Thanks for the Memories

I've been a featured columnist in Card Player since 1996, and have written well over 200 columns. All good things come to an end, so this column will be my last regular column in Card Player. It has truly been an honor for me to have been a part of poker's premier publication for such a long time.



I became a professional poker player in 1977 while living in North Carolina. For eight years, I played professionally in home games around the state. In 1985, I decided to move to Las Vegas. For years, I played $30-$60 and $50-$100 stud eight-or-better every day to pay the bills. My poker dream came true when I won a bracelet in stud eight-or-better at the World Series of Poker in 1989. I'd never played in the main event prior to that, so that event was my world championship.



I've always had more vision than most about the potential for sponsorship and television in poker. I believe I was the first player to get any type of sponsorship deal. That was with La Mode, a golf clothing company, just prior to the 1989 WSOP. When June Field (the founder of Card Player) did a feature article about sponsorship in poker in the March 6, 1992, issue of Card Player, I appeared on the cover.



Life works in mysterious ways. I always had ideas about taking poker to the next level, but like most players back then, I was just concerned about making a living. My life changed forever as a result of playing in the $5,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em championship event at the 1996 summer Four Queens Classic. And it's amazing that I even made it to the starting gate in that event!



I couldn't afford the buy-in, so I decided to take $530 and play in a single-table satellite on the morning of the event. With three of us left, I got all in with two jacks and lost to A-K – another plan shipwrecked. The tournament was just about to get under way, and, sadly, I was on the rail.



Scotty Nguyen came up to me and said, "Good luck today." I told him I didn't have the money to enter and wasn't playing. He said, "What? You should play, baby. I have a feeling you'll be lucky today. I'm not playing, but I'd like to have a piece of you."



Scotty asked me if I'd play the tournament on a 20 percent freeroll.



I said, "Sure. I just want to play."



We were standing next to Ron McMillan, Luis Santoni, Russ Hamilton, Violin Joe, and some others, and Scotty blurted out, "Hey, you guys. Mike Sexton isn't in yet. I'll put up $1,200 for 20 percent of him. Who else wants a piece?"



Incredibly, in less than one minute, all of those guys took a piece of me, and I was in. Even though I was playing for only 20 percent, far and away the lowest percentage I'd ever played for, I was thrilled to get the freeroll and have a shot at the $186,000 first prize.



I made it to the final table on the second-shortest stack. Somehow, I made it down to heads up. There, I was playing too tight and getting run over when it was time for our first break. Luis Santoni (one of my shareholders) came up to me and said, "Mike, four eyes are better than two. May I say something to you?"



I said, "Sure."



He said, "He is raising every pot and mowing you down. You have to gamble more with this guy to win. You've got to take chances and move all in once in a while." I thought about what he said, and knew he was right.



I went back to the table, my opponent raised preflop from the button, and I moved all in with the J 10. He quickly called me with the A K. The flop was 8-3-2. I hit two runners to make a straight and double up. Had I just called preflop, I wouldn't have won that pot and most likely would have lost the tournament. It does pay to gamble sometimes. The deck hit me from there on, and I never looked back. I also never forgot that quote, "Four eyes are better than two."



After winning the tournament, Linda Johnson (the owner of Card Player at that time) asked me if I'd like to write an article for Card Player about my experience, and I said I'd be glad to. After I wrote it, she asked me to become a full-time columnist. My column was born because I got staked in that $5,000 tournament and got lucky and won it.



Writing for Card Player gave me the credibility and recognition within the industry to create yet another dream of mine, putting on a tournament in which you had to earn your way in and play multiple games to become the champion. Thus, I founded the Tournament of Champions of Poker (TOC). That event was held for three years (1999-2001). Sadly, it was ahead of its time and didn't make money, but I truly believe that it was the classiest event in the history of poker. More importantly, it led me to getting my jobs with both PartyPoker.com and the World Poker Tour.



Being a part of PartyPoker.com and the World Poker Tour has been amazing for me. To see those companies grow as they have – and to be a part of them – has been incredible. Moving to the business side of poker has certainly been a blessing for me. It has provided financial security for me and my family beyond my wildest dreams.



After winning Card Player's "Poker Ambassador" award earlier this year, I feel like I'm going out on top, like John Elway and Jerome "The Bus" Bettis did (with Super Bowl wins). And it all goes back to Linda Johnson hiring me to write for Card Player.



I love Card Player. Although I'm stopping my full-time column, I hope to contribute guest columns for Card Player once in a while. I'd like to thank Linda Johnson, Barry and Jeff Shulman, Editor in Chief Steve Radulovich (for his everlasting patience with my late columns), and certainly you, the readers, who provided me with the inspiration to write because of the positive feedback I got from you.



To Card Player and all of you, let me just say, "All the best, and thanks for the memories."