For those who are not in the know, NSUS, the parent company of GGPoker, and owner of the World Series of Poker, looks like it is following through after indicating it would extend its zero tolerance of unethical behaviour at the online tables into the live arena.
GGPoker is well-known for taking this approach on its online platform which is now the largest in the industry. And the poker community appears to be reacting in an exclusively positive way.
NSUS bought the rights to the World Series of Poker two years ago and has repeatedly promised that game integrity is at the top of its agenda.
About the 10K FT I just played, decided to go public about the unfair play: https://t.co/M15m8KNRt3 @GGPoker #GGPoker #GGMillions
— yl3i (@yl333i) October 17, 2025
Why Was Ren Lin Banned from the WSOP?
So what was Ren Lin’s crime? Helping his mate at the final table of the GGMillion$ this Tuesday which is clearly against terms and conditions on any site. Real-time assistance (RTA) is not just from a machine, it can also be from a stronger player.
The winner of the weekly event was a player from China known as “RealOA,” a guy who is in a poker group with Lin. Also in this group, is the player who finished in third place in the GGMillion$, a player with the screen name “Buzzcut “.
After the event concluded, RealOA thanked Lin for his help in the group chat, revealing what had transpired.
Ren Lin is one of the most popular players on the high-stakes circuit. His lively personality has turned out to be a big hit in the Triton Super High Roller Series. Always smiling, and joking, and a pleasure to be around.
Now, though, it appears that he’s going to have to do a lot of work to regain the trust that he has lost here.
Lin is a GGPoker ambassador and the rules of the site state:
“Every decision at the poker table should be made free of any external assistance.”
There was no denying that the rules had been broken and Buzzcut received further proof in the last couple of days from his friends in the group.
With all this in mind, Ren Lin sought to fix the situation as soon as Buzzcut went public with a 30-minute phone call to the aggrieved party.
Shockingly, Lin was open with his opinion that this is totally normal. Buzzcut wrote:
“Tony claimed 90% of the FT players will do the same thing: sharing the screen and getting advice from other poker players to get better results. “It’s quite common and normal.”
Buzzcut told him this wasn’t ethical nor normal and he would soon reveal what happened to the poker community. On hearing this, Lin had no option but to apologise and promise it would never happen again.
Today, before the start of Day 2 of the Main Event, poker player Ren “Lady Gaga” Lin was disqualified by the decision of the WSOP Tournament Director Andy Tillman due to a violation of the Poker Integrity Policy on GGPoker.
His stack was removed from the tournament.
— Merit Poker (@meritpokerlive) October 18, 2025
Sadly for Lin, when he returned to the Merit Royal Diamond Casino to start Day 2 of the $5,300 buy-in event, he was informed by WSOP Tournament Director Andy Tillman that due to a violation of the Poker Integrity Policy on GGPoker he was disqualified.
Harsh but Lin will have very few sympathisers, even for this Main Event with a $6.52 million prize pool and million dollars up top.
So the question is who’s next for the ban hammer? Ali Imsirovic is already banned from GGPoker and people have asked why is he not banned from the WSOP.
The Bosnian-American also found himself persona non grata at a couple of tournaments earlier this year. First at Champions Club in Texas, and a few months later in Florida
That’s the plan and that’s what will happen
— Fedor Holz 🐧 (@CrownUpGuy) March 1, 2025
