Steve Zolotow Bio

Steve Zolotow, also known as "Z" or "Bald Eagle," has been playing poker for as long as he can remember. He grew up with aspirations of becoming an actor, but found that he had a knack for gambling.

Zolotow has been a professional gambler since the mid-1960s, switching his primary focus from backgammon to sports betting, and eventually to poker. He was one of the "Mayfair Boys" as a regular player in New York, along with Howard Lederer and Dan Harrington.

He began playing on the circuit in 1988 and finished fifth that year in the $2,500 World Series of Poker pot-limit Omaha event. He won his first WSOP bracelet in 1995 in the $5,000 Chinese poker event, and his second bracelet in a 2001 $3,000 pot-limit hold'em event. He has nearly $2 million in tournament winnings. His biggest cash came in the 2004 PartyPoker Million Championship, for more than $250,000. Zolotow is a Friend of Full Tilt and a Card Player columnist.