Religion judaism Partner(s) Sandra Tsoukernik | Children 1 Name Leon Tsoukernik | |
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Born November 7, 1973 (age 50) ( 1973-11-07 ) Moscow Occupation CEO of Vestar Group and Kings Casino | ||
Leon Tsoukernik (born November 7, 1973) is a Czech entrepreneur, casino owner and art collector. He is CEO of Vestar Group and CEO of Kings Casino. He lives with his wife Sandra Tsoukernik near Kings Casino Rozvadov in Western Bohemia. They have two children, Leonel and Isabelle.
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He is the main sponsor of the Plzen hockey team and loves art, poker, helicopters and classical music. Tsoukernik became an antique dealer early in 1991, while living in Toronto, Canada. In 1993 he left Canada and moved his business to Prague, Czech Republic. He specialized in Biedermeier furniture and in 1996 partnered with Adam Brown and Andrea Zemel to establish an international antique business. Together they launched Iliad Antik New York in 1999. Since 1993, Tsoukernik has also opened 2 antique shops in Prague, a shop in Washington D.C., and he has participated in international art and antique fairs in Palm Beach, Dallas and New York.
In 2016 and 2017, poker players Elton Tsang and Matt Kirk have accused Tsoukernik of refusing to pay gambling debts.
Poker
Tsoukernik regularly attends high stakes poker tournaments and cash games. He won the European Masters Series of Pot Limit Omaha, Rozvadov on 3/1/2014, winning €27,442. He came 3rd at the same series event on 1/8/2014 winning €13,340 and 2nd at the CAPT Innsbruck 2011, on 14/5/2011, winning €33,020.14.
EPT tournament
Tsoukernik won the 2016 EPT Prague Super High Roller, earning €741,100.
Super High Roller Bowl
In May 2017 Tsoukernik took fourth place in Super High Roller Bowl in Las Vegas and won €1,8 million.
Partypoker Millions
In September 2017, Tsoukernik achieved 4th place and won $114,000 in the $10,000 + 300 No Limit Hold'em - High Roller at the Partypoker Millions Tournament at Sochi Casino and Resort, Sochi, Russia.
Controversy
Tsoukernik has been accused twice by other players of refusing to pay gambling debts. In 2016, an anonymous story emerged alleging that while playing in a private game hosted at Casino Barcelona, Tsoukernik had lost over $3,000,000 dollars to poker player, Elton Tsang. Tsoukernik paid $1,200,000 to Tsang, but refused to pay the remaining $2,000,000. When Tsang requested that the debt be paid in full Tsoukernik refused claiming the game was "strange", elaborating that "...some people take advantage of knowing me and target me when I play poker cash games. I have thus experienced a variety of practices in the game, which corrupt the sport of the game. For example, poker collusion, marked cards, and hired professionals. I have many stories to tell, but I prefer to fight it my own way with the support of the courts of justice and other poker entrepreneurs instead of fighting rumours and lies over the internet." Tsang further claimed that Tsoukernik had sent "people" warning him that Tsoukernik was "not a boy scout".
Tsang confirmed this allegation in 2017 which Tsoukernik vehemently denies. Adding to Tsoukernik’s claim, Tsang is a very controversial persona known for being a close friend to Richard Yong and Paul Phua who were arrested in the USA for illegal sport betting and later have been freed on bail. According to several reports, it emerged that the $2.5 million bail was paid by Phil Ivey, alongside other high-roller poker pro Andrew Robl. During this time Another poker star, Tom Dwan also helped one of Phua’s friends with a place to stay during the trial, because it has been reported he relies on Phua’s funding. Phua and Yong were also both accused of being behind the ‘disappearing’ of Tom Dwan, because he allegedly owed them a lot of money .
Tsang himself admitted Richard Yong was the one to introduce him to Tsoukernik. Yong and Phua have long been linked to the infamous China's brutal mafia 14K Triad’s syndicate, which enforce the unpaid debts that the high-stakes gambling world inevitably accrues. Recently Elton Tsang, Jonathan Shen, and Sebastian Chau Yeen have pleaded not guilty to running an illegal gambling establishment in China.
Tsoukernik went on to say, “I will fight all the groups or individuals who use these practices to take unfair advantage of honest poker players.”
In 2017, Australian professional pot-limit Omaha player Matt Kirk sued Tsoukernik over an alleged unpaid gambling debt which occurred on May 27th of that year. According to the lawsuit, Tsoukernik was playing in a private game at the Aria Casino which he funded with four loans from Kirk totaling $3,000,000. Again, Tsoukernik returned $1,000,000, but refused to pay the remaining $2,000,000. Kirk hired criminal defense attorney David Chesnoff and filed a lawsuit against Tsoukernik for an unpaid business loan. The loan mentioned in the lawsuit would have been made with casino chips given in Aria between 4:34am and 5:46am. The lawsuit presented text messages as evidence the loan was given. Tsoukernik's attorney, Peter Bernhard, claimed it was an "unenforceable gambling debt".
Casino Business
Tsoukernik bought land in the German border town of Rozvadov, Czech republic in 2002, with the intention of building his own casino. On June 26, 2003 he opened King's Casino Rozvadov and in 2009 shifted the focus of the business to poker.
In 2015 Tsoukernik negotiated with the World Series of Poker to bring the WSOP Circuit to King's Casino, Rozvadov. The venue will host the WSOP Circuit from 2017-2021 and the WSOP Europe from 2017 to 2019. Previously, only Great Britain, France and Germany have hosted the WSOPE. As owner of King´s Casino Rozvadov, Tsoukernik won 2014 Industry Person of the Year in the European Poker Awards.
Tsoukernik has launched additional casinos and hotels under the King´s brand: in 2010 King´s Admiral, Rozvadov, in 2011 King´s Casino, Prague and in 2014, Casino Bellevue, Marienbad. In 2016 work commenced on new tournament areas totaling 1800 m² and a 5 star hotel with 218 rooms. Construction is expected to finish in 2017.