Steve Zolotow is a professional poker player from Las Vegas, Nevada. His academic profile includes a Bachelor of Science (B.S) in Statistics and also a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Finance. Popularly known as “The Bald Eagle” or “Stevie Z” in the poker world, Steve Zolotow is also an eminent game theorist. Steve Zolotow, who could not become an actor as he desired, got interested in backgammon from 1965 to 1980 and then sports betting from 1980 to 1995, but he was never away from poker. It was in the mid 1990s that Steve Zolotow took to poker completely and developed a disciplined approach to the game. The erstwhile high profile poker players like Howard Lederer and Erik Siaede also played a major role in honing his poker skills. Considered to be one of the most disciplined players in the poker circuit, Steve Zolotow often plays at casinos on Avenue A in New York City or near-by on Houston Street.
Steve Zolotow struck gold for the first time in 1995 World Series of Poker (WSOP), when he won a bracelet by finishing first in the Chinese Poker Tournament and bagged $112,500. He stole the show by winning his second bracelet at the 2001 WSOP tournament’s 3000 Pot Limit Hold'em event and walked away with $243,335. Apart from his bracelet winnings, he has cashed in at several other WSOP and World Poker Tour (WPT) tournaments since then.
Steve Zolotow made $21,000 in the No-Limit Hold’em event of the 34th Annual WSOP in April 2003. He held first-place at the 2004 Crown Australasian Poker Championship in the Pot-Limit Omaha event and earned $63,823. Steve Zolotow also took home an impressive $259,684 in prize money, when he finished fourth in the No-Limit Hold’em event at the Party Poker Million III/WPT Season 2 held in March 2004. In the same year, he claimed another $37,025 by securing sixth rank in the No-Limit Deuce to Seven Lowball event at the 35th Annual WSOP Tournament. The year 2004 also saw Steve Zolotow bagging huge prize money including a large booty of $65,800 by participating in the No-Limit Hold’em event of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure/WPT Season 3.
Steve Zolotow entered the 36th Annual WSOP held in July 2005 and earned a total of $39,450 by participating in Limit, No-Limit, and Pot-Limit Hold’em events at the tournament. In October 2006, at the No-Limit Hold'em Championship of the Festa al Lago/WPT Event, Steve Zolotow added $20,875 to his bankroll. In 2007, he also finished third in FullTiltPoker.net Global Player Challenge Tournament, which was broadcasted on television. In June 2008, he finished sixth at the final table of H.O.R.S.E event of the 39th WSOP Tournament, and made another whopping sum of $47,991. As of 2008, his winnings in total live tournaments have exceeded $1,700,000.
Steve Zolotow hopes to write The Great American Poker novel, and also aims to win another WSOP. He would also like do commentary in television for some live poker tournaments. He considers Barry Greenstein as his role model, though he also admires his old friends Howard Lederer, Eric Siaedel, and Dan Harrington. His favorite movie is Casablanca, and loves the music of Blues-Sonny Boy Williamson. Other than playing poker, Steve Zolotow also owns and manages several bars in the US, reads mystery novels and poetry, and plays bridge or chess during his leisure hours. He also writes for Card Player magazine regularly. He loves travelling and has won tournaments in Australia, France, and Tunica, and cashed in London, Ireland, California, and Atlantic City.
Steve Zolotow lives up to his nickname because behind his jovial persona lies the sharp eye of an eagle and he is ready to pounce at the slightest sign of weakness from his opponent.