Twitter users alleged on Friday that high-stakes poker pro Jose ‘Nacho’ Barbero was using RTA (real-time assistance) while playing in an online poker tournament – an allegation that he denied.
The storm began with a screenshot of Barbero’s Instagram that showed poker tool GTO Wizard running in the background while the sponsored pro played the Venom event on ACR Poker. That’s a big no-no in the online poker world.
Barbero claimed ignorance, and said that while the program was open on his computer, he wasn’t actually using the solver while playing. The Argentinian said he was using it for coaching purposes for other players, and was willing to prove it.
“I was coaching four of my horses on a Discord call,” Barbero wrote on Twitter. “I don’t play online. They don’t have the GTO Wizard Pro, so I was looking at some spots for them. My bad. I emailed GTO Wizard game integrity and they’re going to send all the spots I searched yesterday and are going to publish them.”
ACR Response, Investigation Begins
ACR Poker responded on Jan. 31 that Barbero “is a goofball and we love him. Anyone who’s played with, against or around him knows he’s not a GTO-style player and likely never will be. We’re confident he was not using GTO Wizard to gain any advantage for himself.”
A day later, however, the site acknowledged that response was too flippant “and did not convey the seriousness with which we take the situation. We sincerely apologize for this.”
The site planned to investigate the issue both internally and externally, and work with GTO Wizard to address the issue. A day later the company released a statement about the incident, backing up Barbero’s claim that he didn’t use the tool while playing.
“Following a thorough internal investigation of all hands played in the tournaments Nacho participated in, we have concluded that at no point did he use real-time assistance (RTA) to aid his or any other player’s decision-making during live hands,” ACR noted. “We understand that independent parties are conducting their own reviews, and we are confident that they will come to the same conclusion. We remain committed to transparency and fairness, and we will continue to work to earn the continued trust of our players and community.”
Further Investigation
Fellow high-stakes standout Patrick Leonard released his own findings based on an analysis of over 1,000 hands and also determined Barbero was telling the truth.
“From his 240 hands total [VPIP], he made 105 ‘wrong’ plays,” Leonard explained. “So around 40 percent of the time, he made the incorrect play.”
He went further, saying that Barbero’s play was indicative of a live player, not someone relying on solvers. Leonard did note, however, that this was still a bad look for online poker.
I spent this weekend doing an investigation into the Nacho Barbero GTOW/ACR/Venom scandal. I tried to provide as much information/data/actual hands to give a representation of his game play on that day. I went over 1300 hands (652 in detail) analysed his GTOW history and used the… https://t.co/omQeYGLNIM pic.twitter.com/AU2ZziYb7B
— Patrick Leonard (@padspoker) February 3, 2025
Barbero was pleased to see ACR and Leonard’s findings clear him of cheating, but decided to bow out of the multi-day tournament anyway.
“As someone who represents not just ACR Poker but the game itself, I should have been more aware of how my actions could be perceived,” he said. “And I understand that some people will continue to question my actions during Venom. For that reason, I’ve decided to forfeit the rest of my play in the Venom and the two active stacks I still have in play.”
Barbero, a former Magic: The Gathering champion, has racked up nearly $22 million in live tournament earnings during his career, including a WSOP bracelet.
The use of RTA continues to make headlines and the World Series of Poker Paradise recently made a rule to prohibit the use of this type of technology during play.
An online player in Michigan was also recently banned on WSOP Online for alleged RTA use, and in November, a high roller winner was disqualified in the WSOP Online international series, losing out on a bracelet.