"Miami" John Cernuto is a professional poker player based in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Born in 1944 in New Jersey, Cernuto graduated from Florida State University with a major in finance. After graduating, he worked as an air traffic controller until Ronald Reagan fired the air traffic controllers during the famous 1981 strike.
Having played poker casually for years, in 1982 he decided to move to Las Vegas and try playing poker for a living. Though he went broke a few times and had to work side jobs to rebuild his bankroll, he managed to steadily improve his game. When asked which is more stressful, air traffic control or poker, he replied: "definitely poker".
Cernuto made his first WSOP final table in the 1989 in the $5,000 Seven-Card Stud event (finishing 4th) and won his first bracelet in the 1996 in the $1,500 Seven-Card Stud Split event. He won his second bracelet in the 1997 $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em event (earning $259,150) and his third bracelet in the 2002 $1,500 limit omaha event, earning $73,320.
Cernuto made an impressive three final tables at the 2006 WSOP, two in Seven-Card Stud and one in Razz.
During the $2,500 Razz tournament at the 2009 WSOP, Cernuto collapsed and was taken to a hospital, where he spent the night after being diagnosed with internal bleeding.
In 2003, Cernuto won the World Heads-Up Poker Championship in Vienna, outlasting a field including Ram Vaswani, Dave Colclough and Scotty Nguyen, winning the €60,000 grand prize.
Year | Event | Prize |
---|---|---|
1996 | $1,500 Seven Card Stud Split | $147,000 |
1997 | $2,000 No Limit Hold'em | $259,150 |
2002 | $1,500 Limit Omaha | $73,320 |
In his nearly long career, 3 WSOP bracelets, 47 WSOP cashes for total WSOP earnings of $1,453,880. He has 10 WPT cashes, 2 WPT final tables, for total WPT earnings of $441,874. His biggest WPT finish was a $155,800 payout during season 3 as well as a 2nd place finish during season 5.
Cernuto has also made appearances on the Ultimate Blackjack Tour, making a final table in the Elimination Blackjack event. As of 2009, his total live tournament winnings exceed $4,600,000.
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headlessman1964 on December 31, 2006
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HPG ADMIN on June 15, 2006