CardsChat joins the poker world in mourning the loss of “Miami” John Cernuto, who died Monday in Las Vegas to colon cancer. He was 81.
Cernuto was one of the best mixed-game players who ever lived and holds the record for most cashes with 597, according to the Hendon Mob. He was the first player to cash 500 or more times, a large majority of them coming in mixed-game events.
Born Jan. 10, 1944 in New Jersey, he graduated from the University of Florida and worked as an air traffic controller until 1981, when he was fired alongside 11,000 of his coworkers by President Ronald Reagan after striking. He taught himself how to play poker to make a living, and began cashing tournaments at an impressive rate starting in 1987.
“When I went on strike, it always was in the back of my mind that if I lose my job, I’ll get the chance to do what I’ve wanted to do for the last couple of years – go out and try my hand at being a professional poker player,” Cernuto told the World Poker Tour last February. “I had a friend who sold me his car about six months before the strike, and then he bought it back from me at the airport. I came out to Vegas with only my retirement money.”
That was in 1982 when he was 38. His first significant tournament cash came by winning a $1,000 limit seven card stud event at the 1988 Amarillo Slim’s Superbowl Of Poker for $58,000. A year later, he made his first World Series of Poker final table in the $5,000 seven card stud event, finishing fourth for $26,900.
He would finish his life with three WSOP bracelets and two WSOP Circuit rings. His most recent victory came in May at the Venetian DeepStack Championship in a $600 Limit Omaha 8 or Better event that paid $13,269. In all, he cashed for more than $6.4 million, of which $2 million came from WSOP events.
At last year’s WSOP, he cashed six times — all in mixed-game events. His last cash was a third-place finish in a $1,000 event at the Venetian DeepStack Championship in July.
Nicknamed “the Ironman of Poker” by actor and friend James Woods, he had the love and respect of many poker players, including this generation’s ironman, Ari Engel.
“Rest in peace to our dear friend,” poker pro Ari Engel wrote on X. “It’s been a personal pleasure of mine to compete with Miami John so many times over the past few years. He will be missed.”
Nominated for the Poker Hall of Fame for the first time in 2024, he is one of a handful of players who probably should have already been inducted. There is already a push to put him in this summer.
At Cernuto’s request, a funeral was not planned, but a celebration of his life will most likely take place at this summer’s WSOP.
