The divisive poker hack that potentially aided the 2024 WSOP champion and has some calling for a computer ban, explained – For The Win

If you watched the World Series of Poker final table last week, you may have noticed eventual champion Jonathan Tamayo talking to a team of people on the rail in between hands, including one with a computer. And if youre a casual observer like myself, you may have thought nothing of it.

As it turns out, those trips to the sideline werent as innocuous as we thought.

Since Tamayos $10 million triumph, some within the poker community are accusing his team of using poker solvers, as summarized by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The ethicality of that is now being called into question. Allow me to explain.

A poker solver, or simply a solver, is a piece of software that calculates optimal strategies for certain scenarios inputted by the user. In other words, they tell you how to play your hand.

While I cant say for certain Tamayos team used solvers, no one from that side has denied it. In fact, the person on the computer four-time WSOP event winner and owner of the DTO Poker Trainer app Dominik Nitsche has actually been on X defending his actions and even trolling his accusers.

Tamayo was often seen consulting with Nitsche, who is believed to have been running simulations on his laptop. Also a part of Tamayos team was 2015 WSOP main event champion Joe McKeethan, who is believed to have been watching the delayed PokerGo stream of the tournament on his phone.

Well, kinda? According to the Review-Journal, WSOP rule 64c prohibits participants from using betting apps, gaming charts, or any poker information tool while involved in a hand.

But as I see it with my novice understanding, the usefulness of Tamayo being fed information from solvers between hands is limited. Getting information on how past hands should have been played could definitely influence how he might approach future hands, but thats it. Essentially, it was just another tool in the coaching toolbox, and there are no rules against post-hand coaching

But there is a gray area. While the rule book only prohibits the use of solvers while involved in a hand, there were apparently in-house announcements before the start of each WSOP tournament prohibiting solvers at any point in time.

Thats what people are trying to figure out. Regardless, the optics are bad.

You could argue that since he wasnt the one on the computer running the software, and because it wasnt being used while he was actively in the middle of a hand, he didnt break the rules.

Its also tough to hold someone accountable based on announcements they can say they didnt hear, especially when the rulebook isnt as specific. But the poker community is divided.

Nitsche argued on X in a back-and-forth with poker pro Daniel Negreanu that nothing in the WSOP rulebook prohibits the use of real-time assistance (RTA). To which Negreanu responded with video of the announcement.

He concluded that what Nitsche did was wrong, completely outside the spirit of the game, gray and shady at best.

Fellow pros Bryan Paris and Doug Polk also thought the computer was bad optics, though Paris made it clear Tamayo earned his win.

Having this extra feedback between hands is helpful but a far cry from the automation of the game. Even with this feedback, Tamayo very much earned his victory, he wrote.

Poker pro Patrick Leonard pointed out how computers and coaching from the rail have always been a part of the game. Though he said hed also like to see all electronics banned in the future.

Tamayo hasnt been as outspoke on X, though he did credit Nitsche and McKeethan after his win, saying Joe and Dom actually helped. If they werent here, I likely do not win this tournament.

Runner-up Jordan Griff said on Polks podcast he may have said something to the tournament supervisor if he had confirmation Tamayos team was running sims. But he credited Tamayo for winning their heads-up battle.

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The divisive poker hack that potentially aided the 2024 WSOP champion and has some calling for a computer ban, explained - For The Win