Michael Richard Sexton (September 22, 1947September 6, 2020) was an American professional
poker
Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...
player and commentator. He was inducted into the
Poker Hall of Fame
The Poker Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional poker in the United States. Founded in Las Vegas, it was created in 1979 by Benny Binion, the owner of the Horseshoe Casino, to preserve the names and legacies of the world's greatest ...
in 2009.
Early years
Sexton was a
gymnast
Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...
and attended
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
, where he earned a degree in public recreation after changing majors from
business
Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...
.
He joked that he majored in poker because he played very frequently in college. He also regularly played
contract bridge
Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. Millions o ...
and taught classes on it in
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
.
Sexton joined the
U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
as a
paratrooper
A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during World ...
assigned to the
82nd Airborne Division
The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into denied areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...
in 1970. The division had just returned from
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
and Sexton never saw combat. While he was in the army, he taught ballroom dancing, and one of his clients convinced him to try being a salesman, which he continued to do after his two-year enlistment was up. After a while, he realized that he could make more money playing poker than being a salesman, so he took up poker in 1977.
In 1985 he moved to
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
to pursue poker full-time.
Sexton was a well-known cohort of poker player
Stu Ungar
Stuart Errol Ungar (September 8, 1953 – November 22, 1998) was an American professional poker, blackjack, and gin rummy player, widely regarded to have been the greatest gin player of all time and one of the best Texas hold 'em players.
He ...
, and was a pallbearer and speaker at Ungar's funeral.
Poker player and promoter
World Poker Tour
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 fi ...
(WPT), Sexton had seventeen career cashes in WPT tournaments, including four final tables. In November 2016, Sexton won the
WPT Montreal Main Event, besting a field of 648 entries to win the US$317,896 first prize, on a buy-in of
CAD$
The Canadian dollar (currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, code: CAD; french: dollar canadien) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, there is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviation Can ...
3,850 per player. It was his third time reaching a WPT final table and his first WPT victory. At the time of his death, his career WPT earnings were $1,011,725, ranking him 233rd in WPT earnings, as well as holding 64th place for 4 WPT final table appearances.
Sexton also served as the lead commentator on WPT telecasts, working alongside
Vince Van Patten
Vincent Van Patten (born October 17, 1957) is an American actor, former professional tennis player, and the commentator for the World Poker Tour.
Personal life
Van Patten was born in Bellerose, New York, as the youngest son of actor Dick Van Pa ...
for the program's first fifteen seasons.
World Series of Poker
Sexton won several tournaments, including one
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 pla ...
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 wikt:supportive, supportive function to hold other items of ...
, and almost $5,700,000 in total WSOP tournament winnings. He won his bracelet in the $1,500
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, a ...
split event at the 1989 World Series of Poker. His 72 cashes at the WSOP account for $2.6 million of his total winnings.
Sexton finished 10th in a preliminary event at the
2005 World Series of Poker
The 2005 World Series of Poker opened play on June 2nd, continuing through the Main Event No Limit World Championship starting on July 7th. The conclusion of the Main Event on July 15th marked the close of play, and the largest prize in sports an ...
and also in the final 16 of
Poker Superstars II
The Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament was a series of Betting (poker)#No limit, no limit Texas hold 'em poker tournaments. The first season is available on NTSC DVD. It airs on Fox Sports Net in the United States, Rogers Sportsnet in Canada ...
. On June 27, 2006, Sexton won the third annual
World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions
The World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions is an invitational freeroll poker event. Wins in this event do not count as official WSOP bracelets, but the winner receives a large trophy in the shape of the official World Series of Poker logo ...
event, and along with it the $1,000,000 first prize. In the final hand, his defeated
Daniel Negreanu
Daniel Negreanu (; born July 26, 1974) is a Canadian professional poker player who has won six World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets and two World Poker Tour (WPT) championship titles. In 2014, independent poker ranking service Global Poker Ind ...
's on a board of .
In July 2012, Sexton finished in 9th place in the "
Big One for One Drop
The Big One for One Drop is a $1,000,000 buy-in No Limit Texas hold 'em tournament hosted at the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Added in 2012, it became the highest buy-in poker tournament in history as well as the largest single payout offered. T ...
" WSOP event, earning him $1,109,333, the biggest cash of his career. During his final World Series of Poker in 2019, Sexton partnered with
James Holzhauer
James Holzhauer (born August 6, 1984) is an American game show contestant and professional sports gambler. He is the third-highest-earning American game show contestant of all time and is best known for his 32-game winning streak as champion ...
, a famed game show contestant and sports gambler making his first World Series of Poker appearance.
Commentator and promoter
A former commentator of 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 fi ...
, alongside
Vince Van Patten
Vincent Van Patten (born October 17, 1957) is an American actor, former professional tennis player, and the commentator for the World Poker Tour.
Personal life
Van Patten was born in Bellerose, New York, as the youngest son of actor Dick Van Pa ...
, he wrote articles for ''
Card Player Magazine'' and the ''Gambling Times''. He founded the now-defunct ''Tournament of Champions of Poker'', which only let tournament winners from the previous year compete.
PartyPoker
Sexton co-founded and was the chairman for
PartyPoker.com
bwin.party Digital Entertainment was an online gambling company, formed by the March 2011 merger of PartyGaming plc and bwin Interactive Entertainment AG. Formerly the world's largest publicly traded online gambling firm, it was best known fo ...
, at one time the biggest
online poker
Online poker is the game of poker played over the Internet. It has been partly responsible for a huge increase in the number of poker players worldwide. Christiansen Capital Advisors stated online poker revenues grew from $82.7 million in 2001 t ...
site in the United States, despite the company being under a $500K deficit after its first launch in 2002. Four years after launch, the company went public for $9 billion, but Sexton sold out his shares for $15 million a year and a half prior to the public offering. When addressing this, Sexton said he did not regret his decision, even though selling when he did cost him an estimated $500 million.
Charity
Sexton donated half of his post-tax winnings from his win in 2006 of the third annual
World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions
The World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions is an invitational freeroll poker event. Wins in this event do not count as official WSOP bracelets, but the winner receives a large trophy in the shape of the official World Series of Poker logo ...
event, and along with it the $1,000,000 first prize, to five charities. He pledged to do the same with all future winnings.
In early 2009, Sexton along with Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher and Lisa Tenner, created PokerGives.org, a nonprofit organization that offers poker players an easier way to give to charity.
Honors, awards, distinctions
Sexton was inducted into the
Poker Hall of Fame
The Poker Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional poker in the United States. Founded in Las Vegas, it was created in 1979 by Benny Binion, the owner of the Horseshoe Casino, to preserve the names and legacies of the world's greatest ...
in 2009. For all of his work promoting poker, Sexton is often known as "the ambassador of poker".
On February 15, 2006, Sexton was recognized as the top poker ambassador at the ''Card Player Magazine'' Player of the Year Awards Gala.
On July 21, 2020, the WPT Champions Cup was renamed to the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup
Death
Sexton died on September 6, 2020, after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Bibliography
*''Shuffle Up and Deal: The Ultimate No Limit Texas Hold 'em Guide'' (2005)
*''Life's a Gamble (2016) Published by D&B Poker
Notes
External links
World Poker Tour profileMike Sexton Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sexton, Mike
1947 births
2020 deaths
People from Shelbyville, Indiana
Military personnel from Indiana
Writers from Indiana
American poker players
World Series of Poker bracelet winners
World Poker Tour winners
Poker After Dark tournament winners
Poker commentators
American gambling writers
American male non-fiction writers
American ballroom dancers
Ohio State University alumni
United States Army soldiers
Deaths from cancer in Nevada
Deaths from prostate cancer
Poker Hall of Fame inductees