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 an American professional poker player who won a

World Series of Poker bracelet The World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet is considered the most coveted non-monetary prize a poker player can win. Since 1976, a bracelet has been awarded to the winner of every event at the annual WSOP. Even if the victory occurred before 1 ...

in 2004.

Background

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

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

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 ta ...

in Lake Tahoe 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. 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 List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. 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 f ...

. 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 circuit of ...

, 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 In traditional poker games, the player with the best traditional hand wins the whole pot. Lowball variations award the pot to the lowest hand, by any of several methods (see Low hand (poker)). High-low split games are those in which the pot is ...

tournament. She was one of three women (

Kathy Liebert Kathleen H. Liebert (born October 1, 1967 in Tennessee) is an American professional poker player. Poker Liebert started her professional poker career as a prop player in Colorado. She would later go on to enter tournaments and she won the ...

and

Annie Duke Anne LaBarr Duke (née Lederer; born September 13, 1965) is an American former professional poker player and author in cognitive-behavioral decision science and decision education. She holds a World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet from 2004 ...

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