Mike Sexton Leaves WPT After 15 Glorious Years
May 24, 2017 10:48 amMike Sexton joined the World Poker Tour back in 2002, and together with his commentary co-host Vince Van Patten, has helped elevate the brand into one of game’s most popular televised live tours. All good things must come to an end, though, and this week the Poker Hall of Famer announced his retirement from the show in order to take up a Chairman position at partypoker, where he has served as a brand ambassador for many years.
Elaborating further, Sexton said it was an “honor and a privilege” working for the World Poker Tour all this time, but that he was now looking forward to helping to further establish partypoker as one of the best online sites in the business. Sexton’s association with partypoker is long, too, with the 69 year-old stating that he had been there before even a “single virtual card was dealt”, and during the time when it was the biggest online poker room in the world, until its withdrawal from the US market in 2006.
PokerStars has since ruled the roost with around 70% of the world’s online traffic, and showing a 24 hour peak of 19,773 cash game players, while partypoker is currently 5th in the online poker rankings with a peak of around 2,325 players. As Chairman, Sexton will now have the opportunity to drive the brand’s growth further forward through streamlining and innovations, including in the fields of software development,customer service, and loyalty programs.
Mike Sexton will also be an invaluable asset in helping to promote the new partypoker global Live tour, just as he successfully managed to do while at the WPT. In addition to being a poker ambassador, Sexton is also an accomplished player with $6,562,112 in tournament earnings, including in 1989 winning a WSOP bracelet at the $1,500 Seven-Card Stud Split event for $104,400, and in 2016 winning the WPT Montreal Main Event for $317,817.
Meanwhile, Sexton’s replacement in the WPT commentary box will be Tony Dunst, who heaping praise on one of the game’s most respected players, said:
“Mike Sexton set the standard for what it means to be an ambassador, and the positive impact he had on my career and the broader poker community cannot be overstated. I’m honored to be taking his seat in the booth next to the legendary Vince Van Patten; and while I intend to bring my own style to the position, Mike will be a lasting inspiration for how I carry myself and treat people within poker. The success and popularity of the World Poker Tour are the result of the culture he created here.”