Vote for Mike Sexton!
Gibraltar — 26th May 2009 — Nominations are now open for this year’s induction to the Poker Hall of Fame and today marks the start of a campaign for the induction of Mike Sexton. For the first time in the history of the Poker Hall of Fame the early stage of the nomination process is open to the general public.
You can vote for Mike now at: http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/pokerhalloffame/halloffamevoting.asp
A PartyPoker.com spokesman said: “We encourage the poker community to vote online for Mike Sexton’s induction into Poker’s Hall of Fame. Mike famously said that poker takes five minutes to learn and a lifetime to master – it takes five minutes to vote and mark the lifetime achievement of the master! Mike meets all the criteria and deserves to be top of the list when the process gets to the Hall of Fame committee.”
Inaugural WSOP Europe winner Annette Obrestad has already expressed her intention to vote for Mike. “I may be from a different generation of poker players to Mike but in my mind he deserves induction into poker’s hall of fame this year.”
PartyPoker.com recently renewed its association with Mike, who will act as a host, consultant, ambassador and player. Sexton needs little introduction and is unarguably one of the most respected figures in the game. As the face and voice of the World Poker Tour and holder of a WSOP bracelet, Mike is truly one of the games pioneers. Sexton is in the top ten for the most cashes at the World Series of Poker and is instantly recognizable to all poker enthusiasts. Regarded as ‘The Ambassador of Poker,’ for years Mike advocated corporate involvement with poker to take the game he loves into the mainstream. Notably, Sexton also won the first $10k buy-in NL hold’em championship event at Foxwoods World Poker Finals in 1992 and in 2000 was the first American to win the championship event at the Euro Finals of Poker in Paris, which at the time was the biggest event in Europe.
Through his role with the World Poker Tour Mike brought the game to millions around the world. In 2006 Sexton won the Tournament of Champions at the World Series of Poker, a concept he had originally created. He donated $500,000 of his winnings to charity and has since become a co-founder of http://www.pokergives.org/, which encourages players to make charitable donations.
The Poker Hall of Fame was established in 1979. Its membership includes poker’s most influential players and other important contributors to the game. There are 16 living members, and to date 37 members have been bestowed the honour of entry. The WSOP Hall of Fame traditionally elects one or two new members annually. The enshrinement ceremony is now held during the final table of the Main Event of the WSOP. The criteria for selection is as follows:
A player must have played poker against acknowledged top competition
Played for high stakes
Played consistently well, gaining the respect of peers
Stood the test of time
Or, for non-players, contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker, with indelible positive and lasting results
Mike ticks the boxes! The Hall of Fame needs its ambassador! Amongst the most recent inductees include Henry Orenstein, Dewey Tomko, Phil Hellmuth, Barbara Enright, TJ Cloutier, Bobby Baldwin, Johnny Chan and Lyle Berman. Doyle Brunson was given Hall of Fame status in 1987. Once the public has voted the top ten among consideration are announced during the Main Event. It then goes to a committee stage in August and then a secret ballot of living Hall of Famers in September. In addition, a select group of media members will also be sent a ballot for ranking the finalists.
May 27, 2009