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Mike Sexton is as close to a household name as you'll find in the poker
world today. Between his endorsement contract with
Party Poker to his job as
commentator on the World Poker Tour's broadcasts on the Travel Channel, it
seems like his face and voice are everywhere today. This Indiana native is
more than just a face on TV, though - he's an accomplished poker player who's
been around the game for nearly 30 years.
Mike Sexton was born in Indiana in 1947 and attended Ohio State University in
the 1960s, where he received a scholarship to compete for the school's
gymnastics team. After graduating from college he joined the U.S. Army's 82nd
Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, NC. He left the military three years later
and for several years made a living through various jobs, including military
sales rep and ballroom dance instructor. It was during this time that he began
playing in
home poker games. By 1977 he had quit his other jobs to play poker
full-time, and his success led him to move to Las Vegas in 1985.
When the World Poker Tour debuted in 2002, Mike Sexton teamed up with Vince
Van Patten and Shana Hiatt to bring big-money no-limit
hold'em tournaments to
the masses. It's worth remembering today that the show was not a guaranteed
hit by any means; if it had, it probably would have aired on another network
bigger than
the Travel Channel. When the public began tuning in every week to
the WPT broadcasts, Mike became the face of poker overnight. His down-home
charm made him easy for the bulk of America to like and listen to, and as a
successful player with a two-decade career in the game he lent the show
credibility that it wouldn't have otherwise had. Sexton's business
relationship with Party Poker began around the same time, increasing his
exposure through the ads the online card room bought on seemingly every poker
show on television.
Before becoming involved with two of the businesses behind the poker boom,
Mike Sexton was a highly successful and respected tournament player. Many
newer players who only know him from television might not know just how good a
player he is, having not seen him play in many big tournaments before (his
contract with the WPT prevents him from playing in any of their events). He
holds a World Series of Poker bracelet for winning the
Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo
tournament in 1989, and he was the champion of the inaugural World Poker
Finals $10,000 Main Event at Foxwoods Resort Casino in 1992. He has also won
major tournaments in Pot-Limit
Omaha and Omaha hi-lo in Paris in 2000, a
heads-up tournament in Paris in 2003, and speed poker in Melbourne in 2005. He
has made a handful of appearances as a player on television the last few years
as well, participating in the Poker Superstars Invitational II and NBC's
National Heads-Up Championship.
Besides his ventures into television, Mike Sexton is a published author as
well. He writes regularly for CardPlayer magazine and Gambling Times. He has
also published a poker book, Shuffle Up And Deal, designed for beginning
players to learn the game and quickly improve their level of play. One of the
most impressive pieces he's written, though, only relates to poker and
gambling in the most tangential of ways; his foreword to Nolan Dalla's
One of
a Kind: The Rise and Fall of Stuey "The Kid" Ungar is a touching tribute to
the three-time WSOP Main Event champion, who was a friend of Sexton's since
Ungar first came to Las Vegas.
Mike Sexton's contract with the World Poker Tour is due to expire in the near
future, and once it does his options are wide open. He is still a championship
caliber player, so should he decide to pass on renewing with the WPT the
public may yet get to know him as well for his skill at the table as they do
for his voice and face. Whatever happens, you can bet that wherever poker goes
Mike Sexton will be right in the middle of it. |
