Amidst the bracelets and bustouts at the 2024 WSOP, this week saw a fierce argument break out over the use of GTOWizard at the table – and a debate about Real-Time Assistance that is still raging on Twitter…
Caught a guy on @GTOWizard in the @WSOP 1k Mystery Millions NLH Flight A.
First photo was taken at Paris white section table 194 at 17:39. Despite the privacy screen protector, you can make out the GTO Wizard login screen. Second photo is for identification.
More details below. pic.twitter.com/G68cnwTPk5
— James Chen (@ChipBurglar) May 31, 2024
Cheating or Innocent behaviour?
Chen took to social media to explain how the player in question, Fredric Normand, had already used a “calculator app” to work out his stack to blinds ratio.
“He then opened GTO Wizard and was about to log in when I snapped the photo and confronted him,” says Chen.
Chen and Normand then had a “heated argument”, the latter claiming he was only logging in to check his subscription and accusing Chen of invading his privacy.
Chen, however, was undeterred and wrote: “I don’t believe at all that he calculated his stack in bb and opened GTOW just to check his subscription … I also tell him he’s not allowed to have GTOW open in the tournament area anyway.”
Normand later tweeted in reply:
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.
GL for the rest of the series ✌️
— Frédéric Normand (@FredNormPoker) May 31, 2024
According to Chen, the floor was called and Normand was “given a warning that he would be penalized on future offenses.”
Chen stated of the GTO app use: “It’s too easy to get away with. Poker needs a database that tracks players’ warnings and penalties. I honestly just want to play the game. But I want to play a nice clean game that’s a level playing field for all players.”
Dealing with Real Time Assistance
The incident reignited a debate that has divided the poker world for several years now – how to deal with modern technology at the live and online tables.
RTA-use in online poker events led to highstakes pros Ali Imsirovic and Jake Schindler not only banned from GGPoker, but also becoming persona non grata at various high-profile live events, such as Triton Poker’s SHR series, though significantly not the WSOP.
Last year saw infighting between various GTO solver companies when one was accused of making cheating easier to help their bottom line.
The Rules are…unclear!
Meanwhile, the published WSOP rules on solver use at the tables appear to be lagging behind the times, resulting in mixed messages being sent to players. Rule 64.c of the WSOP’s 2024 rules states: “Participants are prohibited from using betting apps, gaming charts, or any poker information tool while involved in a hand.”
The rules are lagging behind the announcements. WSOP needs to update their rules to be in line with the latest announcements so people don’t look for excuses to use solvers at the table. https://t.co/Ahf3izHGEy
— James Chen (@ChipBurglar) June 1, 2024
The controversy over solver apps and various other methods of RTA has rumbled on for years. Using push/fold charts, for example, is allowed between hands.
WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel ruled in 2016: “When you’re out of the hand, you’re more than welcome to reference anything that you have, your notes or anything like that, but not during the play of hands.”
Last year it was the turn of solvers to be singled out, Effel stating: “If caught using RTA/GTO software during a hand, player will be subject to penalty up to and including DQ (disqualification) / trespass.”
That announcement came in the wake of an issue at the WPT that was almost exactly the same as this week’s Chen/Normand incident.
If you spot someone using a solver real-time, say something, just like this guy did today at @WPT Gardens. What is the penalty for this @wsop @Kevmath.
— Joshua Arieh (@JoshuaArieh) May 23, 2023
It’s my understanding that this player received NO penalty pic.twitter.com/fa7iktTbbq
The Solution is…obvious?
We all know as poker players that if there is an edge to be gained by breaking or bending the rules, someone, somewhere will do it! The trick is to make things as difficult as possible for the scumbags without ruining enjoyment of the game for the masses of clean players.
One possible, though in this day and age potentially extreme, solution is to simply ban mobile phones at the table altogether.
Just ban phones at the tables in general! It’s so much more fun to just TALK with each other and having a great time while we’re playing the game we love the most. Just my two cents…
— Pascal Kuijper (@Pikhaak1) May 31, 2024
That’s been the rule in chess tournaments for a number of years now and the social media output of chess fans and players has still never been higher. Worth a try or overkill? Answers on a virtual postcard please!
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