Ren Lin, the charismatic player and star of numerous poker live streams, is in hot water over an online poker controversy.
Lin bagged chips for day 2 of the $5,300 buy-in World Series of Poker Super Circuit Cyprus main event. But his stack was removed from the field due to a “violation of the Poker Integrity Policy on GGPoker,” according to a statement from Merit Poker.
The violation, and the disqualification, stems from events surrounding a GGPoker $10,000 buy-in online event on Oct. 14. Following the final table, Yuan Lei, who was at the final table under the account ‘Buzzcut,’ issued a public statement of concern. Lei ultimately revealed evidence that Lin, an ambassador for TeamGG, offered real time advice to the eventual winner, ‘RealOA,’ an account based in China.
The link between the incident and the WSOP-branded event stems from the GGPoker connection. GGPoker’s parent company purchased the rights for the WSOP brand in 2024.
In the online event, Lei eventually finished third, while ‘RealOA’ won the tournament. A promotional post before the final table live stream indicated that ‘RealOA’ had almost no previous tournament results on the GGPoker platform.
In a now-deleted post on the Notion platform, Lei revealed significant evidence. It included a group chat that included Lei and both Lin and ‘RealOA’.
Amidst the evidence in Lei’s detailed description of the incident was a note in the group chat. In that message, ‘RealOA’ thanked Lin for coaching advice. Lei also received screen shots that indicated clear evidence that Lin actively coached ‘RealOA’ at the final table. Lin allegedly told Lei that it was quite common and normal for players to get advice from others over the course of a final table.
Ren Lin’s Public Statement
One day after his disqualification from the tournament in Cyprus, Lin released a statement of public apology.
“On the day of the incident, I was competing in a WSOP event in Cyprus,” Lin wrote. “During a ten-minute break, I clicked a Tencent Meeting link shared by RealOA. Upon joining, I saw he was playing the GG $10,300 Final Table. When he asked for my opinion on a hand, I responded instinctively, offering my personal advice simply out of a desire to help a friend. The entire interaction lasted only a few minutes, after which I left the call and returned to my live tournament.
“As it was my first time entering such a live session, I failed to recognize it as a rule violation at that moment, mistakenly equating it with post-tournament hand discussions common in our chat groups.”
— Tony Ren Lin (@tonylin88350321) October 19, 2025
Lin went on to say that ‘RealOA’ returned the majority of the prize money. Lin pledged to cover the rest of the sum, with the money distributed among other players at the final table.
Daniel Negreanu, also a member of TeamGG, made a public statement shortly thereafter praising Lin’s apology.
This all rings very true to me knowing Ren for several years and his character in regards to poker and his passion for it.
He made a mistake trying to help a friend he was excited for and I think this apology owns it appropriately.
He accepts his consequences responsibly IMO. https://t.co/xggTCxYOpW
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) October 19, 2025
The Aftermath
Update (October 21): Lin, who had survived day 1A, was among the shorter stacks in the field when his stack was removed from the WSOP Super Circuit Cyprus main event. On Tuesday, GGPoker released a response to the “tournament integrity breach”.
“During the GGMillion$ final table on October 14, 2025, player RealOA actively solicited unauthorized real-time strategic advice from multiple individuals. Among those he contacted was professional player Ren “Tony” Lin, who responded to RealOA’s requests by providing coaching. RealOA intentionally sought advice to gain an advantage over his opponent in violation of the rules at GGPoker. Lin, who acted as a coach, has acknowledged his mistake and demonstrated accountability for his role in this incident.”
As a consequence to the incident, ‘RealOA’ is permanently banned from GGPoker, WSOP, and all partner platforms. Lin is indefinitely suspended across those brands and platforms. GGPoker claimed $250,523 from the ‘RealOA’, and the remaining $96,380 from the first-place prize was covered by Lin.
Over the last few years, Lin became a consistent presence on a variety of high stakes tours. He gained a reputation for generally playful banter across numerous live streamed poker appearances.
To date, Lin has over $17 million in recorded lifetime earnings. He earned a career-best $1,045,781 for wining a WPT Alpha8 event at Wynn Las Vegas in December 2023.
