Allen Cunningham
Monday, March 9th, 2009Allen Cunningham was born in 1977 on the 28th of March in Riverside, Calif to Dean and Joanne Cunningham. He started playing card games at an early age with family members like most poker champions. Allen attended UCLA where he pursued a degree in civil engineering. Aside from school he would occasionally play poker at local casinos as a hobby and get some extra money as well. He became prominent on the poker scene in 1998. It was in his second year in college that he started winning poker games consistently and at a tender age of 19 he dropped out of school.
He only began to play the real tournaments at the age of 21 which is the legal age to participate in these casinos. As one would expect he didn’t just start winning tournaments he actually went through a number of losses but that didn’t discourage him. He also made friends with fellow players that today are renowned poker players. Their group was more or less like a forum wee they shared ideas and tips and played amongst themselves perfecting their skills. The second year of his career was the beginning of his successful wins in the tournaments.
In 1999 he had top ten finishes in a total of six tournaments at Bicycle casino located in Los Angeles. Four months later he came second in a No Limit Holdem game and gained recognition after a remarkable performance at the U.S poker championships.
In 2000 he was in the top twenty in five different tournaments were he also earned a large sum of money.
2001 was the year the young player won his first World Series bracelet, at which he defeated more than a hundred players and walked away with about $200,000!
Each year was an achievement year; in 2002 he won his second bracelet in the Deuce-to-Seven No-limit group.
2003 was a successful year with a series of wins. It was in 2005 that he won his third bracelet in the No limit Holdem tournament. He managed to earn more than a million dollars and was the first to do so before attempting the main event. In this year he earned the title 2005 ESPN/Toyota Player of the year.
2006 as the year he earned his fourth bracelet in the $1,000 No limit Holdem event. This tournament had more than seven hundred entrants. His largest payout was when he came fourth in the 2006 World Series of Poker in the main event. 2007, the year he earned a fifth bracelet. Five bracelets in consecutive years, was very impressive.
Allen Cunningham won the Mega match on Poker After-Dark and the National Poker league Vegas Open Championship Main Event.
Early 2008 he won the World Series of Poker Circuit event in Los Vegas. He featured n the 2008 World Series of Poker and he managed to total $10, 22,000 worth of winnings.
Currently the Poker Champion stays in Las Vegas with his girlfriend,Mellisa Hayden and dog, Muffin.