The latest episode of The Chip Race podcast – hosted by Dara O'Kearney and David Lappin – featured an interview with high stakes professional and WPT Global Ambassador Ignacio 'Nacho' Barbero. After touching briefly on Barbero's approach to high stakes tournaments and his somewhat unorthodox play style, Lappin moved the conversation to what he described as "the elephant in the room."
Lappin was referring, of course, to the controversy that erupted when Barbero uploaded a screenshot to social media showing GTO Wizard open while he was playing the Venom tournament on ACR Poker. At the time, Barbero was part of ACR Poker's ambassador team and the post went viral.
An internal investigation into the incident cleared Barbero of any wrongdoing, but his subsequent comments about the site's security protocols while on a live-streamed U.S. Poker Open table left ACR Poker with no choice but to part ways.
'We both handled it pretty bad'
Lappin began by asking Barbero about the optics of the situation – specifically how he felt in regards to the statements issued by ACR Poker in the immediate aftermath of his viral post.
"To be honest with you, I think we both handled it pretty bad," Barbero responded. "I don't think that should have been the statement. And I also should have never posted that."
"I think the statement should have been a bit more serious," he continued.
Lappin and O'Kearney take a hard line later in the interview, pressing Barbero for answers about his conflicting explanations regarding the comments made at the U.S. Poker Open. In the aftermath of his comments, Barbero attributed his words to both a lapse in judgement and a misunderstanding of the question Isaac Haxton asked him – leading Lappin to ask the question: which was it?
Nacho Barbero's table talk at the U.S. Poker Open reignited the controversy surrounding his use of GTO Wizard while playing online and ultimately led to the end of his ambassadorial role with ACR Poker. "Did you slip up by representing the site you were working with poorly or did you fail to understand that Ike's question was about a very serious matter of game security?" Lappin asked Barbero.
"I was thinking about the hand. When I'm playing the hand I have ADD, I can't focus on two things at the same time," Barbero explained.
"So, when Ike asked me that I didn't understand what he said – I said something completely random, 'No, I don't think they're trying.' But I didn't understand his question. So I said something completely random and it got me fired when I didn't actually understand what he was asking me."
WPT Global steps in
After a period of time as a free agent, WPT Global stepped in to sign Barbero to its ambassador program.
With that in mind, O'Kearney asked, "Given all that went on, were you surprised that another brand would sign you aware that they would likely take heat over the decision? What do you feel like you can bring to the team to reward them for their faith in you?
"I was surprised they signed me," Barbero began. "Honestly, I made two stupid mistakes in the past, but everybody who knows me knows I would never cheat."
"I think what I'm going to bring to World Poker Tour is I'm going to sign up many new players. I think they have a lot of room to grow. I'm going to give them TV exposure. I think I'm very funny, they love my content. People like watching me on TV because I'm entertaining."
"I'm very happy that somebody gave me a second opportunity because I think I'm good for the game."
Additional image courtesy of Antonio Abrego/PokerGO Tour
