Overview

• On June 26 the WSOP announced a review of potential breaches of its official tournament rules during the heads-up match of Event 53 and has held off on confirming the final results
• Jesse Yaginuma overcame an eight big-blind deficit to defeat James Carroll and secure what would be his third bracelet, an improbable recovery that fueled collusion allegations
• ClubWPT Gold has confirmed it will pay Yaginuma the $1 million bonus tied to his comeback ticket promotion regardless of the investigation’s outcome
• Under WSOP regulations, any finding of collusion could lead to player disqualification and forfeiture of tournament winnings including cash prizes and bracelets
• Analysis on CardsChat and the PokerNews podcast highlighted unusual patterns in the heads-up play, with social media users accusing opponents of coordinating to engineer Yaginuma’s win