Sporting his signature Fu Man Chu moustache, Steve ‘Zee’ Zolotow resembles the grooviest (and possibly most perverse) prof on campus. He exemplifies the low-key poker pro who manages to cash in without hitting a marketing jackpot (Phil Hellmuth) or being the best (Chip Reese). Zee has done well by figuring out games and capitalising on other players’ mistakes. Along the way, he’s won two WSOP bracelets and cashed in Series events 27 times.

You honed your poker skills at Manhattan’s infamous Mayfair Club [where Erik Seidel, Dan Harrington and Howard Lederer also cut their teeth]. This would have started in the 1970s, after you’d played for miniscule stakes in Gardena, California, acted in a couple of porn films, melted your mind on drugs and got yourself kicked out of the army.