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Allen Cunningham
Some of the best young professional poker players are individuals
with strong technical backgrounds, often in math, engineering and computer
science. One such player is Allen Cunningham, who studied engineering at UCLA
before dropping out to play professional poker full time. Indeed, Cunningham
takes an engineer’s careful, analytical approach to the game, unlike more
flamboyant opponents who tend to be more instinct-driven. His playing style is
controlled and calculated. Although not one of the more colorful or best known
players in professional poker, his style and demeanor have allowed him to
quietly and steadily advance through the ranks of professional poker players and
to achieve incredible success at a very young age.
Allen Cunningham was born in 1977 in Riverside, California. It was at UCLA,
while studying engineering, that he started playing poker seriously, although he
had been playing since he was a child. His success at Indian casinos encouraged
him to quit school and go into poker full-time. Cunningham was 21 when he joined
the professional tournament circuit, and he got off to a rocky start. However, a
year later, he started receiving his first breaks. He won “Best All Around
Player” at the Bicycle Casino’s Legend of Poker tournament at the age of 22, and
his performance has steadily improved since then.
Cunningham has four WSOP bracelets. The first was one in 2001 at the Seven Card
Stud Event, the second at the 2002 Deuce to Seven No Limit Event, the third at
the 2005 $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Event, and the fourth at the 2006 No limit
Hold’em event. Cunningham’s largest single tournament payout was a fourth place
finish in the 2006 WSOP Main Event, in which he Earned $3,628,513. His career
live tournament winnings currently exceed $8,200,000. In 2005, Cunningham was
voted by his fellow professional poker players the Best All Around Player under
35.
Allen Cunningham plays in cash games when he is not playing in tournaments, with
a preference for No-Limit Hold’em, Pot-Limit Omaha and $300-$600 Mixed Games. He
plays online for the
FullTiltPoker.com team, and is listed as a “Friend of FTP”. Cunningham resides
in Las Vegas with his girlfriend, Melissa Hayden and their dog, Muffin.
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