«
»

Poker Hall of Shame

RE: Dirty Chop Dodginess

by , Jul 31, 2009 | 3:39 am

Comments (10)

photo: Steve Hall
Don’t Trust This Guy: He’s shown a willingness to screw over five fellow poker players and sully the WSOP for just $2,400.

Big congratulations to Savvas Zenonos for successfully stealing $2,400 from the prize pool in a 2009 WSOP main event mega-satellite that was supposed to be shared in a 22-player chop.

Click here for the details of how a good chop can go awry.

It was a skillful play by Zenonos, who hails from Queensland, Australia — effectively mugging five other players of $300-$500 each without even having to reach in their pockets! Nice!

On the benefit of the doubt that it was a simple mistake (despite his saying, “I’m going to screw you over,” before actually doing so), we gave him three days to make good … and then even another couple of weeks before outing him as a brazen petty poker thief here … but no luck.

Zenonos had no cashes at the 2009 WSOP, but did finish 3,050th for number of cashes in 2008, and 2,984th in WSOP money won that year. His lifetime tournament winnings total $7,675 — though these results do not include satellite wins like this one, where he won an agreed-upon $7,800 but left (supposedly he literally ran off) with $10,200.

Pokerati was unable to reach Zenonos for comment, but will respectfully keep him on The Pokerati Bad List until he pays the money he owes (to any or all of the five afflicted) or volunteers to serve 10 days in a pillory at the 2010 WSOP.


Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

10 Comments to “Poker Hall of Shame”


  1. Ryan     says:
    July 31st, 2009 at 10:26am

    number 2 on google when you search his name. nice.


  2. BJ Nemeth     says:
    July 31st, 2009 at 12:24pm

    I was so bummed to discover that “The Pokerati Bad List” wasn’t a link.


  3. DanM     says:
    July 31st, 2009 at 12:25pm

    it might be, BJ … we just have to have more than one inductee!
    😉


  4. son of sue     says:
    July 31st, 2009 at 1:38pm

    awesome


  5. Karridy     says:
    July 31st, 2009 at 4:33pm

    Great job, Dan.


  6. Tom Schneider     says:
    July 31st, 2009 at 10:29pm

    Piece of shit. The most active in trying to make a deal happen…almost begging. Don’t know if I mentioned this yet, but PIECE OF SHIT.

    Sure wish the WSOP would facilitate chops so this crap didn’t happen.


  7. DanM     says:
    July 31st, 2009 at 11:00pm

    At Binion’s they do — the TD just takes out a piece of paper and writes down what place and/or name gets paid what — so it can be done. But I still think Harrah’s will contend that they are required by Gaming Commission law to pay out exactly what they promised pre-tourney. And perhaps being all computerized is what forces them to comply?


  8. BJ Nemeth     says:
    July 31st, 2009 at 11:17pm

    My assumption has always been that it’s a liability issue. Some TDs facilitate chops simply because they don’t really care, and they see it as a simple, player-friendly service they provide to their customers.

    But a corporation like Harrah’s with an operation as large as the WSOP has to have a set policy in place, and one that was likely looked at by a lawyer at some point. And their policy is that you are free to make deals as much as you want (except to the point of collusion, of course), but keep us out of it.

    In a case like this, Harrah’s can safely say that they weren’t involved, and so they aren’t responsible for paying out the difference or tracking down the asshole.


  9. Poker Shrink     says:
    August 1st, 2009 at 7:58am

    I have a standing opinion of any excuse that begins: “Our attorneys tell us that we can’t . . .”


  10. The felted 1     says:
    August 7th, 2009 at 3:16pm

    Thanks Pokerati for ousting this CLOWN!