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.

Nearly a month after his arrest in the brutal murder of his parents, the prosecution in the case against Ernest Scherer III is beginning to release some details. And it couldn’t be a more gruesome or cold-hearted story.

Some might remember Ernest Scherer Jr. from the poker tables, as he dabbled in poker throughout his life, though much of his later years were spent dealing in real estate and dabbling in local politics. That was until he and his wife, Charlene Abendroth, were murdered in their Silicon Vally, California home. But more people might remember seeing Ernie III at the tables, as he traveled the poker tournament circuit regularly and accumulated nearly $340K in winnings over the past six years. That was until he was finally arrested last month for murdering his parents.

Notably, Ernie III had an L.A. event cash during the time that he was under investigation, wondering when he would be nabbed. That was in an L.A. card room. *shiver*

The details of the hideous act of which the younger Scherer is accused involves a desperate man who spent more than he won at the poker tables, sat on a mountain of debt, and cheated on his wife with various women around the country. He allegedly planned the murder of his parents a short time after they demanded he assume his own home loan of $616K. He tried to purchase a gun on several occasions but finally resorted to killing them any way he could. He drove from Las Vegas to their home, stabbed them multiple times in the neck, and drove home to Brea, California, where his wife and baby son were none the wiser. The sick, sick story is laid out in 3,300-page case against Scherer III.

The kicker in all this — he was less than a year away from inheriting upwards of $1 million.

From the Contra Costa Times, via MercuryNews.com:

Scherer III now faces a double-murder charge that could bring the death penalty. The $880,000 house he shared with his wife and toddler son, Ernest IV, has been resold, after the couple defaulted on their seller-financed second mortgage, Orange County records show. And the trustee for the estates of Scherer Jr., 60, and Charlene Abendroth, 57, continue to add up the value of more than 15 properties here, in Texas and Nevada, along with time-shares in Hawaii and Arkansas that they left for Scherer III and his sister to share equally, when they turned 30.

Their California assets alone, including proceeds from the sale of the Castlewood home, have been valued at $2.6 million, probate records show.

The couple was last seen eating a steak dinner with mashed potatoes and salad at the Castlewood Country Club on March 7, the night police believe they were killed, though their bodies were not discovered until a week later.