Poker From The Rail

Category

John Cernuto

Niki Jedlicka

Survey Says

Career Earnings

Almost $4.5 million

More than $350K

OK, so this category definitely isn’t fair in the slightest. Not only is Jedlicka very young and just getting started on the tourney circuit, he’s made most of his money playing online cash games, so who knows how much money he’s won (or lost). I must say though, I was surprised at the high total “Miami” John has, not too shabby. He takes down the first category and jumps out to an early lead.

Major Titles

3 WSOP bracelets

None

I’m not sure how much Jedlicka cares about tournaments and bracelets and all that crap when he’s having daily million dollar swings on the high-stakes PLO tables online, but he certainly has the potential to match Cernuto’s numbers in this category someday. Until then, this category belongs to John – he leads 2-0.

Tournament Play

A skilled tourney veteran with the hardware to prove that he’s got the skills to pay the bills (I hate myself sometimes…).

A relative newbie in this category, Niki has the skill set to succeed in any tournament, but does he have the desire?

Although Jedlicka’s talent level is probably greater than Cernuto’s, John’s experience and temperament probably give him the edge in this category. Niki may well put it all together someday and become one of the most dominant forces on the circuit, but he’s still got a lot of learning to do. “Miami” John continues to dominate this contest – he now leads 3-0.

Cash Game Play

Old school grinder who once made his living tearing up home games.

New school online cash game specialist who regularly takes on the likes of Phil Ivey and Gus Hansen.

While Cernuto is certainly a solid cash game player, he just can’t come close to matching the action Jedlicka has been involved in so far in his short career. Niki is simply a fearless cash game player who takes on the highest limits (and best players) available to be conquered. Don’t call it a comeback (because it probably won’t happen), but Jedlicka takes down his first category of the match.

Playing Style

Slow and steady

Fast and furious

I had this same problem last week with Berry Johnston and Jared Hamby – there’s just a fundamental difference between the old and new school philosophy of playing style. The old guard appears to favor a more conservative approach, whereas the young guns obviously love to go full blast at all times. Both styles can be equally effective, so who’s to say one is better than the other? Well, me I guess. Being a child of online poker, I simply have to go with the more aggressive style now. It’s an eat or be eaten world out there – go big or go home. This category belongs to Niki, he narrows the gap and the score now stands at 3-2 in favor of Cernuto.

Nickname

“Miami” John

KaiBuxxe

I just read that Cernuto is actually from Jersey, but he did go to school at FSU, so at least his nickname makes some sense. KaiBuxxe is Jedlicka’s online handle and I have no idea where it comes from or what it means. The kid is from Vienna, who the hell knows what goes through his mind? At any rate, both of these nicknames kind of suck, so give me a second to go flip a coin. Heads for “Miami” John, tails for KaiBuxxe. And the winner is… tails! Way to go Niki, you’ve now evened the score heading into the final frame of action.

Outside Poker

Former air traffic controller.

Former Magic: The Gathering player.

Wow, way too many poker players are former Magic freaks and geeks. What’s going on here? Poker is supposed to be a cool person’s game, right? I’m just blown away by this – blown away! Meanwhile, “Miami” John’s former career in “pushing tin” (thank you John Cusack!) could be considered very important work because if he messed up, people died. Ah, it’s good to have god-like control over people, isn’t it? Anyway, this category has to go to Cernuto; otherwise I won’t be able to sleep tonight.