Over the last week, there was a disturbing news development with the major health scare of Czech businessman and former King’s Casino owner Leon Tsoukernik.
Tsoukernik has been a prominent player in poker for many years and has made deep connections with many of the biggest names in the poker industry. One of his top achievements being to make King’s Casino a prominent place for poker in Europe, hosting the WSOP Europe bracelet series since 2017.
Tsoukernik’s Health Scare
The news started to break early last week, when Antonas Guoga, popularly known as Tony G, posted a message on X about Tsoukernik being rushed to the hospital because of a propofol overdose. This was the same substance that killed pop superstar Michael Jackson.
At the time, Tony G stated that it was rumors and that he hoped they weren’t true. As a result, he received criticism for posting without any substantial facts and jumping the gun on breaking the potentially devastating news about his business contemporary and friend.
Shortly afterwards, it was confirmed that the 51 year old had indeed collapsed at his home in Czechia due to use of propofol in an unsafe manner. He was rushed to the hospital and was listed in critical condition, entering a coma as he fought for his life.
After about a 40 hour coma, Tsoukernik was able to wake up. But things are far from settled as Tsoukernik now enters a critical stage of development to see how much this will damage him for the rest of his life.
As of now, sources from the Prague hospital indicate that he is currently unable to move or speak. Whether or not he will be able to do so will be determined by how much his brain has been damaged, which an MRI can begin to piece together.
Looking Ahead
As mentioned, Tsoukernik was the owner of King’s Casino in Rozvadov, Czechia, the premier location in Europe for tournament poker, until 2024. Tsoukernik recently sold his stake for nearly half a billion Euros.
Thanks to Tsoukernik’s efforts, it has been a regular host of the World Series of Poker Europe and other major tournaments for many years, including the 2024 WSOP Europe.
As a player, Tsoukernik currently ranks in the top-400 on the all-time money list, pulling in nearly $5.5 million in career tournament earnings from 22 recorded cashes. Tsoukernik notably won a bracelet in the 2019 WSOP Europe €100,000 No Limit Hold’em Short Deck event as well as the €50,000 Super High Roller at EPT Prague in 2016.
He has long been a fan of high stakes poker and entrepreneurial ventures and has remained as a figure on the forefront of not only poker but business in Europe as a whole.
He now faces a massive fight for his life to regain a semblance of control over himself physically and hopefully be able to recover in some capacity. Many in poker and business will be keeping their eyes open for updates on how his recovery goes.