Mike Sexton Extending Himself

By all accounts, Mike Sexton is a great poker player. In fact, he has at least 36 finishes in the money at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) – which is somewhere in the top five. He won the 5,000 Euro buy-in Heads-Up Championship in Paris; he was the 2000 Euro Finals of Poker champion (a $5,000 buy-in event); and he won the summer Four Queens Classic $5,000 buy-in event in 1996 (an event in which I had a big chip lead for a long while and finished 10th). In 1997, he successfully defended this title, although the buy-in was lowered to $2,500, and successfully defending a title isn't easy! He also picked up the $10,000 buy-in Foxwoods championship title in 1992 – the first year it was held.

Great poker playing and prestigious wins just begin to describe Mike's poker accomplishments. Here is a man who invented and founded the Tournament of Champions, which was extremely popular with poker players from all around the world. Then, he created the PartyPoker Million, which has been an extraordinary success. Mike also was offered a plum position in poker as a commentator for the World Poker Tour (WPT) – a job that everyone thinks he does extremely well.

Mike has been thinking outside the poker box for a long time now, and he has been very good for the poker world – both promoting it and being a spokesman for it. I believe that Sexton has had a great vision of where the poker world is going, and he has been proven right every step of the way.

Mike chose the following hand (thanks a lot, Mike!) for me to write about. He said, "It was short and sweet," and I said, "Can't you think of a different hand?"

In the $10,000 buy-in Foxwoods championship event in 1996, with the blinds at $1,000-$2,000, the antes at $200, and 22 players remaining, Mike and I played the following hand against each other. Mike limped in from the small blind with the A K, just calling the $2,000 total bet. Then, I moved all in with the K 8, trying to pick up the pot right then and there. Mike limped in there hoping to trap me, and it worked for him to perfection.

I had $35,000 and was one of the chip leaders, along with Mike, who had $42,000, which made my play extremely reckless. Mike said, "After Phil moved all in, I beat him into the pot! Right away, he realized that he had stubbed his toe." OK, Mike, you're 100 percent right about that! Mike went on to say, "Phil had just what I hoped he had, some kind of king high or a weak ace high." Mike neglected to say that I did exactly what he wanted me to do – move in weak. (Ouch, but thanks for not saying it, Mike.)

Sometimes, slow-playing (not raising or reraising with a strong hand in order to lure your opponent into a false sense of security) a hand works out perfectly in no-limit hold'em, and sometimes it doesn't. Had I just checked behind Mike and gotten a flop of K-8-4, I would have busted him, whereas if he raised before the flop, he would win the pot risk-free right then and there most of the time. Of course, Mike correctly believed that I would move all in if he just called, and it worked out perfectly for him.

I've already stated that I made a terrible play when I moved all in behind him. Why risk all of my chips against the only player in the field who could bust me when I could win only about $5,000 with my all-in raise? I guess I was "brain-locked," as I so often am at the tables!

In any case, at that point Mike had a big chip lead, and managed to make the final table, where he finished seventh or so.

I hope you enjoyed this Hand of the Week. Good luck playing your hands this week. Editor's note: Chat with Phil at UltimateBet.com, table "philhellmuth." Visit PhilHellmuth.com for more Hand of the Week columns. Phil's new book, Play Poker Like the Pros, is available through Card Player.