Four-time WSOP bracelet winner Anthony Zinno has issued his first public statement regarding the allegation by another player, Corel Theuma, that Zinno stole a bag containing $20,000 that Theuma accidentally left behind at Wynn Las Vegas after play had ended for the night in a WPT World Championship event in December.
Zinno, who rarely posts on social media, took to X/Twitter earlier today with a brief message in which he flatly denies the theft allegation made public by Theuma over a week ago, after Theuma witnessed Zinno being questioned by Wynn/Encore security and was told by casino security that Zinno had taken the missing bag.
In his post today, Zinno acknowledges picking up the bag later determined to be Theuma's but denies stealing anything from it, in particular the $19,000 that Theuma asserts was missing from the satchel when he retrieved it from Wynn/Encore security the following day.
Zinno's complete statement is as follows:
"I'd like to share some thoughts, and I'll provide all details after the legal matter finishes:
"We had all made it into the money, which ended the day. The ballroom was shut down for the night. I stood up to leave and then noticed a lost bag close by. My first instinct (it was a late night) was that I'd assume responsibility for the bag and get it to the owner myself, figuring that they went home.
"My goal was to find ID, or verify ownership by some means, try to contact the owner or mutual friends, and perhaps meet somewhere on the strip (or at the restart). Unsuccessful, I brought the bag back to Encore (lost and found), slept, and then played day two. I absolutely deny what is being alleged."
Both Zinno and Theuma spoke with PokerOrg over a week ago regarding the matter, in which Theuma has also claimed to have filed a police report naming Zinno based on what security told him. Theuma has since confirmed he has received a copy of his report, but has walked back his initially posted plan to post that report publicly.
Timeline of bag's wherabouts still somewhat unclear
Zinno's statement as it appears above is largely the same version of events he communicated to PokerOrg last week, in a largely off-the-record conversation, in that he picked up the bag in an attempt to find the owner. While the above statement does confirm that Zinno collected the bag (which was believed to be on the floor, partially under Theuma's empty chair), the statement does not address another serious point in Theuma's allegation, that Zinno then entered a casino restroom with the bag.
One timeline detail likely made somewhat clearer by Zinno's post is his assertion that he took Theuma's bag to casino security. Both players made the money and bagged tourney chips in the same $3K WPT World Championship prelim, in the late hourse of December 18. However, the portion of the incident where Theuma stated he saw Zinno being questioned by security may not have occurred until the evening of December 19, well after both players had busted out of the WPT event late in the afternoon of Day 2 play.
If Zinno's statement about bringing the bag to security can be corroborated, possibly through securiry footage, it would at least indicate that the bag was in security's possession for some time. Theuma discovered he had forgotten the bag soon after leaving the playing area late on December 18 and soon returned, possibly 15 minutes later, to find it missing.
