New WSOP Rules Banning Electronic Assistance Are a Welcome Correction

^{The 2024 WSOP Main Event champion Jonathan Tamayo acknowledged that his victory would likely lead to new rules banning the use of solvers and other assistance at the table. (Image: Louis Grasse / Zuma)}

After suspicious circumstances occurred during the summertime jaunt to the 2024 World Series of Poker Main Event in Las Vegas, the new WSOP ownership has instituted new rules that are in effect for the current WSOP Paradise in the Bahamas. 

NSUS Group, which owns GGPoker and now the WSOP, introduced rules regarding the behavior and actions of those who support a player from the rail. While many won’t be affected, these new standards could prevent a recurrence of the travesty that happened in July in Las Vegas, when a new world champion may have won his crown with help from well-connected friends in the audience. 

Introducing an Electronics Ban and Communication Prohibitions

The new guidelines were instituted before the start of the currently running WSOP Paradise at Paradise Island in the Bahamas. The 10-day schedule of tournaments is the first chance for GGPoker and NSUS Group to demonstrate the changes that they will be instituting for the future of the 55-year-old organization. One of those changes will be in a circumstance that occurred during the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Championship (aka the “Main Event”) that cast a black eye on the sport.

The change is now in the official WSOP rules under the heading “Electronic Assistance and Coaching.” It reads as follows:

“Players and spectators are not allowed to use charts, apps, or any other form of electronic assistance in the tournament room.”

It goes on in further detail:

“Failure to adhere to this policy will result in a penalty up to disqualification for the player and removal from the tournament room for the spectator. Spectators are also prohibited from providing live assistance or coaching. Failure to adhere to this rule will result in a penalty for the player and removal from the rail for the spectator. Non-players on the rail must adhere to the WSOP Terms and Conditions, including no viewing of live streams on an electronic device.”

In addition to these changes, there are some other subtle tweaks that GGPoker/NSUS have made. Players cannot put their electronic devices on the table or on the rail of the table; additionally, players cannot use ANY electronic devices once the tournament has reached the final three tables.

Covering a Black Eye to the Game

These rule changes from GGPoker, NSUS, and the WSOP are a direct result of the events from this summer during the Main Event. That tournament, the largest Main Event of all time, which paid out a massive $12.1 million to the champion, saw Jonathan Tamayo make it to poker’s ultimate goal. But, as seen by the viewing audience through the live stream of the event and eagle-eyed readers of many poker news sites, there was something Tamayo was doing that violated the rules of the WSOP as they were in place at that time. 

Tamayo had former WSOP Main Event winner Joseph McKeehen and noted high stakes pro Dominik Nitsche on the rail for him, replete with several poker solvers, real-time assistance, and live streams on various computers and cellphones brought to the tournament floor by Team Tamayo. That allowed the group to analyze the situation at hand and pass along this information to Tamayo almost immediately, an advantage that no other player on the table had. 

This additional information violates the “one player to a hand” rule that has governed the world of poker since its inception and, it must be noted, was ignored by the floor staff at Caesars during the Main Event Final Table. 

After Tamayo went on to win the 2025 Main Event, his victory was immediately tarnished by the obvious violations of the rules, either written or implicit. 

Nitsche went on a crowing spree about how they had hoodwinked the WSOP (his X profile today still insults the game by saying “Mainly famous for using a laptop on the WSOP Main FT rail”), while Tamayo sheepishly commented in one of his few post-Main Event interviews that he would be responsible for a “new rule” in the WSOP annals. 

Congratulations?

The timidity of the WSOP and its then ownership, Caesars Entertainment, following the Main Event was just as embarrassing as the action itself. Instead of addressing the issue quickly, Caesars Entertainment went to “radio silence” because the sale of the WSOP was pending with NSUS. After the sale was announced, the person who could have directly influenced what occurred on the Main Event final table, then Executive Tour Director Jack Effel, was promoted to a Senior Vice President position, effectively removing him from any scrutiny on the subject immediately and fully after the sale. 

GGPoker/NSUS also did not tackle the subject, at least until this rule change was implemented. Repeated attempts by Casinos.com to contact GGPoker and NSUS went unanswered, perhaps hoping that the situation would go away. As seen now, however, they have instituted new rules that will look to maintain the integrity of the game – for now. 

Now that they have ownership of the WSOP, GGPoker/NSUS has not said whether these new rules will be implemented for future WSOP events, including the 2025 WSOP. As to the players, Tamayo has not cashed significantly in a tournament since his WSOP “victory,” earning slightly more than $40K in a handful of finishes. 

Both McKeehen and Nitsche allegedly made seven-figure sums for their “support” of Tamayo during the embarrassment of 2024 (they had pieces of Tamayo’s action – Tamayo himself says he has never had a seven-figure score on X, despite his “win”), but have been less than impressive on the felt since the Main Event; Nitsche in particular has not cashed in a US tournament since the WSOP fiasco.