Poker is now one of the most popular games around the world. It is hard to imagine that 40 years ago, Hold'em was associated with casino games; it was not popular everywhere. Calling it a national game was also out of the question in the United States. Mike Sexton played a major role in popularizing poker. In this article, we will look at how his life turned out and what place Texas Hold'em occupied in it.
What is Mike Sexton Famous For?
He has been called "the ambassador of poker," "the man who introduced the world to poker," and "the unwavering voice of the WPT." Mike has lived an interesting life, the leitmotif of which has been a sincere love for poker. The game reciprocated Mike's feelings: he has a WSOP gold bracelet and over $6 million in total live winnings. In addition, Sexton was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame during his lifetime.
Biography Facts About Mike Sexton
On September 22, 1947, Michael Sexton was born in the small town of Shelby, Indiana, to a family of ballroom dancing teachers. As a teenager, he, like many boys of that time, got a job delivering newspapers. However, unlike his peers, Mike spent money in a rather unusual way – he lost at poker. The game captured the teenager’s attention as soon as he mastered the rules.
His parents enrolled him in sports so that his energy could find a positive outlet. However, gambling is not something a teenager should do. It seemed that Mike really got off the "slippery" path when he entered Ohio University on a scholarship. There he received an education in tourism, recreation, and sports.
Sexton was lucky: when the time came for his military service in 1970, the troops were already being withdrawn from Vietnam. The division in which Mike joined as a paratrooper had by that time finished participating in combat operations in Indochina and returned to North Carolina. So Mike served without direct risk to his life.
After being discharged, he tried his hand at various jobs, including coaching minor league baseball. Sexton quickly came to the conclusion that poker could make him many times more money than anywhere else.
Mike Sexton’s Poker Achievements
The player has 286 career cashes in live tournaments, from February 1981 to December 2019. His first six-figure win came in 1989 in the 7-card stud tournament at the WSOP, where Mike managed to take first place. His poker winnings for the victory totaled $104,000 and he also received a gold bracelet.
Sexton's first million was for winning the WSOP Closed Tournament of Champions. On June 25, 2006, they played Texas Hold'em in Las Vegas, and Mike managed to become the best. And Sexton's best cash is $1.1 million for finishing 9th in The Big One for One Drop in 2012.
Mike still occupies a rather high 186th place in the overall rating of the All Time Money List.
Mike Sexton’s poker winnings sit at just over $6.7 million. His exact net worth is unknown, but Mike Sexton appears to have been worth around $10 million.
However, it was not his solid winnings that brought him worldwide fame, but his activities as a presenter.
World Poker Tour Commentator
In 2003, Mike was invited to commentate WPT tournaments. He worked with Vince Vance Patten for 15 seasons. Commentators were not allowed to play in the series, but Sexton still grabbed the trophy when he took first place in a WPT event in 2016. That series was organized in partnership with partypoker, a company Sexton also has a lot of ties to.
Mike Sexton’s Work with Partypoker
Mike is one of the founders of partypoker, one of the most popular poker rooms in the world. He worked as a consultant on the team from 2000 to 2003, helping with software development. He remained with the project at heart and represented the room even when he worked as a commentator. Partypoker patches could often be seen on his clothes and the venture must have increased his net worth significantly.
The global poker community highly values Mike's contribution to the popularization of the game. Thanks to his vigorous activity and desire to tell everyone that poker is a game of the mind, many people began to study the strategy and were able to achieve success. Unfortunately, Sexton is no longer with us.
In Memory of Mike Sexton
Mike died in 2020, two weeks before his 73rd birthday. He had been battling prostate cancer and kept his illness a secret until the very end. The public only learned about his death when Mike had already been transferred to a hospice organized for him in his home. Ten years before his death, Sexton was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame for his inestimable contribution to the game. His name will always be there along with the names of Stu Ungar and Doyle Brunson.
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