Stephen Zolotow “"Zee"“

Birthplace
New York, NY

Hometown
Las Vegas, NV

Total Winnings
$449,833

Steve Zolotow spent many of his younger years in New York City pursuing his dreams and making a life for himself. He originally wanted to be an actor but found that it was difficult to earn enough income to support himself. He did obtain a BA degree in Statistics and an MBA in Finance, but he wasn't sure how he would apply those to a career. Facing the fact that he is a competitive spirit and always had an interest in games like bridge, backgammon, chess, pool, and other forms of cards, he discovered the Mayfair Club and other private clubs in which he could play for money. Besides backgammon, Steve's favorite endeavor at the Mayfair Club was poker, which he played with Howard Lederer, Erik Seidel, Dan Harrington, Jay Heimowitz, and other players who all got their start in the game there. They discussed the finer points and strategies of poker, and once out in the larger world of casinos, they all applied their education wisely. Steve eventually moved to Las Vegas, even though he still owns a bar in New York, but has played cash games and tournaments throughout the world. Steve's recorded tournament successes date back to 1984, but his first official win didn't come until the 1995 World Series of Poker when he won his first bracelet in the $5,000 Chinese Poker event, which is no longer a part of the WSOP lineup. (He also won the Chinese Poker championship event in 1995 at the Hall of Fame Poker Classic.) All in all, he has 34 WSOP cashes, including the aforementioned bracelet and another victory in the 2001 $3,000 pot-limit hold'em event. He has also played in nearly every World Poker Tour open event ever held and cashed in eight of them, one being a televised final table at the 2004 PartyPoker Million cruise where he finished in fourth place. He has nearly $2 million in tournament earnings to his name and years of success in cash games, backgammon and sports betting. He is one of the veterans of the game and continues to turn up wherever a poker game or tournament can be found.