Miami John Cernuto

1) What got you started in poker?

"Miami" John Cernuto: I've been playing home games most of my life. Then I got involved in the 1981 air traffic controller strike. Without a job, I decided that people were playing for a living in las Vegas, so I moved out there to play poker and I've been there ever since. I've seen a lot of them come and go and I've been around for 23 years and still playing.

2) What has been your biggest win?

"Miami" John Cernuto: 1997 world series of poker no limit champion $256,000 something like that.That was a long time ago, now they probably woulda paid close to a million dollars. I was born too late. I'll hit one sooner or later.

3) What has been the key to your success?

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"Miami" John Cernuto:I'm a pretty well disciplined player. I'm patient. I have a lot of passion for the game. It does take a lot of passion, the beats that a lot of players take makes them kind of lose their heart so you just have to come back fresh every day. So I work at it. It's not always that easy. But I usually do that and I come back with the same passion that I had the day or tournament before so I just keep plugging away so to speak.

4) How'd you get the nickname "Miami" John?

"Miami" John Cernuto: Kinda self imposed. I used to go by JC and there were a lot of players that had those initials so I decided was going to enter this seven card stud tournament at Ceasers and told them Miami john. And I happened to go from the beginning to the end of the tournament only losing one hand. And I won the tournament easy. it was a $50,000 score so I decided that I better keep the name.

5) Who do you have a good read on at the table?

"Miami" John Cernuto:I've got a good read on myself. I always know what I'm gonna do. Nobody consistently no. sometimes you get the better of someone for a year or two and then it changes and they have you.

6) Who would you least like to see at a major final table with you?

"Miami" John Cernuto: I don't fear anyone. But a guy that has a good read on me is Johnny Chan. That's a lot of good players. Eric seidel. They are just very formidable. They are confident, they have good reads on people. And they are hard to beat. Sometimes you can trap them, but they are hard to trap.

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New players should stay in low limits, get a lot of experience. Get it online and in the smaller tournaments. You have to be able to beat those type of players before you can play with the pros. And if you keep getting better and you are serious about the game you can become a top player with a couple years experience

8) What about for someone just starting out with poker?

"Miami" John Cernuto:Play cheap, play often, and learn from your mistakes!

9) How have you adjusted your game for all of the new aggressive "internet players" you encounter?

"Miami" John Cernuto: what's been successful for me, but it does reduce the amount of action that I get is that I make bigger raises with my premium pairs and premium cards. Just to be able to feel confident if they call me and I see a flop with my hand that at least I have a decent hand. Weeded out the garbage cards. Bigger bets and bigger raises give me a better comfort level when I'm playing against these maniacs.

10) What's the craziest bet you've made outside of poker?

"Miami" John Cernuto: I'm not a proposition better, one time if flipped a coin with my wife back in the seventies when we were splitting up over the divorce settlement. We flipped a coin and I can't even remember who won the toss, but one of us made more money. That's how we settled our disagreements back then.

Miami John Cernuto

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