After fifteen years as the voice of World Poker Tour, Mike Sexton is to take on the role of chairman of the organization that he helped to found in 2001.  He will be replaced by Tony Dundst, who had previously stood in for Sexton at the mic.

Sexton speaks with genuine affection of his time at World Poker Tour.  “It has been an honour and a privilege to work with the WPT since 2002…When WPT was launched it was a dream come true and to be there from the beginning and see how the WPT changed the poker world forever by essentially turning poker into a televised sport has been amazing.”  He said that to work for both companies would be “unfair” and that his new role is “an opportunity and challenge I simply don’t want to pass up”.

Known worldwide, WPT screens in sixty-six countries, for his catch phrase: “May all your cards be live and all your pots be monsters”, Sexton was also a serious poker player with twenty-five years-experience behind him before he sat in front of a mic.  He has a World Series of Poker bracelet, a WPT title and was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.

The sixty-nine-year-old ex-paratrooper seems undaunted by the challenges of his new role. “As Chairman I look forward to achieving our mission statement, working with partypoker staff, working with partypoker Live president John Duthie and most importantly working with the players.”  On their blog, partypoker have outlined the new chairman’s responsibilities:

• Invest in software development to deliver an industry leading player experience
• Improve customer services and strive to resolve player issues in the same day
• Reward the loyalty of players who start games and keep the action going
• Look after smaller bankroll players with value added promotions
• Fight against the use of third party software that gives an unfair advantage
• Invest marketing budgets within the poker community
• Develop partypoker Live to become the largest live poker tour in the world
• Support partners and have their backs
• Only appoint management who get poker, who are trusted, and who actually care
• Hold hands up to the poker community when mistakes are made

At a time of life when most people are looking forward to a gentle retirement, Sexton may be about to take on his most demanding role yet. “My dad told me a long time ago, ‘Don’t ever retire if you are healthy and you enjoy what you are doing’.”  Clearly Sexton’s enthusiasm for the game and the huge challenges ahead of him remains undiminished. “I love playing against the best.  It’s not a gruelling, painful experience like it is for some people, because I really enjoy the challenge of it.  I am really looking forward to working with people that love the game like I do. We are not aiming for second place.”