David Lappin and Dara O’Kearney have broken their silence on why they left WPT Global in January, and their explanation paints a picture of mounting frustration, broken promises, and what they describe as a ‘red line’ moment – when the company announced Ren Lin as its newest ambassador on January 11, 2026.
Lin had been banned from GGPoker and the WSOP back in October 2025 after admitting to ghosting (providing another player with real-time assistance in a major online event).
Lin’s WSOP ban was lifted in December, in time for WSOP Paradise, and that decision was criticized by Lappin.
Lin’s signing also exposed tensions between different WPT brands. ClubWPT Gold and WPT Global started attacking each other on Twitter before Lin’s announcement was pulled from X and then posted again. Some of the more vitriolic posts on X were also deleted from the WPT accounts.
Across two bonus episodes of The Chip Race podcast released this week, Lappin and O’Kearney claim that this chaos is seemingly the norm at WPT, and that although Lin might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back, their concerns went deeper.
They describe a company lacking cohesion between different branches of the WPT brand, with O'Kearney describing them as being like "squabbling siblings with the same parent."
Early warning signs inside WPT Global
“Very quickly, I formed the conclusion that this was a very badly run company with no real vision,” O’Kearney says.
Lappin says that the company would push things "that didn't make sense to us... We would suggest one thing, and they would literally do the opposite a lot of the time. That was frustrating."
One example was demands for daily reels promoting $1 freerolls scheduled at 1am UK time. WPT Global expected them to deliver lots of sign-ups – Lappin and O'Kearney told them it wouldn't work.
They say the promotions underperformed as predicted. They even had people who had been following them for years asking them what they were doing. But, O'Kearney claims, they were also subsequently blamed by WPT Global for disappointing sign-ups – "To be honest, I'm surprised anyone signed up," O'Kearney adds.
“Not once [did they ask] to see our Chip Race podcast numbers,” Lappin says, “which, by the way, were up 12 or 13% at that point… You've signed two ambassadors who have a podcast, and that's their content,” Lappin continues. “[Then] you immediately just ask them to do something that's not suitable to their skill sets… that just made me feel really downbeat.”
The Lin incident ultimately proved to be the breaking point.
The clip that triggered pushback
After Lappin’s article in December, the pair recorded a podcast where they stated that they thought what Lin had done was more serious than was being reported.
“Ren Lin is the administrator of that group [where the ghosting happened],” says O'Kearney. "It's his group. He's the one who organizes it. He's the one who decides who gets access to it. He's the one who sets the tone for the whole thing.
“Secondly, this was not an isolated incident… [It’s] cheating. You can call it by any name, but you know that is real-time assistance.”
That segment was released as a clip, but 45 minutes after it had been posted, WPT Global reached out and asked for it to be taken down.
“Their Asia team specifically had flagged it,” Lappin says, “and said that they were the ones who might work with them in the future.”
They took the clip down but said the segment would remain in the show.
The January announcement
The two ambassadors had a meeting with WPT Global after this to discuss future implications, where WPT Global admitted they might work with Lin in the future, but that any partnership could be months away. Lappin and O’Kearney said whenever that happened, it would be a red line.
A week later, Lin was announced as a new WPT Global ambassador on X.
“We were obviously aghast,” Lappin says.
“It was just so bizarre,” O'Kearney says, “because it was so different from what we'd been told. We were told, 'Even if we do work with him, there will be no grand announcement, it will be kind of under the counter, we'll have an affiliate code, and he'll use that.’ Even that wouldn't be good. But yeah, I really felt that we were thrown under the bus without being warned about this tweet that was going to go out.”
Lappin and O’Kearney then watched as different WPT brands started arguing in public on social media.
“The whole thing was just very, very unseemly,” O'Kearney adds. “But again, very much in keeping with the sort of culture in the company of organized or disorganized chaos… and all publicity being good publicity. I had been uncomfortable with some of the promotions that had gone out before by WPT, but we were WPT Global, so we didn't necessarily have to comment on that.”
What this means for WPT’s legacy
Lappin and O’Kearney had another meeting with WPT Global, where it became clear their position was untenable. And the ‘nuance’ WPT had previously claimed existed in Lin’s case, they say, turned out to be little more than spin.
“You kept asking the questions,” O'Kearney says, “and they kept giving the same politician answers. And it was clear that the only nuance was, like, ‘Well, look, he said he's not going to do it again, so we're taking that at face value, and it's really good for the company if we get all these extra Chinese players.’
“I realized at that point, well, yeah, this is over. Like, this is just untenable. They're not even making an effort. And I kind of realized we were just seen as an embarrassment to them at this point, because we were the guys who were going to say, 'Actually, this isn't okay.'"
At the time of the ghosting incident, Lin had said (in a message translated from Chinese): “99.99% of players encounter this, either asking others for help or offering advice. But it really isn’t fair.”
As Lappin goes on to say, “So we're welcoming hundreds of his Chinese players, 90%+ — by his own calculation — of whom will cheat. How can we sell a site that's going to open their doors to that?"
"It felt very murky," Lappin says. "It felt very wrong."
So why didn’t they resign immediately? Their contracts included clauses that could have exposed them to legal action for earnings received, so they instead sought mutual termination, which WPT Global agreed to. The company also agreed to let Lappin and O'Kearney tell their side of the story, which is what they've done this week.
“Reputation is all you have,” says Lappin.
As for the future of WPT, both Lappin and O’Kearney hope things will change.
“I do hope the company changes course,” says Lappin, “and finds a way not to ruin forever the amazing legacy that it has had for 30 years.”
WPT Global has been approached for comment. Follow The Chip Race podcast on X for updates, and check out their Patreon for exclusive bonus content.
