A Quiet Release Turns Into a Public Issue
The final episode of No Limit, the WSOP’s eight-part documentary series, is still waiting to air, yet the conversation around the show shifted sharply last week. What was meant to be a polished look at the 2024 WSOP Paradise instead drew scrutiny when creator Dustin Iannotti acknowledged that two episodes included lines attributed to Alan Keating that were created with artificial intelligence. Keating had not been told in advance.
Keating appeared in Episodes 5 and 6. Both aired recently and featured him in several extended interview moments. It was only after watching the finished cuts that he noticed comments he had not made. On Friday evening, he took the issue to social media and pointed out the discrepancies. His posts, as well as Iannotti’s, disappeared soon after, but the discussion quickly spread through the poker community.
How the Fabricated Lines Were Made
Iannotti later explained that the edits involved two short segments adding up to roughly ten seconds in total. According to him, the team reviewed things Keating had actually said in interviews and used AI to blend the themes together for smoother transitions. He said this approach was meant to improve pacing inside Episodes 5 and 6, which together run about fifty-five minutes.
One of the altered lines appeared around the nineteen-minute mark of Episode 5. The show presented Keating saying that he liked putting opponents in “tough spots” to test their will. Iannotti said this was pieced together from genuine remarks, including Keating’s view that cash games test players more deeply than tournaments and his comfort in difficult situations.
A second line surfaced in Episode 6. The final cut had Keating asking if the session was over and whether he could go find a cash game. In reality, the closest related comment was a casual suggestion about playing cash.
Iannotti conceded in his response early Saturday morning that the team should have spoken to Keating before using the material in this way.
Keating Pushes Back
The series had already shown Keating expressing blunt opinions about tournaments. At one point he said tournament play reminded him of checkers, while cash games felt more like chess. He also appeared saying that he disliked tournaments and was unsure why he was even participating. These were his actual quotes.
The synthesized lines, however, were not, and that distinction was enough for Keating to call out the production publicly.
The Creator Explains His Position
Despite the admission, Iannotti said the reception to Keating’s episodes had been overwhelmingly positive and that many viewers specifically enjoyed his segments. He also said he stood by the integrity of the series as a whole.
Iannotti has a long history in poker media, including leadership roles at Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars. He founded Artisans on Fire in 2015, a studio that has earned an Emmy and now handles large-scale poker productions. Before releasing No Limit, he described the project as something meant to honor the players’ stories and the game itself, filmed over twenty long days and built from seven hundred hours of footage.
Another Player Steps Forward
Not long after the controversy surfaced, Alex Keating said he experienced similar issues in his own episode. He claimed the documentary used a “fake voice” for him and edited scenes without proper context. He stated that he never agreed to this style of editing and no longer wanted to be involved.
Iannotti denied using AI for any player other than Alan Keating and characterized those two segments as oversights.
Community Response
Reaction from the poker world arrived quickly. Alan Keating replied with a brief message saying the situation did not deserve a response.
Others were far more direct. Georg Fagerbakke called the revelation outrageous and said it raised serious questions about the project. Jon Pardy described the entire situation as a wild development. The account @DontBleffMe called the decision repulsive and said it reflected poorly on the production team.
Looking Ahead
Two episodes remain, scheduled to air this Tuesday and Thursday. An editor’s note later clarified that an earlier version had inaccuracies in how certain lines were labeled as direct quotes or synthesized, and the labeling has since been corrected. With the final installments still on the way, the discussion around how the series was assembled continues to overshadow its release.
