Another World Series of Poker (WSOP) is behind us and another World Champion was crowned as Jonathan Tamayo overcame a difficult final table and walked away with $10,000,000 in earnings, as well as the most coveted piece of poker jewelry out there.
However, Tamayo stirred up quite a bit of drama during his final table performance, as cameras caught him and his team, made up of former Main Event champion Joe McKeehan and his coach Dominik Nitsche, using a laptop on the rail and potentially running solver simulations during final table action.
The pictures of the three poker players examining what seemed like solver outputs or charts spread through the poker community like wildfire, with many influential members giving their take on the situation.
Tamayo was crowned champion despite the controversy, but many in the poker world are now calling for the WSOP to change its rules and be more strict on all forms of RTA and software use at the tables and on the rails during events.
While WSOP 2024 is behind us, the real question is what the Series is going to do moving forward and how Tamayo’s performance might affect poker tournaments in the years to come.
McKeehan and Nitsche Help Tamayo Win the Main Event
Jonathan Tamayo was certainly not the first WSOP final tablist or champion to get help from more experienced poker players after making the final table, and there is absolutely no shame in the fact he hired Dominik Nitsche to help him get the best possible result.
Tamayo and McKeehan have reportedly been friends for years, and it is only natural the former Main Event champ was on the rail to cheer on his friend and share his experience and any tips he may have on how Tamayo should play.
This kind of poker coaching has been allowed at the WSOP and other major poker events for years, and no one was complaining until the three players were seen using a laptop to allegedly run computer simulations during live play.
The WSOP has explicitly banned the use of all RTA tools, including preflop charts and solvers at the tables, but their use by rail members watching the stream remains slightly more controversial.
In a recent interview, Tamayo said no such tools were used by his team and that he himself does not understand or use solvers to begin with.
Yet, it is clear that some sort of software was used by his coaches, and according to the official WSOP rules, this should not have been allowed.
To be completely fair to the 2024 WSOP Main Event Champion, any potential RTA use at the final table was minimal and likely not what led to his eventual victory, but it set a bad precedent for the events to come.
Whether Nitsche and McKeehan ran sims during live play or not remains unclear, but it is clear that they gave the new champion advice on how he should adjust based on what they saw on the delayed final table stream, all of which is completely within the WSOP rules.
Negreanu Calls for More Clarity
Daniel Negreanu, a GGPoker ambassador which is a partner of WSOP in Ontario, has always been one of the most vocal poker community members when it comes to rules and regulations, so it is only natural he spoke out about the Tamayo situation.
Daniel first came out with some Tweets, before taking part in a long podcast with Doug Polk and Alan Keating to discuss the situation.
Negreanu called for more clarity and said the WSOP and other Tours, such as the World Poker Tour and the PokerStars North American Poker Tour, should have more clear rules that outline specifically what players are allowed to do and what they are not.
By all accounts, WSOP rules already banned the use of RTA tools anywhere in the tournament area, so it remains somewhat unclear how people on the immediate rail of the biggest final table of the summer were allowed to use a laptop and potentially run simulations in real time.
Keating Speaks Up for the Recs
While Negreanu called for more clarity from a professional standpoint, Alan Keating spoke out after watching the final table and doubled down on his take that situations like this are what pushes many recreational poker players away from tournament poker.
Alan is known as one of the wildest high-stakes cash game player out there, but also as someone who does not play in games where he believes he is being taken advantage of.
According to Alan, the use of solvers and similar tools during play makes poker less enjoyable for recreational players and kills the spirit of the game, which eventually leads to players like him not wanting to play at all.
Looking forward, WSOP should take both Keating’s and Negreanu’s takes very seriously, as they represent the opinions of both professional and recreational poker players at the highest level.
If the Series wants to keep growing and attracting thousands of players, professionals should not be given any chance to cheat or find additional advantage during play, and tools like poker solvers should only be used to study the game away from the felt.