SharePoker pro Ethan “Rampage” Yau was in the hotspot this week after refunding investors when he didn’t have to, having sold action on his first bullet to the WPT $25,700 High Roller but actually winning the event on his own-money second bullet.
Poker content creator Yau quickly busted his first bullet, but rebought on his own dime and ended up scooping the title and $894,240, by far the biggest cash of his career.
His decision to pay back those who had invested in his first bullet stunned the poker community, with Doug Polk among the high-profile detractors.
Polk tweeted: “This is messed up. You got freerolled if you pay people that money. If I buy a piece of you in a tourney with no reference to bullets, its clearly just bullet #1. If you lose a 2nd there’s no way I'm paying for the second bullet as a backer. This is just wrong. Congrats btw.”
Shaun Deeb was another unimpressed with Yau’s decision, tweeting: “As markup police I feel it’s my right to say something about the @rampagepoker thing… think it’s a very, very bad precedent for him to set for future action selling.”
Deeb added he suspected Yau had been bullied into paying up...
..while Polk was of a similar view: “The reason that Rampage is giving back is because a bunch of people thought they were somehow entitled to the second bullet (they were not).This puts a lot of pressure on him to give money away that is rightfully his. He’s essentially paying $ to avoid a negative public response,” Polk argues.
Yau denies that he was pressured by those who bought a stake in his first bullet, tweeting he was unaware of comments, whether public or private, before his decision to pay back first bullet investors.
Poker pro and vlogger Johnnie “Vibes” Moreno was another in the Polk/Deeb camp with Polk, tweeting: “Agree with Doug. This is one of the main reasons I decided to never sell action. Losing people money sucks and even when you win it can be a PR problem. Rampage refunding is a nice gesture but people will still be upset even though it’s above and beyond.”
Many, however, felt that it was a strange situation for the likes of Polk and Deeb to be getting involved, remarking that Yau was free to do what he likes with his monster winnings.
- “Generally in life people only complain about others doing good deeds when it isn’t and could never be in their nature to do the same,” wrote Mark Napolitano.
- “Ethan can do whatever he wants with his money. Leave this man alone!” tweeted Lisa Spallina
- “You are a good person @rampagepoker. This reminds me of people being pissed because others tipped too much and now they will look cheap!
What do you think of Yau’s decision to pay his investors money he didn’t have to? Let us know on our social media channels!
