WSOP Milly Maker Scandal: No Bracelet, Payouts Honored — Did WSOP Ban ‘Bad Actors’?

Several days after the largest scandal we saw at the 2025 World Series of Poker, WSOP officials have come out with the official resolution, announcing that no bracelet will be awarded in the Millionaire Maker event, while the prize money will be awarded, split evenly between Jesse Yaginuma and James Carroll.

For the context, Yaginuma and Carroll were accused of collusion and chip dumping in their heads-up skirmish, due to the fact that Yaginuma stood to get an extra $1,000,000 for a win from a separate ClubWPT Gold promo.

We covered all the details in the previous article published shortly after the tournament was over, but in short, Yaginuma did end up winning, coming back from a huge chip deficit, and doing it in a way that raised many eyebrows and led to WSOP putting a stop on the payouts pending an investigation.

No Bracelet for the Winner

Contrary to some predictions, the investigation didn’t take very long, and the results didn’t come as much of a surprise.

WSOP decided that no bracelet will be awarded in Event #53: $1,500 Millionaire Maker. Instead, both Yaginuma and Carroll were officially awarded second place, with the prize money split evenly between the two. So, both players get just over $1.1 million each.

However, there is a possibility that the two could also be banned from the World Series of Poker. While the ban was not mentioned in the original tweet, quite a few people commented on X/Twitter that Carroll and Yaginuma have in fact been banned.

At this moment in time, there is no official confirmation either way, while the poker community remains split on whether the duo should face a harsher punishment or if denying a bracelet is enough.

As for the $1,000,000 bonus, ClubWPT Gold confirmed shortly after the scandal broke out that they will be paying the winner, so despite not officially winning the bracelet, Jesse Yaginuma still got to pick up the extra million, which, presumably, was the whole reason behind perhaps the weirdest heads-up in poker history.

Did WSOP Do the Right Thing & Lessons Learned?

The moment the WSOP announced they were doing an investigation, it was clear that, no matter what the decision was, there’d be a part of the community not happy with the outcome.

It was a rather unprecedented situation, as whatever Carroll and Yaginuma did or did not do, it had no influence on other players in the tournament. So, it was a safe bet that they’d get paid no matter what.

At the same time, the optics of the heads-up match did no favor to the WSOP brand, the strength of which is closely tied to the value of bracelets. To have a player seemingly throw away a shot at winning one without a care in the world is not great, to say the least.

In light of all the facts, the resolution seems fairly balanced and reasonable, although the question of whether players were banned or not still hangs in the balance. If the ban is issued, it probably won’t be for life, and they’ll eventually be allowed back.

What’s done is done, as there is no way to go back in time and change things. However, the whole scandal, which will likely be dubbed Milly Maker-gate or something along those lines, could usher in some changes at the WSOP regarding deal-making rules and outside promotions.

In the end, the whole thing could end up being a net positive, helping shape the Series’ future so that it maintains the appeal it’s had for decades while also adapting to the modern-day poker environment and adjusting certain rules so that they cover a wider range of situations and circumstances.