Celebrity Status

I often get asked by my poker pals, usually in a ribbing way, "What's it like to be a celebrity now?" Well, truthfully, although my exposure on television is "cool," I don't think of myself as a celebrity at all. I just consider myself a poker player who has become a spokesman for poker because of my job as commentator on the World Poker Tour.

There are some fun things that have happened to me, however, since I've become a "TV star." These are things I suspect would have happened to anyone who was in my position as a commentator on the highly successful World Poker Tour. Allow me to share some of them with you.

Ben Affleck played in the championship event at The Bicycle Casino's Legends of Poker. I walked up to him to introduce myself, wish him luck, and thank him for playing with us on the World Poker Tour. Just as I said, "Hi, Ben. I'm Mike Sexton," he interrupted me and said, "I know who you are, Mike. I watch the World Poker Tour every week." That was cool.

Speaking of Ben, he loves to play poker. He also loves players' nicknames, like Texas Dolly, Amarillo Slim, Oklahoma Johnny, Men "The Master", Devilfish, "Miami" John, and so on. During the episode of the WPT's Hollywood Home Game series in which he played, we dubbed him "Boston Ben." (He is from Boston and a die-hard fan of the Red Sox and Patriots.) Here's a tip: If you ever talk to him, call him "Boston Ben." He likes the name and he'll know right away that you're a poker player.

Here's another tidbit about Ben Affleck. He has tremendous impersonation skills. (Watch out, Danny Gans!) If you saw the Legends of Poker show on the WPT, I'm sure you remember the animated Hon Le, who finished as the runner-up in that event. Well, if you could see Ben Affleck impersonate him, it would wow you. I'm telling you, he does an incredible Hon Le. (He must have watched that episode 20 times.)

I went to Orlando, Florida, over the holidays to visit my sister and her two beautiful daughters, Shauna (who graduated from SMU last May) and Ashley (a freshman at Florida State). One night, we went out to a nice restaurant. As we were ordering, the waitress looked at me and said, "You're the guy on the World Poker Tour." I said, "Yes." She then said, "I can't believe this. My husband and I watch it every week. That's our favorite show."

When she came back to the table a little later, she said, "I could be fired for this and I hate to ask, but would you sign an autograph for me?" I said, "I'll be glad to. Thanks for asking." When she came back the next time, she said, "The word is out that you're here. The waiters and bartenders play in a poker game every week, and they are psyched you're here. Would it be OK if a few of them came over and met you?" I said, "Sure. Tell them to stop by."

Three of them came over (which was pretty amazing in itself, as the restaurant was packed) and told me how much they enjoyed the World Poker Tour. Then, they asked, "If we got a deck of cards, would you mind signing a few autographs for us?" I smiled and said, "I don't mind at all." One of them went across the street and bought a deck of cards at a drugstore. They came back to the table for autographs, and I signed the aces and thanked them for watching the World Poker Tour.

When the waitress came back with the check, she said, "I'm amazed. Those guys never want anyone's autograph. Thanks for doing that. You know, we have celebrities come in here all the time. Just last week, Tiger Woods sat right at that table (pointing to the table next to ours). None of the guys wanted his autograph, but they all wanted yours."

My nieces were very impressed by all of this. They said, "Uncle Mike is a star." Hmm. Maybe I should rethink my celebrity status. Tiger who?

Take care.

Mike Sexton is the host of PartyPoker.com and a commentator on the World Poker Tour.