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World Series of Poker (WSOP) pro player Tony ‘Ren’ Lin was disqualified over a real-time coaching scandal and has penned a public apology.
The storm centered around a live chat involving a fellow tournament player seeking advice on a hand in a completely different event, leading tournament judges to disqualify the veteran.
This was during the WSOP Super Circuit Cyprus Main Event, meaning Lin was an active player at the time, but he has since released a public statement apologizing for the incident and the confusion caused.

The moment Tony Lin was escorted from the feature table and then DISQUALIFIED in the middle of Day 2 of the WSOP Super Circuit Cyprus Main Event.
Commentary by @aaronpaulkramer #ggpoker #wsop pic.twitter.com/QaAh4S6EYf
— WorldpokerdealsCOM (@worldpokerdeals) October 18, 2025

Tony Lin exits WSOP tournament after rules breach
The event was held at the Merit Royal Diamond and was subject to a $5,300 buy-in and a guaranteed prize pot of $5 million.
Whilst competing, Lin was alleged to have interjected into a fellow pro player’s live play in another tournament, the GGMillion$. As part of a live chat, Lin was alleged to have used a link to chat with active players and give comments on prospective hands.
The exchange led to the arbiters of the Merit Royal Diamond and WSOP Tournament Director Andy Tillman stepping in to remove Lin from the competition, and was announced via the tournament’s social media accounts.

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

As we reported, the WSOP had published updated guidance on rules changes and a strict ban on devices ahead of some of the biggest 2025 tournaments.
This included a complete restriction on artificial intelligence (AI) and “human interaction” in a follow-up statement.
Prompted after a controversial win by Jonathan Tamayo as he was coached in real-time by 2015 Main Event champion Joe McKeehen and four-time WSOP event winner Dominik Nitsche, who were photographed using a laptop device to assist their counsel.
Lin responds to the decision
Lin then responded, going into great detail about his actions in light of his participation between two different tournaments; his post was titled as a “public apology.”

https://t.co/xGOJP4OPSL
— Tony Ren Lin (@tonylin88350321) October 19, 2025

The Chinese GGPoker Ambassador mentions that he accessed a “Tencent link” during a break in play at the Merit Royal Diamond. The link was sent by the player “RealOA”, who would go on to win and snap up $346,903 from the event.
One of the other players in the final tournament, Buzzcut, alleged that Lin gave “real-time” advice to assist RealOA, and as a result, a breach of the tournament rules and an unfair advantage. Buzzcut also stated that in a shared text chat, RealAO thanked Lin for the coaching.
As part of his statement, Lin said, “After my own tournament ended, I reflected deeply: if I were playing online and discovered my opponent had a friend offering advice, wouldn’t that be cheating? The moment I grasped the severity of the situation, I immediately contacted Buzzcut to apologize and explain the circumstances,”
In the wake of the turmoil around both tournaments, RealOA returned the majority of the prize and Lin said he would cover the remainder.
“I am deeply ashamed and remorseful for failing to live up to the standards I advocate. I am prepared to accept all penalties and will make every effort to compensate the players affected in this event,” Lin concluded.
Featured image: PokerGo via YouTube
The post Big-name pro Tony Lin apologizes for $5M WSOP real-time coaching scandal appeared first on ReadWrite.

Kalshi could soon have a new major competitor in the industry, as rumors suggest that the derivatives marketplace CME could be launching sports contracts.
According to Bloomberg, who cite people familiar with the matter, the CME Group Inc “is planning to debut financial contracts tied to both sports games and economic indicators by the end of the year.”
The publisher continues to suggest the Chicago-based company is preparing to release its new contracts to the public through futures commission merchants, including one it is rumored to be setting up with FanDuel. It’s thought that CME could also offer them on other similar platforms too.
While Bloomberg cites people familiar with the matter, the sources have declined to be identified as they say the plans are still private. A representative from CME declined to comment in the published piece.
What are prediction markets? CME gets rumor mill swirling
A prediction market is where people can trade contracts that pay based on the outcomes of events that have an unknown future. It’s not just related to sports, but can be any topic of event.
This rumor comes at a time when prediction markets are becoming hot topics in society, with popularity of the industry rising. Some state regulators don’t have favorable views on prediction markets, with the likes of the Arizona Department of Gaming having sent out communications to approved sportsbooks warning them that offering prediction outside of Arizona could put their license at risk.
The executive director of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB), Kevin F. O’Toole, has also recently expressed an issue with the rise of sports wagering on prediction markets. He claimed that the “growing presence” of these markets is a “significant threat” to Pennsylvania’s regulations.
The industry hasn’t gone unnoticed by the entertainment sector either, as the American sitcom South Park recently went all in on prediction markets in a recent episode named ‘Conflict of Interest.’ It discussed prediction markets at length which caused those in the industry to share meme-able moments from the show on social media platforms after.
ReadWrite has reached out to CME for comment.
Featured Image: AI-generated via Ideogram
The post CME could be entering sports contracts market, reports suggest appeared first on ReadWrite.

The prediction market company Kalshi faced some technical problems on Saturday (October 18), with reports of glitches and delays.
The errors occurred during a busy college football day, with some people reported to have been unable to see their balance or bets for a portion of the day. Others told CNBC they were temporarily unable to process orders.

Kalshi down for the last hour but that didn’t stop my open order (that I tried cancelling at post but couldn’t) from getting fills in the middle of the crash lol. How many millions did SIG just pull? pic.twitter.com/lYXwslT3ol
— Snydzy (@snydzy) October 18, 2025

When the concerns began, some took to X to share their frustrations including the user ‘Peanut Bettor’ who said: “So Kalshi: Locked out anyone who doesn’t use their API, ****** them over completely, essentially allowed them to get stolen from.
“There response is ‘that’s okay it didn’t effect institutional traders’ – including Kalshi Trading who profited. Boy that don’t sound like a peer!”
How Kalshi responded to concerns about technical data delays
Shortly after, the social media user shared an email he had received from the brand which explained more about what had happened. Within it, Kalshi addressed the ‘data delays that occurred on the app and webpage’ earlier in the day.
“We see that you tried to log onto Kalshi during this time, and that you always use the app or webpage to access Kalshi. You also had resting orders that matched during this time. This means that if you were trying to cancel your orders, you might not have been able to.”
The company continued within the messaging to explain how it “prides itself in doing the right thing for traders.” It states that they’ll assume they were trying to cancel orders for every event where the orders would have led to a loss in value over the course of the log, with a reimbursement for that loss in value promised.
The same user, Peanut Bettor, spoke about how it was handled, writing: “They did this and more. Poor communication during issue but ultimately totally fair way to handle. My whiny **** boy comments no longer apply. Kalshi is back.”

Kalshi goes above and beyond for its traders
before and after, addressed in less 30 mins pic.twitter.com/syObRH7cqa
— John Wang (@j0hnwang) October 19, 2025

The social media post has since been shared by John Wang, the Head of Crypto at Kalshi, who explains that the issue with the social media poster was resolved in less than 30 minutes.
ReadWrite has reached out to Kalshi for comment.
Featured Image: Canva
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