‘Miami’ John Cernuto Tops All Time Cashes List with 490

A poker career still going strong after more than three decades finds ‘Miami’ John Cernuto as the new leader in MTT cashes following his 490th in the money finish at the LA Poker Classic.

The 75-year-old Cernuto passed Men 'The Master' Nguyen to grab the top spot when he landed 13th out of 166 entrants in a $350 HORSE event for a payday of $830. That pushed Cernuto's career earnings to $5,852,602, which is good for 176th place on the all time money list, per the Hendon Mob rankings.

A former air traffic controller who joined roughly 13,000 union strikers in an infamous 1981 labor dispute, Cernuto was among the 11,359 traffic controllers who were fired by President Ronald Reagan when they refused to follow his orders and end the strike. The labor standoff was poker's gain as Miami John traded the pressures of directing air traffic for a career on the felt.

That career has produced three WSOP gold bracelets, the last of which was won in 2002 in $1,500 Limit Omaha for $73,320. Cernuto's second bracelet victory in 1997 in a $2,000 NLHE event remains the largest score ($259,150) of his distinguished career.

Of Miami John's 490 poker paydays, 68 were in WSOP events. Only 17 cashes were achieved outside of the US.

Here's the current list of the top ten in all time tournament cashes: