Cyndy Violette (born August 19, 1959 in

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long Is ...

) is an American professional

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...

player who won a World Series of Poker bracelet in 2004.

Background

Violette often played poker with family members as a child. Her family relocated to

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

when she was 12 years old; Violette took to playing casino poker once she reached the legal age of 21. She spent a short time as a casino employee, working as a blackjack and poker dealer.

Career

In 1984, Violette cashed in a

poker tournament A poker tournament is a tournament where players compete by playing poker. It can feature as few as two players playing on a single table (called a " heads-up" tournament), and as many as tens of thousands of players playing on thousands of tabl ...

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake ...

and used the proceeds to launch a professional poker career. She later took the top prize of $74,000 at a

seven-card stud Seven-card stud, also known as Seven-Toed Pete or Down-The-River is a variant of stud poker. Before the 2000s surge of popularity of Texas hold 'em, seven-card stud was the most widely played poker variant in home games across the United States ...

tournament at the Golden Nugget; at the time this was the biggest tournament prize ever won by a woman. Shortly thereafter, she married her second husband, and took a two-year hiatus from poker. In 1990, Violette returned to the poker scene by winning $62,000 in a tournament at

Caesars Palace Caesars Palace is a luxury hotel and casino in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The hotel is situated on the west side of the Las Vegas Strip between Bellagio and The Mirage. It is one of Las Vegas's largest and best known landmarks. Caesar ...

. She maintained her residence in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

state but split time between Las Vegas and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

. In 1993, Violette divorced her husband and relocated to Atlantic City. She continued to work the poker tournament circuit and was a regular participant in the

World Series of Poker The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker p ...

(WSOP). She has also competed on the

World Poker Tour The World Poker Tour (WPT) is an internationally televised gaming and entertainment brand. Since 2002, the World Poker Tour has operated a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting playdown and the ...

. At the

2004 World Series of Poker The 2004 World Series of Poker (WSOP) was held at Binion's Horseshoe after Harrah's Entertainment purchased the casino and the rights to the tournament in January. Harrah's announced that future WSOP tournaments will be held in a moving circui ...

, Violette won a

bracelet A bracelet is an article of jewellery that is worn around the wrist. Bracelets may serve different uses, such as being worn as an ornament. When worn as ornaments, bracelets may have a supportive function to hold other items of decoration, suc ...

in the seven-card stud high-low split tournament. She was one of three women ( Kathy Liebert and Annie Duke being the others) to win a gold bracelet in an open tournament in that year's WSOP. As of 2014, her total live tournament winnings exceed $1,350,000. Her 35 cashes at the WSOP account for $907,924 of those winnings.World Series of Poker Earnings
worldseriesofpoker.com

World Series of Poker Bracelets

Personal life

She has one child, a daughter named Shannon. She divorced her husband in 1993.

References

External links

World Poker Tour profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Violette, Cyndy 1959 births Living people American poker players Female poker players World Series of Poker bracelet winners