanu told his viewers that he was “disgusted for several reasons by some of the hysteria and some of the lack of gravity." While Negreanu had further opinions to share, he kept them to himself until the investigation concluded. In the aftermath of the WSOP's decisions, he said the situation had given a "black eye to poker."
When Kornuth broached the subject on the podcast, Negreanu reiterated many of the same opinions – including his belief that the blame lies not with the players involved, but rather with ClubWPT Gold. Whether it was through naivety in predicting how a $1M bonus prize might affect the integrity of an event or an intentional attempt to create chaos for a competing operator, ClubWPT Gold put Yaginuma and Carroll in an "ugly spot," Negreanu asserted.
"They created something, a promo, that was going to incentivize people breaking the rules of the tournament that they're playing," he told Kornuth. "It's in your financial incentive now to break the rules of the event because we'll give you extra money to do that."
Then Kornuth asked the all-important question: "Do you think the punishment fit the crime for the two players involved?"
"I think it's heavy," Negreanu replied. "I don't like lifetime bans for anything, frankly, unless it's like really bad."
Kornuth pointed out that Yaginuma and Carroll's actions didn't affect anyone else involved in the tournament – but Negreanu countered that assumption.
"If they had this deal prior to the final two. Say, for example, they asked a third guy, 'Do you want in on this deal?' He said no, those two players now have subtle incentive to get rid of him," Negreanu explained. "Not suggesting that happened, all I'm saying is we don't know for sure. Anytime these sort of deals come about, the possibility of that exists."
The WSOP has not officially confirmed lifetime bans for the two players, but with the 2026 series just around the corner, it should soon become clear whether those sanctions remain in place.
