WPT Global Signs Ren Lin As a New Ambassador, Generating Twitter Hype

Who Is Ren Lin and Why Twitter Reacted So Strongly to His Signing

Tony “Ren” Lin has been regularly playing live tournaments since 2015. Over this period, he has earned more than $16M in prize money. In October 2025, Ren Lin found himself at the center of a scandal. He helped a player with the nickname RealOA in a group chat to finish playing the final table of the $10K GGMillion$ tournament on GGPoker. RealOA ultimately won the tournament, receiving $346,903. We covered this story in more detail here.

Real Time Assistance is a serious violation of GGPoker rules. As a result, both Ren Lin and RealOA were banned from GGPoker. In addition, Ren Lin lost his partnership with GGPoker (he was a member of Team GGPoker). But that was not all. The organizers of the WSOP Super Circuit in Cyprus disqualified him directly during the tournament. It was also initially stated that Lin was banned from all WSOP series, but in December he freely participated in WSOP Paradise tournaments.

Fuel was added to the fire by the fact that Ren Lin was not the first WPT Global ambassador to join the room after a scandal. In the summer of 2025, Nacho Barbero lost his partnership with ACR Poker due to comments about the room’s security service and after that was signed as an WPT Global ambassador.

How Poker Twitter Exploded

Essentially, all of this is what caused poker Twitter to explode. One of the first to react was Barry Carter, the main supplier of poker memes:

A bit later, he posted another tweet:

Thomas Keeling joined in with a Photoshop of another supposed ambassador signing announcement:

The World Poker Tour also commented on the ambassador signing (although they later deleted their post):

WPT Global is a licensee of the World Poker Tour. We do not officially endorse any of their ambassadors.

ClubWPT Gold acted similarly: they posted an image featuring Ren Lin with the caption “banned” (the tweet was deleted).

WPT Global Released an Official Statement on Welcoming Tony Lin as WPT Global Brand Ambassador

All the replies led WPT Global to delete the original post, but a few hours later they reposted it along with an official statement.

At WPT Global, we believe in the principles of growth

At WPT Global, we believe in the principles of growth, accountability, and redemption. The world of competitive poker is not only about winning hands, but also about personal evolution and the courage to face challenges with integrity.

We are honored to welcome Tony Lin as our newest brand ambassador. Tony has openly addressed past controversies, taken full responsibility for his actions, and accepted the consequences with humility. His willingness to learn, improve, and move forward demonstrates a maturity that aligns with our values. His journey reflects resilience—a quality we admire and wish to highlight. We recognize that people can learn from their experiences and contribute positively to the community.

WPT Global remains dedicated to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, security, and fairness in online poker. Our decision to collaborate with Tony is rooted in our belief in second chances and our focus on the future. We stand by our platform, our players, and our ambassadors as we continue to foster a respectful and trustworthy poker environment.

We look forward to Tony’s positive contributions and encourage our community to join us in supporting growth, both at the tables and beyond.

Thank you for your trust in WPT Global.