In our article yesterday, we also mentioned the issue of using the GTO solvers brought up by James Chen on Twitter (X). We won't go back to the beginning of the whole issue and go straight to the news that has emerged on this topic. Probably even Chen himself did not expect what a huge uproar he would cause on the social network.
The player in question, who used, or wanted to use, GTO Wizard, has also commented on the whole matter. He was Canadian pro Frederic Normand, who has nearly $1.6 million worth of winnings to his credit. Normand identified himself in Chen's photos and immediately lashed out, saying Chen had invaded his privacy and adding that he had only opened GTO Wizard to give access to his friend.
Hey man. Thanks for yelling at me at the table like a psycho. I was caught changing my subscription and wanting to give my account to my housemate... damn sorry. Mind your own business and stop taking random picture of people you're cringe af.
- Frédéric Normand (@FredNormPoker) May 31, 2024
GL for the rest of the series ✌️
To use RTA or not to use RTA?
Commenters showered Chen with a variety of reactions. They also pointed to the tournament rules. The problem, however, is that some series are governed by standard TDA (Tournament Directors Association) rules, and some, like the WSOP, have their own rules and they don't clearly state whether or not RTAs can be used, and if they can, whether they can be used during a hand or only when the player is not in the hand.
Bro save your time and energy for your own game lmao. He's not in a hand. This is the only rule about solvers in the 2024 WSOP Tournament Rules pic.twitter.com/QAOuPKggBo
- Jennifer Lin (@jenntonicpoker) May 31, 2024
Kevin Mathers pulled up last year's statement by WSOP Vice President Jack Effel to poker.org, who commented on the topic that he reserves the right to punish any player for using RTAs in play, as he considers it cheating. According to him, there is also a problem when a player uses such software both at the table and outside of the hand.
From last year https://t.co/05CPRtGazO
- Kevin Mathers (@Kevmath) May 31, 2024
Finally, longtime pro Andy Bloch weighed in on the topic, pulling up Nevada state law, which states that using any device to gain an advantage is a felony in Nevada, regardless of what rules a casino or series has in the state. Players are calling on organizers to clearly ban such apps at all tournaments and even want an overall law on the use of smartphones while playing. So we are waiting for the WSOP's official statement on the subject.
@WSOP and anyone concerned about people using GTO solvers at the table: regardless of the rules, using such a device to gain an advantage is a felony in NV. anyone who witnesses it can call or email the GCB in addition to alerting tournament staff. https://t.co/YrdE33hXVs
- Andy Bloch (@Andy_Bloch) June 1, 2024
Play a staff tournament without being an employee
A Brazilian player accidentally found a blunder in a staff tournament that brought in as many as 1,189 entries due to a language barrier. Brazilian poker player and youtuber Fernando Macedo came to Las Vegas to play the WSOP, but he doesn't understand English. He wanted to register for one of the first tournaments but when he saw the long queue, he decided to register for the tournament online. What he didn't know was that the Casino Employees tournament was for casino employees only. So he registered online, showed all his documents, picked up his stack and played.
He played this tournament for over 8 hours, during which time he knocked out several players and built up a decent stack. But then his friend Felipe Ramos pointed out to him that he was probably playing a tournament he couldn't play. In Fernando's own words, however, no one alerted him to anything and no one even asked him any questions. Thus, no one investigated or verified whether or not he was an employee of the casino. In the end, he decided to leave the tournament himself, leaving his stack abandoned on the table. Now, however, the question arose as to how many of the players were not employees of the casino.
In addition, there was a debate on this topic on Twitter, where some pointed out that there were several professionals playing in the tournament. These were players who are commentators or announcers in tournaments. The casino allowed them to play this event alongside amateurs, which gave them a clear advantage. Barry Carter also weighed in on the topic, jokingly suggesting who might play on the final table in the tournament for casino employees next year.
Next year's Casino Employees final table and their industry jobs that make them eligible pic.twitter.com/iLoDoWuR37
- Barry Carter (@Barry_Carter) May 30, 2024
Amateur Dealers
If all that wasn't enough for you, we've also got insider info straight from Vegas. In addition to the bracelet tournaments, there are also so-called Daily tournaments played every day during the WSOP, and for those, the organizers send novice dealers who don't know the rules or are extremely slow.
The icing on the cake, for example, should be situations where the dealer on an all-in on the turn wanted to move the chips to the current winning player before he had even laid out the river. Dealers are also said to have trouble calculating the amount of the all-in or evaluating the hand correctly. In the US, they don't want dealers from Europe because of work permits, so they take just about anyone to the WSOP. However, it's not only daily events that have a dealer problem, players also complain about inexperienced dealers in bracelet tournaments.
In conclusion, while at Wynn or Venetian the casino can provide foreign players with a tax number when they win over $5,000, the Horseshoe does not offer this option and the payout is complicated by this.
Source - wsop, poker.org, pokernews, mundopoker, twitter (x)
