Ambassador Of Poker Joins The Hall Of Fame

Mike "The Ambassador Of Poker" Sexton has been inducted as the newest member of The Poker Hall Of Fame this year. Mike Sexton has been in the poker industry for over 20 years. Mike Sexton is now the 38th member if the Poker Hall Of Fame, becoming the only member of the nine finalists this year to garner induction. The remaining eight candidates, who were under consideration this year, remain eligible for future consideration.



The Poker Hall Of Fame was created to preserved the names and the legacies of the world's best poker players. Benny Binion, the owner of Horseshoe Casino, created this concept. When Harrah's Entertainment acquired the rights to the WSOP in 2004, they also assumed ownership of the Poker Hall Of Fame.

Before Sexton became a one of the professional poker players today he first attended at Ohio State University on a gymnastics scholarship and receiving a degree in Public Recreation after changing majors from business. He jokes that he majored in poker because he played very frequently in his college days. Sexton Joined the army as a paratrooper. When he left the army, he stayed in North Carolina and got married and worked for four years.

Although Sexton joined tournaments, he was never able to make it to the World Series of Poker because he coached a Little League baseball teams and the schedules overlapped. In 1985 he moved to Nevada to pursue poker full time. Sexton was a well known buddies with one of the best poker player that walk on earth, Stu Ungar. Upon Ungar's death, Sexton was a pallbearer and speaker at his funeral.

Sexton accumulate over $3.7 million in career poker winnings. He is also the main analyst for the WPT's TV coverage. He is also serves as a consultant in one of online casino gaming site, Party Poker. A true gentleman who has constantly enhanced the game of poker both with his play at the tables and his promotion of the game off of it, Sexton is a noted author, columnist, broadcaster, philanthropist and businessman.


List of 38 Poker Hall of Fame members includes:

• Felton “Corky” McCorquodale (1979)
• Edmond Hoyle (1979)
• Johnny Moss (1979)
• Red Winn (1979)
• Sid Wyman (1979)
• James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok (1979)
• Nick “The Greek” Dandolos (1979)
• T “Blondie” Forbes (1980)
• Bill Boyd (1981)
• Tom Abdo (1982)
• Joe Bernstein (1983)
• Murph Harrold (1984)
• Red Hodges (1985)
• Henry Green (1986)
• Walter Clyde “Puggy” Pearson (1987)
• Jack “Treetop” Straus (1988)
• Doyle Brunson (1988)
• Fred “Sarge” Ferris (1989)
• Benny Binion (1990)
• David “Chip” Reese (1991)
• Thomas Austin “Amarillo Slim” Preston (1992)
• Jack Keller (1993)
• Julius Oral “Little Man” Popwell (1996)
• Roger Moore (1997)
• Stu “The Kid” Ungar (2001)
• Johnny Chan (2002)
• Lyle Berman (2002)
• Bobby Baldwin (2003)
• Berry Johnston (2004)
• Crandell Addington (2005)
• Jack Binion (2005)
• Billy Baxter (2006)
• T.J. Cloutier (2006)
• Barbara Enright (2007)
• Phil “Poker Brat” Hellmuth (2007)
• Duane “Dewey” Tomko (2008)
• Henry Orenstein (2008)
• Mike Sexton (2009)

Being one of the Poker Hall Of Famers is considered one of the biggest honors in the poker industry. T.J. Cloutier once said in his acceptance speech, "It's one of the two things I've always wanted to win." Barbara Enright, the only woman in the Hall Of Fame, consider this as her "Lifetime Achievement Honor."