First and second place prize money, along with the bracelet, had been withheld pending the results.
It's now been announced that there will be no winner and no bracelet awarded. The first- and second-place money will be split between the final two players, Jesse Yaginuma and James Carroll.
It read, "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."
What does this mean?
This marks the first time in WSOP history that a live bracelet will not be awarded due to integrity concerns.
It also means that Yaginuma will get less money than the amount he unofficially 'won.' First prize was $1,255,180, and the runner-up prize was $1,012,320. It means both players will get $1,133,750.
Despite the split, Yaginuma will still receive the $1 million ClubWPT Gold bonus that originally sparked the controversy. Suspicious heads-up play had led the WSOP to believe that a deal may have been struck between the two players.
Yaginuma started heads-up with a 9-1 chip deficit but needed to win to claim the bonus. He staged a comeback and won the tournament. PokerOrg talked with him afterwards, and he denied any wrongdoing.
Many players blamed the WSOP for not facilitating deals, but, ironically, after five days, the WSOP has effectively facilitated a deal itself, albeit without awarding a champion.
This likely won’t be the end of the matter. We're sure that rules will be modified or clarified to ensure this situation doesn't happen again. Whether the WSOP will allow deals in the future remains to be seen.
