Card Player Poker Stories Podcast With Mike Sexton

Poker Stories is a new, long-form audio series that features casual interviews with some of the game’s best players and personalities. Each episode highlights a well-known member of the poker world and dives deep into their favorite tales both on and off the felt.

Click here to download or subscribe to the Poker Stories podcast on iTunes.

Age: 69
Turned Pro: 1985
Hometown: Dayton, Ohio
Live Tournament Earnings: $5.85 million
Best Score: 1st Place – 2006 WSOP Tournament of Champions — $1 million

The Highlights

On sports betting…

“I’d win at poker five days a week, then on the weekend I’d bet sports and by Monday I’d owe the bookmaker. No matter how much I won during the week I’d blow it on the weekends. That’s how dumb I was back then. It’s pathetic when I think how much I’ve lost in my life betting on sports. It’s nothing I’m proud of, I only bring it up so other people don’t fall into the same trap that I did.”

On his days as a collegiate gymnast…

“In our state, gymnastics was a varsity sport. Back then, it was a big deal. My brother and I got full scholarships to college. My best event back then was the trampoline, which was still an event in the NCAA. In fact, my senior year in college was the last year that trampoline was an official event. I was so mad about it that I boycotted gymnastics for 20 years.”

On his early days as a poker pro…

“It was an amazing game we played in Nashville, North Carolina. I drove 100 miles two days a week to play in this game on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If you didn’t get there by noon, you couldn’t get a seat in the game. It was full of tobacco farmers… it was really a lot of fun. I really won all the time. Honestly.”

On who should join him on poker’s Mount Rushmore…

“In my book, you put Chip Reese up there first. Maybe Doyle. Stu Ungar. Puggy Pearson. (That’s too many names already) I know, but to me, those guys are true hall of famers. Those are the legends in poker. Those guys back in the 70s that started the WSOP, that played the highest stakes games in the world. These guys are icons in my eyes. Johnny Moss. Jack Straus. These guys will always be up there in my mind, and I’ll never rank ahead of them. ”

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