Mike Sexton

Mike Sexton, born in September 1947 in Selby, Indiana, is a professional poker player who features in the Poker Hall of Fame. In addition to playing poker, he is a regular poker commentator. Sexton is has earned the nickname of The Ambassador of Poker within the poker industry due to the work that he has put into promoting poker and its associated events.

Sexton graduated from The Ohio State University with a degree in public recreation. His original course of study was business. Sexton frequently played poker during his college years, leading him to later joke that he should have majored in poker. In addition to poker, he played contract bridge and went on to teach contract bridge classes in North Carolina. During his childhood years, Sexton was a keen gymnast.

In 1970, Sexton became a paratrooper in the U.S. Army. The 82nd Airborne Division of which Sexton was a member had only just returned from Vietnam following Sexton’s recruitment. Consequently, Sexton himself never witnessed any action. During his time in the U.S. Army, Sexton also taught ballroom dancing.

It was at this point in his life that one of his students persuaded him to become a salesperson and on coming to the end of his service in the U.S. Army, Sexton took up this challenge. Soon after, he discovered that he could earn more money as a poker player than as a salesperson and this led to him taking up professional poker in 1977.

Early in his poker career, Sexton was unable to contest in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) tournaments due to his Little League baseball coaching commitments. However, in 1987 he relocated to Nevada to take up poker on a full-time basis.

Sexton won his WSOP bracelet in the 1989 WSOP $1,500 Seven-card stud split event. In the 2005 WSOP, Sexton finished 10th in one of the preliminary events and was among the final 16 players in Poker Superstars II. In February 2006, Sexton won an award at the Card Player Magazine’s Player of the Year Awards Gala.

Later in that same year, he placed 1st at the third annual World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions event. This allowed him to scoop $1,000,000 in prize money. Sexton went on to split half of his post-tax earnings between five charities. He has promised to continue to donate in this way in the future. In 2010, Sexton won numerous tournaments, including a WSOP bracelet. He has earned 46 WSOP cashes, accounting for $910,792 of his total tournament earnings.

Sexton hosts the World Poker Tour and is the spokesperson for the online poker room, PartyPoker.com. However, due to his affiliations, he is unable to compete in certain poker tournaments. Sexton has also found work writing for the industry magazines the Gambling Times and Card Player Magazine. He was also the founder of the Tournament of Champions of Poker, which is now defunct. In 2009, Sexton helped to set up PokerGives.org, a not-for-profit organization that allows poker players to donate to charity with ease.