This article isn’t going to talk about Phil Hellmuth, Tony G, Joe Sebok, or Mike Matusow’s of poker –players who are ripped on poker forums for one reason or another that really has nothing to do with their character or overall reputation in the poker world—and instead will focus on five people in the poker world who are considered “bad for the game” by the vast majority of the poker community.
These are people with really bad reputations in the poker world –some wholly deserved, some partially deserved—who have very little in the way of supporters defending their actions. So without any further buildup here are my first two choices for the five most hated people in poker:
#5 – Sorel Mizzi: Mizzi’s troubles began with numerous violations of Terms and Conditions on online poker sites that saw him banned from both Full Tilt and PokerStars –which led him to violate even more of their terms and conditions of these sites, and use his original banning as an excuse for doing so! From there it has only gotten worse for one of the best online tournament players of all-time as he has been dogged by his detractors –a list that seems to grow every time he posts on 2+2 about how he cheated, but is simply being taken to task for his success—while more cheating allegations pile up.
The most recent of which being Mizzi allegedly bottom-dealing in a game of Chinese Poker against 2010 WSOP runner-up John Racener. While only a few allegations against Mizzi have been confirmed, it’s amazing that he continues to put himself in these situations over and over.
#4 – Jamie Gold: I had a hard time choosing between Mizzi, Gold, and the player who did not make this list but could have, Dutch Boyd. In the end I went with Gold and Mizzi purely for name recognition reasons, even though Boyd could be the most accomplished live player of the three.
Gold’s dodgy reputation stem from his antics on his way to the 2006 WSOP Main Event title, where he broke numerous written and unwritten poker rules, and got under the skin of many players and viewers with his table talk and attitude. Adding to his woes was a legal dispute with a backer claiming he was owed half of Gold’s WSOP score. Despite his 2006 WSOP win, Jamie Gold is a toxic asset in the poker world.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of this series where I will list the Top 3 Most Hated People in Poker!
Related Posts
- The Top Ten Tournament Players of 2010 (Part 1 of 3) - November 22, 2010
- Sorel Mizzi Faces New Cheating Accusations - February 21, 2011
- Paul Leggett Addresses Travis Makar Comments - February 25, 2011
Written by Steve Ruddock on March 25th, 2011
ur a tool mizzi is one of best tournament players in world n none of these so called ‘allegations’ have been proven OR confirmed. anyone could say anything about anyone at any time for many reasons