Did WSOP Champion Jonathan Tamayo Use a ‘Solver’ to Win the Main Event? And Was It Wrong if He Did?

WSOP Champion Jonathan Tamayo, with some real-time encouragement, if not assistance, from his rail at the WSOP (in a section sponsored by one of the solver programs in question). (Image: courtesy of WSOP.com)

The entirety of the 2024 World Series of Poker – and especially the fortnight of play in the $10,000 Main Event World Championship – will be remembered for quite some time. With a record number of players in the Main Event at 10,112, Jonathan Tamayo overcame several obstacles to work past online wunderkind Niklas Astedt and neophyte Justin Griff to win the coveted bracelet. 

Tamayo has certainly enjoyed the 8-figure prize money that came with the title, but current information has emerged that puts a potential taint on his victory and will most likely result in changes to the WSOP final table procedures in the future.

Setting the Stage

On Tuesday and Wednesday last week, a final table convened to determine who would take home the biggest prize in poker -- $10 million this year. There is no doubt that all these men played excellent poker – and got lucky on occasion – to reach that pinnacle.

As the last nine standing worked to become the final three, their rails got bigger and louder, and for Tamayo, some of his backers came out. 

Two prominent professionals, 2015 World Champion Joe McKeehen and four-time WSOP bracelet winner Dominik Nitsche, were there to cheer on their “horse” (a term for a backed player) at the final table. It is not known how much of Tamayo’s buy-in the men fronted, but regardless, they were looking at a massive payday and understandably exuberant. 

On many occasions during the four-hour final table, Tamayo went over to his rail for what looked to be encouragement and support, but it also appeared that it was something more questionable and potentially illegal (according to the rules). 

Still photography of the Tamayo rail allegedly shows a laptop computer prominently perched rail side, with those coaching Tamayo reviewing its contents. The question that has arisen since the end of the 2024 WSOP Main Event is … why?

Just Using Tools Available?

The rules of poker are quite firm in that only the players involved in a hand should be making the decisions on the table. In the 21^st century, however, poker players must have constant stimulation lest they lose their focus at the table, so rules have been adjusted to allow players to have a host of electronic devices at their disposal during a tournament or cash game. These devices go up to probably include IBM’s Watson, if a player were able to wheel the massive supercomputer into the playing arena. 

Along with technology have come developments in poker simulators and “solvers” that have been promulgated since the Aughts. One of the main sponsors of the 2024 WSOP was a program called GTO Wizard, which allows players to input certain situations on the felt and get information regarding the optimum play to maximize profit on that particular hand. 

Promoted as a “study tool,” if implemented while sitting on the tables, it can provide a player with what is called “real-time assistance” (RTA). This in and of itself has become a hotly contested issue in the poker world.

Online poker sites have stated that having any RTA programs open during play on their sites is forbidden. These sites have gone as far as banning players from their offerings and stripping their accounts of tens of thousands of dollars. Jake Schindler and Ali Imsirovic were banned from the PokerGO Tour in 2022 for allegedly using RTA and solvers while playing in an online setting; neither Schindler nor Imsirovic has returned to the winner’s circle since their suspensions. 

Jonathan Tamayo consults with his well-connected rail between hands at the WSOP Main Event final table. (Image: Reddit / DudeWithASweater)

What the Rules Say

Caesars Entertainment and the WSOP are just as vehement about the usage of these devices as online companies are. Before the start of the 2024 schedule, the organization took the unusual step of reiterating its position on the issue. 

“If caught using RTA/GTO software during a hand, a player will be subject to penalty up to and including DQ (disqualification)/trespass,” the WSOP firmly said in a statement released at the end of May. “We reserve the right to further penalize a player for using RTA/GTO in any other situation in our sole and absolute discretion. Players may continue to use their device to play wsop.com or use the Caesars Sportsbook app while in/out of a hand.”

The assertion is a part of the WSOP rule book. Under Rule 64C, the book states “Participants are prohibited from using betting apps, gaming charts, or any poker information tool while involved in a hand.” 

Did the WSOP miss this seeing this at the final table? If they did not, why didn’t they enforce their own rules?

Controversy Erupts

Naturally, this has ignited a firestorm of debate across the poker spectrum. The victor of the $50,000 Poker Players’ Championship, Daniel Negreanu, inserted his own opinions on the situation when he said on X, “Some (are) asking for my take on the laptop situation at WSOP main final table. I was under the impression that it was already against the rules this year … Cannot reference solvers or charts during play, only on breaks outside the tournament area … I remember hearing that.”  

Poker chat rooms exploded over the situation, surprisingly with sentiment evenly split between a rule violation and simply using all the tools at a player’s disposal. “Seems a bit on the shadier side, unfortunately not a rule against it,” one player mistakenly said in one of these chats. 

“Whenever cash is involved, someone is always trying to steal it or look for any edge they can get to obtain it,” another poker player opined. 

“Every sport has coaches,” a third player stated, “And they all coach mid-game. Look at MMA (Mixed-Martial Arts) … Coach literally telling you what to do at the exact moment to have the advantage.” 

A final player conveyed the thoughts of many in flatly saying, “Absolutely wrong! No collusion!”

Victory with an Asterisk?

It may be too late to rectify this situation for 2024, but that doesn’t mean the WSOP won’t be looking at the subject and introducing rule – and procedural – changes for 2025. 

Casinos.com reached out to WSOP officials for comment – and specifically to find out if they have an official statement on the controversy about Tamayo or plans to revisit relevant rules before next year – but did not hear back before publication.

So here are my predictions on how this will play out, or at least how it should, especially considering there already was a rule prohibiting what we saw at the final table:

First, there will be a total ban on ANY electronic devices at the final table next year. That means players will not be able to have their mobile phones on the tables or in their pockets. Even Apple watches could be prohibited. Any rail that might be there to support them will not be able to bring any electronic devices (cellphones, computers, iPads, etc.) inside the Thunderdome. 

Should any such rule be broken, the player will immediately face expulsion from the tournament and the rail will be banned from watching the proceedings, with the potential of having the player removed for the violations of his/her rail. 

Antiseptic Atmosphere

The poker world does not want the other side of the equation. That would be the complete ban of any fans watching the play of a final table, from the lowest $100 satellite event to the biggest events offered during the two months of action at the WSOP. No crowd around a table makes for a very antiseptic atmosphere, but if players cannot be trusted to abide by the rules that have been written, then the extremes must be employed. 

The strange thing about this is that Tamayo didn’t need to employ such devices. Tamayo had over $2.3 million in career earnings before the 2024 WSOP Main Event, so it is not like he was a newcomer to the game. However, when massive piles of money become a part of the party, those who look to receive the most payout from those piles will do whatever it takes to ensure they get their share of it. 

Jonathan Tamayo is poker’s World Champion for 2024, but the victory has come with a stench and taint to it because of the actions of those supporters who had a piece of him in the game.