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Nutshell synopsis: the final heads-up match at the WSOP Main Event championship poker game between the final 2 players became controversial when pretty much everyone watching saw something fishy was going on. Even though the final winner's chip stack was 1/10th the size of the leader's stack at the start, the leader never put him all-in even when he had a viable hole card advantage, nor did the underdog push all in -- which would be normal -- if he's in position to bet second after the flop with a viable hole card hand. Only after he was ahead did the new chip leader start pushing all-in. That's just one of many unexplainable decisions made in the heads-up contest. The one who started massively behind in chips wound up winning the championship.
After investigating, the WSOP decided to award the 1.2M+ in prize money to the winner. However, they also decided to NOT award the 1st and 2nd place WSOP winners' bracelets as they determined there must have been collusion.
The motive is believed to have been the fact the 2nd place chip leader had won a promotional tournament online with ClubWPT and was eligible for a separate $1M prize. To get that $1M, he also must win the WSOP championship. ClubWPT said they would be paying the $1M prize regardless of the WSOP investigation's results.
i don't know how much the chip leader was allegedly offered to throw the game, but i doubt it was worth losing his bracelet and being branded a cheater. I believe both players are also banned from competing in the WSOP again -- ever.
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According to the final WSOP Main Event prize payout chart, Jesse Yaginuma took home $1,255,180 for 1st place, and James Carroll in 2nd took home $1,012,320.
Together, they would have been able to split $3,267,500 including the ClubWPT $1M. Divided by 2, that's $1,633,750 each which is $378,570 more than the 1st place winner would get and $621,430 more than 2nd place -- assuming Carroll won and ClubWPT kept their $1M.
Even if Yaginuma offered Carroll $2M to lose, he'd walk away with $1,267,500 PLUS his first live event champion's bracelet (had they not gotten caught). That's still $250K over second place. It would be interesting to find out what the actual agreement entailed .... allegedly!
https://www.pokerscout.com/wsop-disqualifies-yaginuma-from-bracelet-following-millionaire-maker-fiasco/