In a PokerNews interview during Day 5 of the 2026 WSOP Main Event, Wesley Fei said he would be “very careful” if Arnaud Mattern sat at his table because he believes Mattern is a “mechanic dealer” who could mark cards. Fei also accused Mattern of cheating in high-stakes private games in Southern California and of dealing Royal Flushes to friends in a casino.
The comments came as Fei ran deep in the Main Event. He reached Day 5 with Mattern, whom he said he was “not too fond of”; the day began Friday with 533 players remaining at 11 a.m. PT, and Fei started with 44 big blinds. His stack had already swung sharply over the previous days.
On Day 3, Fei lost a big pot, thought he was eliminated and headed for the exit before being called back because he still had chips left. He said, “I didn’t even count the chips, I saw we were very close.”
At that point, he had 15,000 chips, about one-fourth of his starting stack and roughly three big blinds. He then doubled up several times and bagged an above-average stack for Day 4. Thursday was again volatile, as he slipped from an average stack to a short one before finishing strong and bagging close to average, then added about 20% to his stack in the first level of Day 5.
Nik Airball made similar accusations in a tweet while reacting to a PokerNews article about a big hand Mattern won on Day 3. In a separate PokerOrg report, Mattern published a bilingual “Statement / Déclaration” denying the claims, calling them “unfounded and lies” and saying there was “not a shred of evidence” for them. He said he was not even in the US on October 14, the date of a marked-card incident referenced in the allegations, and said he would pursue civil action. Fei replied: “Sue me please.”
That PokerOrg coverage placed the dispute inside broader allegations about a high-stakes cheating group centered on Ye “Tony Mars” Shen. It described alleged activity in two phases, from January to February 2023 in Irvine and from March to October 2023 in Yorba Linda, with Mattern among the names tied to the later games. The report also said Nik Airball was the only player described as scammed in both phases, with total losses estimated at $1.6 million, while Fei claimed to have lost $3.1 million in games he says were cheated.
