John Bonetti: 1928-2008

One of pokers most colorful and successful players, John Bonetti, passed away Saturday at the age of 80.  Bonetti won over $4 million in his career on the tournament circuit, despite not having starting playing poker until he was 57-years old. 

Bonetti won three World Series of Poker gold bracelets.  His first was in the 1990 $5,000 deuce-to-seven draw tournament, his second was in the 1993 $1,500 pot-limit hold’em event, and his third was once again in the $5,000 deuce-to-seven draw evemt, this time in 1995.  The first and second runners-up for that final bracelet: Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson.  All told, he cashed 32 times at the WSOP, including two third place finishes in the Main Event (1993 and 1996).  He made several other final tables at the WSOP, the last coming in 2005 in the $5,000 no-limit hold’em event, where he was eliminated in third place on a coin-flip hand by his friend and eventual winner, T.J. Cloutier. 

All told, Bonetti won more than 40 poker tournaments in his career.  Daniel Negreanu once said of him, "I'm convinced, when John is healthy, he is the deadliest tournament player alive today, no question." 

Aside from his poker skills, John Bonetti was known for his gruff personality at the table.  He rubbed some people the wrong way with his abrasiveness, and dealers were known to despise him, but to many, his crass, sometimes abusive demeanor was entertaining – it added flavor to the game.  Despite his rough exterior, Bonetti was known as an extremely kind and generous person away from the tables.  His peers loved him, so much so that they celebrated his life with a roast at the 2005 WSOP.  This writer remembers being in the press room at the Rio while several players were cracking up as they came up with material for the party.  One of them had written a several page-long Bonetti-esque diatribe, replete with every four-letter word in the book.  The group could hardly breathe as they laughed hysterically while it was read.  The fact that fellow poker players took time away from the WSOP to write speeches for John Bonetti spoke volumes about the respect he had earned.