“Miami” John Cernuto plays online at Full Tilt Poker.

"Miami" John Cernuto was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He attended Florida State University, where he graduated with a degree in finance, and after college went on to become an air traffic controller. Armed with a college degree and a good job, he seemed to be set up on a safe career path. However, he was fired by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 along with 11,000 other striking air traffic controllers. Without a job, "Miami" John took the risk of going to Las Vegas to play poker for a living. It turned out to be a very smart move.

John has won three Best Overall Player awards and more than 50 first-place titles. He made his first World Series of Poker final table in 1989 playing the $5K Seven-Card Stud event. He had five more WSOP money finishes before winning his first bracelet in 1996 in $1,500 Seven-Card Stud Eight-or-Better. He won his second and third bracelets in 1997 and 2002 in $2,000 No-Limit Hold 'em and $1,500 Limit Omaha, respectively.

In 2003, he won the third World Heads-Up Poker Championship in Vienna, outlasting such pros as Phil Hellmuth, Scotty Nguyen and Carlos Mortensen. In 2004, he won back-to-back Omaha Hi/Lo events, the first at the L.A. Poker Classic and the second at the World Poker Tour Bay 101 Shooting Stars. In 2005, "Miami" John also made the WPT final table at the Caribbean Poker Adventure.

During the 2006 WSOP, John continued to demonstrate that he was a force to be reckoned with on the felt. He cashed in an impressive six events, making the final table in three. By the time the series had finished, he had claimed more than $137K in tournament earnings. In the years following, John cashed in several more WSOP and WPT tournaments, including numerous final tables. Most recently, John added two more cash finishes to his record at the 2008 WSOP, including a 3rd place finish in the $2.5K Omaha/7-Card Stud Hi-Lo event, where he earned more than $86K.

John also enjoys playing blackjack; he appeared on the 2006 Ultimate Blackjack Tour, where he made it to the final table in the Elimination Blackjack event. When he's not playing blackjack, however, you can almost always find John at a poker table. "Miami" John plays online regularly at FullTiltPoker.com.