Poker Articles

Mike Sexton Reviews the 2009 World Series of Poker

noreply@blogger.com (mikesexton) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 06:05:00 +0000

By Mike Sexton for POKER NEWS DAILY | Posted on June 25, 2009

It’s once again time for the World Series of Poker (WSOP) – the 40th edition. For poker players, the WSOP is the ultimate in “thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.” It’s where dreams come true and also where dreams are shattered. Many of us dote about the bracelets, the history, and the tradition that set the WSOP apart from other tournaments, but the beauty is that most players really can win life-changing money.

This year’s kickoff event was a $40,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament commemorating the 40th annual WSOP. Personally, I think it’s a dumb idea to ever have a bigger buy-in for a No Limit Hold’em tournament than the Main Event, so I wasn’t for it. I didn’t play in it because I missed the first week of the WSOP this year. I took a vacation with my wife Karen and son Ty (nine months old) to Yellowstone National Park – and it was great! It was a vacation for our second anniversary and Ty is the first child for either of us. It’s official - my priorities have changed from poker to parenting!

I do love the WSOP, though. I’m guessing I will play in 10 to 12 events this year. It may be their 40th, but it’s my 25th WSOP, my Silver Anniversary. One thing’s for sure: I will never forget my first-ever WSOP. It was 1984. I lived in North Carolina back then and had been a professional poker player for about six years. I always wanted to go the WSOP and play against the best. I never went, though, because I was an avid Little League coach back then (which, incidentally, was the greatest joy of my life). We started practicing in April and our season started in May – the same time as the WSOP in those days – and, therefore, I couldn’t go.

In 1984, I finally decided to take a week off from Little League and go to my first WSOP. Back then, they only had one tournament every other day. That meant in a week’s time, you could only play in three events. So, I entered three events, made two final tables, and was hooked for life on the WSOP. Because of my success in that first WSOP, I decided to move to Las Vegas a few months later and I’ve lived there ever since. I’ve often wondered where I’d be today if I hadn’t cashed in any of those three tournaments.

Here’s the bad part: 25 years later, I still remember how I was knocked out of those tournaments at my first WSOP – and it still hurts! Why can’t I just let it go? Because it’s my Silver Anniversary WSOP, I’ll relive the pain and tell you what happened (If you don’t like bad beat stories, skip the next couple of paragraphs).

With five players left in the Pot Limit Omaha tournament, I was average in chips and the leader was Tom McEvoy, who happened to be the reigning World Champion of Poker at the time. Noted author David Sklansky was also still there as well as a high-stakes Pot Limit Omaha player named Bill Bennett, the eventual winner.

McEvoy was playing extremely aggressive, too much so for Pot Limit Omaha, in my opinion. Even though he was the World Champion at No Limit Hold’em, I wasn’t convinced he played Pot Limit Omaha that well. Tom was raising nearly every pot and once again raised the max pre-flop. I was on the button and picked up a nice hand, A-K-Q-8 (A-Q of diamonds, K-8 of Clubs). I called, as did the big blind. The flop was Q-8-3 with two hearts and one club. The big blind checked and McEvoy led out and bet the pot. I was contemplating raising and going for it all right there. McEvoy must have sensed it because he blurted out, “If you raise it, I’m going to put you all-in.” After that statement, I decided to go with this hand for sure. So I then said, “Well, I guess you’re going to put me all-in then, because I’m raising it!” I raised, the big blind folded, and true to his word, McEvoy set me all-in. I can still remember how much my heart was pounding when I called him.

I was shocked and thrilled when he turned up his hand. He had a 3-4-5-8 and no heart draw! Yippee!! I had the top two pair and he had the bottom two pair. Then it happened - a seven came on the turn and a six on the river. Wham! Bam! He made a straight and won the pot. Instead of me being the chip leader, I was out. I won’t forget that hand as long as I live. That bracelet could/should have been mine!

Even with all the pain, I love the WSOP. I like that, for the first time ever at the WSOP, there are no rebuys in any tournaments. I’ve always campaigned for that because I think everyone should have an equal chance to win a bracelet. Rebuy tournaments are not equal to everyone; they favor the deep pockets.

Sadly, I must say that I can’t believe the $50,000 HORSE tournament is not being televised this year. In my opinion, this is a poor decision and not good for poker. And even though they’re doing it again, I still think it’s a bad idea to put the Main Event final table four months down the road. Whether or not I like the final table in November, however, you can be sure of this: If I’m breathing, I’ll be playing in the Main Event. Needless to say, it would be a dream come true to get to that final table. If it happens, I hope to meet you there!

Here's the originating article: www.pokernewsdaily.com

A night to remember...

noreply@blogger.com (mikesexton) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:08:00 +0000

The first-annual "Card Player", Player of the Year awards show was held in Hollywood,
California, on Feb. 15, 2006. The event, created by Card Player's Barry Shulman and sponsored by Bodog.com, was put on to honor the player of the year as well as other poker standouts. It was a first-class, gala affair that was a night to remember.

The invitation-only evening started with the players walking the red carpet for the press and paparazzi. Then, there was an open-bar cocktail party, followed by the awards show.

The master of ceremonies for the evening was Brad Garrett, from the Ray Romano show. Unless you've seen Brad do stand-up comedy, there's no way you would realize how funny he is. And on this night, it was a no-holds-barred attack on poker players – and they loved it. A couple lines included: "I see Gabe Kaplan is in the house.

I think he had some kind of hit show when I was a fetus." "And Amir Vahedi is here tonight. I met him in flight school." And, of course, he brutalized Mike Matusow: "Mike Matusow's raising his hand. I see he still has the cuffs on." The Player of the Year award is determined by a yearlong point system. It's one of poker's most prestigious awards, and the 2005 winner was Men "The Master" Nguyen. Incredibly, "The Master" has won that award four times in nine years! That is amazing to me. Hats off to Men "The Master."

Players were nominated and voted on by the top players for awards in various categories, and the top three vote getters in each category were the finalists. Phil Ivey was the big dog of the night, as he won three categories (Best No-Limit Hold'em Player, Best Heads-Up Player, and Most-Feared Player). Chip Reese won two (Best Cash-Game Player and Best Mixed-Game Player). Other awards went to Daniel Negreanu (People's Choice Award for Favorite Player, as voted on by the public), Jennifer Harman (Best Female Player), Michael Gracz (Breakthrough Player), and Allen
Cunningham (Most Underrated Player), Jennifer Tilly (Favorite Celebrity Player), Mike Matusow (Most Entertaining Player), and me (Poker Ambassador). The highlight of the evening was Doyle Brunson receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award. The standing ovation he got was spine tingling. Everyone in the room showed appreciation for what Doyle has meant to poker over the past 40 years. It was fun seeing clips of Doyle as a young athlete (an amazing one, I might add), and those of his distinguished poker career. His award was a well-deserved honor. Congratulations, Doyle!

I must say that I was quite flattered to win the Poker Ambassador award. At this stage of my career, I can think of no greater honor. The top three nominees in this category were Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, and I, and topping those guys in any poker category is a thrill. Although we were the three nominees, there are several other people who have given so much of themselves to take poker to a higher level who also might have been included on the list of nominees. They include people like Linda Johnson, Mike Caro, Steve Lipscomb, Barry Greenstein, Barry Shulman, Jack Binion, Roy Cooke, and, certainly, the past three world champions of poker - Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, and Joe Hachem - who have been great ambassadors for poker.

I owe a great deal of this award to a number of people who have aided me in my career. Let's start with my family, especially my father (Ray) and my brother
(Tom). They've always been my biggest supporters.

Much of the credit for my success in moving to the business side of poker goes to Linda Johnson. She once owned Card Player and hired me to write for the magazine in 1996. (I haven't missed a column since.) That notoriety as a writer gave me credibility within the industry to create the Tournament of Champions of Poker (TOC), which was held from 1999 to 2001. Putting that tournament on was a dream come true for me, and Chuck Humphrey was very helpful in making that event happen. It was the TOC that led me to my jobs with PartyPoker.com and the World Poker Tour, and the success of both of those companies has been truly amazing.

WPT founder Steve Lipscomb deserves a part of my Poker Ambassador award, as well. I never would have won the award without him hiring me to be a commentator on the World Poker Tour. (Incidentally, I had no previous broadcast experience prior to him hiring me, so he really did take a shot on me. Fortunately, his instincts worked out well for both of us.) That job put me in the spotlight, was the reason I wrote Shuffle Up and Deal (a book that made The New York Times best-seller list), enabled me to teach at WPT Boot Camps, and provided me a platform from which I could talk about the virtues of poker to both the media and the public.

I always tell anyone who will listen that the World Poker Tour is the primary reason for the growth of poker, and certainly the Travel Channel gets some credit, as well. It put poker on its schedule in prime time on a weekly basis (Wednesday night is now "poker night" across America), and the popularity of poker exploded soon thereafter.

If I had one wish as poker ambassador, it would be that all players treat the game, their opponents, and the dealers and poker room staffs, with dignity and respect. Behaving properly should be a goal of all players. I also believe that everyone who makes a living in the poker industry should automatically be an ambassador of the game, especially those who have become millionaires from playing poker. Think of the hundreds of thousands of players who dream about becoming millionaires by playing a game they love. In my opinion, those who have succeeded, and those who will succeed in the future, have an obligation to conduct them selves in a professional manner. Give back to the game, and be goodwill ambassadors for poker.

Again, I want to thank everyone who voted for me and everyone who made it possible for me to even be nominated for such a prestigious award. In my view, winning the Poker Ambassador award is the highest honor in poker. It was a night to remember.

When Mike met Puggy

noreply@blogger.com (mikesexton) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:52:00 +0000

I doubt if we will see the likes of Puggy Pearson again in our lifetimes. We've all heard stories about his behavior at the poker tables from the past, but there was another side to Puggy that most people never saw. He had a soft heart, especially for a gambler down and out, or a dealer that was sick, or a player's spouse that passed away.

There are many times Puggy could be seen passing his hat around the poker room for someone in need, and Puggy himself would donate the most. He considered all gamblers to be family, and never missed a gambler's funeral. Unfortunately, we lost Puggy this past year, and he was one of my brother's very dear friends for 30 years. In fact, if it wasn't for Puggy, my brother might have been a salesman back in North Carolina instead of the "Poker Ambassador" he turned out to be.

I'll address this in Part Two of this tale, but for now, let's go back in time 30 years ago to 1977. The first time Mike Sexton met Puggy Pearson in Las Vegas, was an absolute classic moment to remember, that I would like to share with you:

In 1977 my brother called me and said "Tom, I want you to meet me down on the Strip at a place called Rumors. It is a nightclub that has backgammon tables. I'm supposed to meet this gambler there to play backgammon for $100 per game."

I said, "Backgammon, you don't even know how to play that game." Mike said, "What's the difference? I might make a score. The problem is... I don't have any money and if I lose, there might be trouble. Chip (Reese) and Danny (Robison) told me to watch myself, as this guy is supposed to be one mean
#*$!#&!!, and I will just feel better if you're with me, in case there is any trouble."

To that, I asked "What is this guy's name?"

And Mike said, "It is some guy named Puggy Pearson."

Well, when we got there I took a seat behind Mike and watched them play backgammon. It was quickly apparent that Puggy was much better at this game than my brother. At $100 per game, Puggy won the first five games in a row. Puggy's radar went up then, and he looked at Mike and said, "Sexton, I'll play you all night long, but why don't we settle up in $500 increments?"

Mike turned around to see if his big brother was near by, and then turned back around, "Puggy, I don't have a dime on me, but of course, you know, I'm good for this."

Puggy puffed on that cigar for almost a minute just glaring at Mike (it seemed like an hour), and said "Sexton, I didn't think anybody had the guts to try this on me in Las Vegas. Do you know who you’re dealing with here? I'm Puggy Pearson!"

Before Mike could say anything, all of a sudden Puggy began to laugh so hard, he almost fell out of his chair. Mike said, "What's so funny, Puggy?"

Puggy said, "Hell, I haven't got any money on me either... I'm shooting an air bullet here myself! I was hoping to win some off you." At that point everyone was laughing watching this scene unfold. Here they were, Mike and Puggy, the first time they met, trying to out-hustle each other. When the laughter subsided, Puggy said, "I'd like to play you all night Sexton, but I've got to find someone who has some money."

This was the odd beginning to a friendship that lasted 30 years. Walter Clyde "Puggy" Pearson was a true gambling legend who won the WSOP in 1973, and was early elected into Poker's Hall Of Fame. He had a third-grade education, graduating instead from the school of hard knocks. Puggy was from a poor, large, Tennessee-hills family and would tell you, "We had to move every time the rent was due."

Once, on a radio show when asked for any good advice for someone pursuing a gambling career, Puggy said "The best advice I can give them is something that took me 35 years to learn, and that is that you'll never have nothin' until you learn to make a mule out of your money." ( In other words, you must learn to invest your winnings.) For someone known to be "the world's greatest scuffler," that is probably the most sophisticated advice one could ever give. We're going to miss you, Puggy.

The Cab is Parked,

Tom Sexton