We try not to engage in too much schadenfreude here at Pokerati, but the last post about Amarillo Slim\’s efforts to restore his stature in the poker world has me contriving a poll in my head about who are/were the most undesirable people in/from poker.
Current Poker Sith Lords
Russ Hamilton — guilty til proven innocent, and with good cause.
Ernie Scherer III — he\’s still innocent til proven guilty, but considering that he faces the death penalty for killing his parents to pay off poker debts — and the last 10 Google searches found on his computer were \”countries that don\’t extradite to the U.S.\”, I think we can rest assured that he will not become a Full Tilt pro anytime soon.
Dishonorable Mentions
James McDaniel — this Dallas poker room operator was convicted of killing an ex-cop, engaged in collusion in Oklahoma (my personal observation and unproven accusation), and is currently on trial for supplying drugs to one of his railbirds who ended up OD\’d-dead in a portable toilet.
Reformed Reputations
Jamie Gold
Justin Bonomo
Dutch Boyd
Jury Still Out
David Sklansky — technically crime-free, but young aspiring female players are hardly flocking to his tutelage.
Amarillo Slim — he says he\’s not guilty, and his family and a lie detector now apparently agree, even though his criminal record implies otherwise.
Layne Flack — everybody seems to like Layne, but unless he\’s working undercover a la Poker Brasco, hanging with Russ Hamilton surely won\’t help him get sponsored by Ultimate Bet.
So who else? Really, I\’m not looking for a bunch of potentially libelous name-calling … but I am looking to create a list of once and future poker bad-guys, and maybe a rating system for criminals and outcasts and offenses that may or may not attract the attention of law enforcement, but still result in scorn and contempt from fellow poker players.
