Nacho Barbero Leaves ACR Poker Ambassador Team

Behind the Scenes of Nacho Barbero

An extraordinary situation occurred within the ACR Poker Team Pro team:

On April 21, 2025, the CEO of the Winning Poker Network, Phil Nagy, publicly announced that he had decided to terminate Nacho Barbero's contract as an ACR Poker ambassador.

Reference: Jose Ignacio "Nacho" Barbero is Argentina's top live tournament player, with earnings exceeding $23M. He's a WSOP bracelet winner and multiple event winners at the EPT, LAPT, WPT, and Triton. He joined the ACR Poker Team Pro in April 2023.

What happened to Nacho, whom ACR Poker had affectionately referred to recently, praising his irreverent behavior on social media?

Scene 1: Instagram screenshot

In February, Nacho uploaded an Instagram story with a photo of his computer, in which GTO Wizard was open in the background of the tables. It's worth mentioning that using RTA while playing is prohibited on the WPN Network.

Naturally, the photo sparked a wave of outrage. Barbero quickly responded with a video, saying he only played online for The Venom a couple of times a year. He said he had a training session with his "horses" and forgot to log out.

The official statement from ACR Poker at the time was:

"Nacho Barbero is a weirdo and we love him. Anyone who has played with him, against him, or around him knows he is not a GTO player, and likely never will be. We are certain he did not use GTO Wizard to gain an advantage."

The response, although viral, left many players and community members unsatisfied.

Scene 2: Conversation at a poker table

(timestamp 3:04:49)

In mid-April, Nacho finished second in the $25,000 US Poker Open Series tournament. With 16 players remaining, the Argentinian moved all in with A7s in response to a raise from Clement Deng.

Barbero decided to comment on his move and recalled the incident above:

- "The solver says 50/50. About GTO Wizard, I shouldn't have never posted it online."

Isaac Haxton joined the conversation: "I'm surprised ACR Poker just didn't catch automatically."

- "Are you surprised?" the now-former ambassador responded, laughing.

-  "You can just have GTO Wizard open while you were playing, and the game client didn't do anything? Are they even trying?"

 - "I don't think they're trying."

The conversation quickly went viral.

Scene 3: ACR Poker's Reaction

On April 21, ACR Poker posted a statement on its X account:

"We are committed to ensuring a fair and competitive environment for all players, and we expect the same from our ambassadors. We have already contacted Nacho to discuss his comments during a tournament in the United States and are reconsidering his future with our team."

Four days later, a statement from WPN CEO Phil Nagy was released. The central message was:

"Nacho's comments to Isaac Haxton reflect a fundamental inconsistency with our values. As a result, we have decided to part ways with Nacho as an ACR Poker ambassador."

Nagy also emphasized several points regarding players working on the team pro:

• Ambassadors should immediately inform the poker room if they have the slightest doubt about the level of transparency of the games.
• Ambassadors should be aware of the work being done to ensure the integrity of the game. All that is required is objectively representing the poker room based only on real facts.

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