Poker Players Remember “Miami” John Cernuto at Celebration of Life During 2025 WSOP
On Sunday morning, dozens of poker players took time away from the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) to head off strip for a special Celebration of Life remembering “Miami” John Cernuto, who passed away from colon cancer back in February at age 81.
Cernuto, born January 10, 1944, in Jersey City, New Jersey, left behind two adult children and many friends and adoring fans within the poker community. That was evidenced by the number of familiar faces in attendance including Poker Hall of Famer Linda Johnson, Women in Poker Hall of Famers Jan Fisher and Terry King, Allen Kessler, Ari Engel, Jo Kim, Chip & Karina Jett, Cyndy Violette, Norman Chad, and one of his students, Kathy Chang.
Also in attendance was Hollywood actor and Cernuto’s longtime friend James Woods, who last year advocated for Miami John to get inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. While that ultimately didn’t come to fruition – Patrik Antonius was the 2024 inductee – Miami John was honored with a nomination.
While poker was a big part of the setting, Cernuto’s family and friends also remembered their loved one.
“I am blown away. I didn’t realize John touched so many different people’s lives,” his brother said.
Two especially emotional moments came when Cernuto’s daughter, Debbie, took the stage. It was no secret to those who knew him that Cernuto had a very special relationship with his daughter, which was reflected by the love and support shown throughout her speech. The same can be said of Cernuto’s only niece, who delivered a passionate, story-filled discourse honoring her uncle.
Cernuto’s childhood friend recounted a story from when he served as an air traffic controller alongside Miami John (who lived in Miami and worked in that field before getting fired after the 1981 strikes – the impetus for him to move to Las Vegas and try his hand at poker). Likewise, Woods remembered his longtime friend in a 12-minute speech.
Woods had previously said of Cernuto: “When I went to M.I.T., the first thing they said when you go through orientation, the one of the professors here said, 'you may not learn a lot of facts here, but you're going to learn how to think.' What (Cernuto) taught me to do is how to think about poker. John thinks about poker better than anyone I've ever met in my life.”
The Celebration of Life was an intimate affair. Those in attendance, who were encouraged to upload photographs of Cernuto, were able to peruse a mix of family photos and heirlooms along with memorabilia from Cernuto’s storied poker career, which includes $6,471,384 in lifetime earnings dating back to 1987 according to the Hendon Mob.
That included a career-high $259,150 for winning the 1997 WSOP $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em event for what was his second of three bracelets. His first came the year before in the $1,500 Seven-Card Stud Split event for $147,000, and in 2002 he added his third when he won the $1,500 Limit Omaha event for $73,320.
Fittingly, in one of his last WSOP tournaments, he nearly captured a fourth when he finished third in the 2024 WSOP Event #83: $1,500 Eight Game Mix Six-Handed for $57,249.
Cernuto had 597 live tournament cashes – including at least 85 documented tournament wins – which tops the nearly 700,000 players tracked on the Hendon Mob. In 2020, he was recognized by the Hendon Mob during the Global Poker Awards for being the first player to reach 500 cashes, and earlier this year was honored with a tournament in his name.
Coincidentally, Cernuto’s friend, Ari Engel, took over the live tournament cash record just days earlier.
PokerNews offers its condolences to the friends and family of "Miami" John Cernuto, truly one of the greats of the game.
Click here to see family and poker photographs of Miami John Cernuto.
