Mike Sexton to the 2009 Poker Hall of Fame

Card Player would like to tip its hat to the newest Poker Hall of Fame member, the sole 2009 inductee, Mike Sexton.

With a lifetime of high-stakes cash-game experience, 47 World Series cashes, and more than $3 million in tournament winnings, he’s certainly proven his mettle at the table.

But it was Mike’s passion for poker, forward-thinking ideas, and expansionistic contributions to growing the game in many ways that made him a unanimous choice amongst his peers.

Sexton helped pipe televised poker into millions of households as a World Poker Tour commentator, and was instrumental in setting up PartyPoker.com. He also contributed to Card Player as a columnist for over a decade.

We caught up with Mike, and feature a look at his fascinating poker life on Page 48.

The 2009 Hall of Fame ballot was full of excellent poker players, including all-time tournament money leader Daniel Negreanu, superstar Phil Ivey, eight-time bracelet winner Erik Seidel, and four-time Card Player Player of the Year Men Nguyen, to name just a few. But only Sexton received the required 75 percent of the votes.

Why is that? Are the criteria clear? If you ask some Hall of Fame candidates and members, confusion reigns.

Barry Greenstein, another nominee this year, told Card Player TV that Sexton was a lock, since he was “a trooper for poker in trying to get it into the mainstream.” But he said, “It says one thing in the criteria and people get voted in differently. My feeling is that you have to change the criteria or change who you are letting in.”

Hall of Fame member T.J. Cloutier made his opinions known in his blog. He wasn’t happy that just Sexton got the nod.

T.J. remarked, “I think you have to accomplish more than just playing poker and winning titles. I think you have to do something for the industry or in the industry.”

We agree with both Barry and T.J. that prioritizing criteria for selection would be helpful. All of the players considered this year are superstars. Some did more than others to contribute to poker’s growth. Some won more at tournaments than big cash games. Some still win big each month. Should they get into the Hall of Fame now or have to wait? We don’t know the answers.

For us, it was a very difficult decision in casting our media vote for three people. In the end, we chose Mike Sexton and Tom McEvoy for their industry contributions, and Erik Seidel for his two decades of high-level success.