@Jason Somerville : "@Daniel Negreanu is probably the most crucial friend I ever made in my life as far as poker goes"

Daniel Negreanu on Rankinghero Daniel Negreanu on Rankinghero RT @pokertube: .@JasonSomerville talks about how @RealKidPoker helped him transition to live #poker #PCA2015 http://t.co/4Si428VdEx http:/…

'The Ambassador of Poker' Mike Sexton Bio and Poker Profile

"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" - this is how PartyPoker spokesman and WPT host @Mike Sexton was presented in the announcement of his 2009 induction into the Poker Hall of Fame and five years later, it's more true than ever! 

Photo: Hochgepokert.com

Early years

Michael Richard Sexton was born on September 22, 1947 in Shelby, Indiana and grew up in Dayton, Ohio.

He started in gymnastics at the age of 10, together with his older brother Tom, and his excellence in the sport later earned him a four-year scholarship at Ohio State University, where he completed a degree in public recreation (after stwitching from business).

In 1970, Mike Sexton joined the U.S. army as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division and was stationed in North Carolina. For a few years after his military service, he worked as a sales rep before deciding he could make his living playing poker full-time.

Poker beginnings

Mike started playing poker when he was 13 years old, played a lot throughout his college years.

He had been supporting himself entirely by grinding cash games in North Carolina for 7 years when he played his first World Series of Poker in 1984. Sexton cashed in two events, decided that Las Vegas was the place for him and made it his home in January 1985.

The WSOP

He hasn't missed a WSOP in 26 years and has actually cashed in every single World Series since 1988, including a bracelet win in 1989 in a $1,500 7 card stud event! His current score is 61 paid places and $3,475,428 (Including the $1 million win in the 2006 Tournament of Champions), which puts him  in 13th position in the all-time worldwide ranking by WSOP ITM.

WPT Flashbacks: Mike Sexton

The WPT and PartyPoker

Mike Sexton has been part of the World Poker Tour ever since its inception. Since 2002, as WPT host and PartyPoker spokesman, he has firmly established himself as one of the best-recognized voices and faces of poker, a model ambassador and a dedicated champion of the game. 

On June 27, 2006, he won the third annual invitational World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions event where he topped an exclusive field of 27 in final heads-up play for the $1 million prize with @Daniel Negreanu:

The next high point in his live poker career was the historic $1 million buy-in 2012 Big One for One Drop, when Mike Sexton finished 9th and scored his biggest cash to date: $1,109,333!

Giving back

After taking down the 2006 Tournament of Champions, Sexton decided to donate half of his post-tax winnings to charities and pledged to do the same in the future. In 2008, together with @Linda Johnson @Jan Fisher and Lisa Tenner, Mike Sexton founded Poker Gives.

Poker Gives was founded with the mission to create and support opportunities for poker players to actually make a diference and "act as a charitable vehicle to collect and redistribute donations from card rooms, fundraisers, poker players and special events". 

Poker Hall of Fame

In 2009 the prestigious institution of the Poker Hall of Fame welcomed its 38th member - "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 was the only inductee in 2009. Nominees included Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, Tom McEvoy, Scotty Nguyen and Dan Harrington.

 "To you other eight guys that were on the ballot, a piece of my induction goes out to you because you were all a big part of me making it here" (Emotional Sexton officially inducted into Poker Hall of Fame, Gary Trask)

 "Being a Hall of Famer allows me to stay among the greatest players in the game for the rest of my life, But even when I'm gone, Ty will be able to enjoy it. That makes me very proud", Sexton said in his acceptance speech, referring to the 'love of his life' - his wife Karen and their young son, Ty. 

Check out Mike Sexton's player stats page for a full listing of his live tournament results since 1981 - as of January 2015, an impressive 215 ITM totalling $5,681,696!

RankingHero: Mike Sexton Profile Page

Mike Sexton talks to @Nicolas Levi about the present and future of the poker industry: Poker Hall of Famer Mike Sexton Interview: 'Poker is not going anywhere, it will continue to grow!'   

YouTube: Mike Sexton Video Playlist

WSOP.com: MIKE SEXTON JOINS POKER HALL OF FAME

PartyPoker: Mike Sexton Blog

#RKHbio #WeeklyHero 

2014 RankingHero Highlights

With continued growth in France and the official US and UK launches, 2014 was certainly an eventful year for RankingHero. Innovative ideas, superior technology and expertise, an unparalleled live results database, and a dedicated team are making RankingHero a unique meeting place for all stake holders in the poker industry.

And none if it would be possible without you, our members from every part of the poker world, and your passion for the game. Together, we hope to build a home for all poker lovers to share their hi&low moments, aspirations and frustrations, and to enjoy the beauty and fun of poker even away from the tables :)

Thank you and a very lucky new year to all of our members and partners!

The Partners: @ARIA Resort & Casino @Aspers Casino - Westfield Stratford City @Barriere Poker Tour  @Bluff Europe @Campok @EverestPoker.fr @TPTK @Unibet Open @Winamax 

The Missions: Vegas Hero, BPT, Campok Championship, Aspers Castle, Last Longer in WPT500 at the Aria and in Unibet Open London at Aspers Stratford, Action Hero  

The RankingHero Interviews: @Jon Finkel @Gabriel Nassif @Mickey Petersen @Sofia Lovgren @Leonor Margets-Perez  @Joe Stapleton  @Davidi Kitai 

The news&rankings: scroll down the #RKHweekly page for a look at some of the news we covered in 2014.

The members: impossible to enumerate the thousands of players and fans who joined our community in 2014, from top pros @Chris Moorman and @Greg Raymer, through popular ambassadors of the game such as @Sofia Lovgren @Liv Boeree, Magic The Gathering stars such as @Eric Froehlich and @Andre Coimbra,  RankingHero mission winners @Michel Pons @Maxence Dupont @Jason Matthieu @Gilles Duguy  @Paulo Rodrigues @Mark Duguid, and the list goes on and on all the way to our two youngest members - baby Robyn and baby Atlas!

Giving back: The proud new fathers @Nicolas Levi and @Adrien Bacchi in their turn made the whole team proud as they shared RankingHero insights and experience in international forums such as the Eastern Europe Gaming Summit and the Malta iGaming Seminar :)

Last but not least, congrats to everyone who cashed big and small in events around the world and thanks to all who shared links, stories, and photos with the community! 

We have great things in store for 2015 and, as always, will count on you all to help us grow and get better!

RankingHero member @Ben 'Machine' Smith offers poker coaching on a "No Win No Fee" basis:

Ben 'Machine' Smith on Rankinghero Ben 'Machine' Smith on Rankinghero I am relatively new to the community. My name is Ben Smith and i am a professional poker player and also a coach. I would like to offer coaching to this community for anyone looking to beat Low limit...

American Poker Pro Raises the Irish Flag in the Bahamas

Playing under the Irish flag, Colorado-born pro @Steve O'Dwyer took down the 2015 PCA 100K Super High Roller for $1,872,580 - his biggest career cash to date! Incidentally, it was also in the PCA that O'Dwyer scored his first recorded live tournament cash in 2007.

"I don't like to fold, I like to see", O'Dwyer told his heads-up opponent @Roger Sippl after making his hero call with Ace high. He certainly must have liked what he saw :)

PCA SHR live stream, pokerstars.tv

The 2013 EPT Monaco Grand Final Champion scored his third million+ cash and second consecutive super high roller victory. He is now second only to @Daniel Colman in the US ranking for the past six months:

In November 2014 O'Dwyer won the ACOP Super High Roller after an amazing final table featuring, among others, @Daniel Colman, @Davidi Kitai and his heads-up opponent @Ryan Fee. 

"I just like the competition.. I just want to play aganst the best players in the world in well-organized, professionally run tournaments. That's what gets me up in the morning, not the money."

Certainly he was happy for his friends and backers, notably @Scott Seiver, who's been by his side for many years and more than one downswing. They must be even happier now and we hope O'Dwyer kept a bigger piece of himself this time though he's content to play for the competition  :)

Fun fact for the superstitious:

Eights were involved in all three of O'Dwyer's million+ cashes: rivered quads in the 2013 EPT Grand Final; 8♥  high flush in 2014 ACOP SHR; and finally 8♦ 8♣ (as in 2013!) on the board in the PCA SHR final hand :)

#PCA100k #PCA2015 

Who is your favorite to win the PCA 100K Super High Roller?

66 entries by 44 players in the $100,000 buy-in super high roller in the 2015 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure have resulted in a $6,402,000 prize pool! The field is now down to the final 7, who will be playing for the first prize of $1,872,580.

#EPTLive fans enjoyed a fantastic live stream yesterday, with@Jason Somerville and @Joe Stapleton commentating the #PCA100k SHR, Day 2. You can watch the replay on pokerstars.tv and tune in at 20h00 CET for the final table!

Against the odds, I'll be rooting for the number one in the 2014 Germany earnings ranking, @Christoph Vogelsang.  Do YOU have a favorite to win?..

The Pros Speak Their Mind: Best Poker Blogs of 2014

Not content with record live tournament achievements, million+ cashes and titles, these pros inspired and challenged the poker community with their heartfelt opinions, as well. Here are some of the most moving and thought-provoking blogs and social media posts of 2014 by Daniel Colman, Daniel Negreanu, Vicky Coren, William Tonking, Alex Fitzgerald, and Chris Moorman:

Dan Colman Speaks Out on the 'Ugly World' of Poker, Daniel Negreanu Looks on the Brighter Side 

The 23-year old who made nearly as many million dollars in live tournaments in a single year also marked 2014 with his controversial stand on poker and his decline to promote the game and its star system.  

@Daniel Colman and @Daniel Negreanu represent two very different generations and schools of poker and perhaps more surprisingly, diametrically opposed views and feelings about the game and the industry. Both  make some thought-provoking points and all of us who love the game of poker should maybe take the time to answer the questions they raise for ourselves.

It bothers me that people care so much about poker's well being. As poker is a game that has such a net negative effect on the people playing it. Both financially and emotionally.

As for promoting myself, I feel that individual achievements should rarely be celebrated. I am not going to take part in it for others and I wouldn't want it for myself. (Colman, "I really don't owe anyone an explanation but I'll give one..." 2+2)

Whatever it is you choose to do in your life, make sure INTEGRITY is at the core of it. If you are genuinely having an issue with the morality of playing poker for a living, make a choice. Don't compromise your own moral code for money. If you truly believe in your heart that what you are doing hurts people, and you don't want to hurt people, you need to make a choice. (Negreanu, My Two Cents on Daniel Colman "Controversy")

Philipp Gruissem: 'Giving makes you happy and everybody should try it'

In the aftermath of the Big One for One Drop and during the ensuing 'Colman debate' about whether or not poker should be promoted at all, an alternative emerged from within the poker community itself - @Philipp Gruissem @Igor Kurganov @Liv Boeree and other top pros have found an answer to 'Colman's Dilemma': Raising for Effective Giving. It is a program designed to help and encourage poker players to make meaningful and efficient donations to various causes and charities of their choice. While Colman drew attention to the 'ugly world' of poker, Gruissem came out with a simple answer to his moral dilemma: "Trust me, the only way to be 100% happy if you are living in this poker world is to give back."

Poker should be treated like anything in life. If you don’t find the right balance, it’s not good for you. There are fine lines between playing a strategy game, running away from real life and being addicted.

Use the time at the table as a life experience. I’m not saying you should dedicate your life to poker, but if you ever sit down at a table, use this time to experience yourself. From emotion control, social skills and rationality, whatever you want to take out of poker in order to grow as a person, you have so many opportunities. I see a huge potential in this community as many have been lucky enough to see the world, recognize problems everywhere, and at the same time have had the freedom develop themselves.

For example, one of my biggest lessons that I learned from poker is to fear nobody and respect everybody. You can outsmart everybody and everybody can outsmart you in a single hand. This is the same mistake we do in life. We put people down and put people on pedestals too often.

read on: A solution to Dan Colman's dilemma

So You Want to Go Pro?

"Trials and tribulations are making you wiser for when the good times do come. If you don’t spend any time in the dirt, how are you going to manage success? You’re going to be arrogant, you’re going to feel entitled, and you’re going to be delusional about your abilities."

Professional player and coach @Alex Fitzgerald, aka 'The Assassinato', is always a pleasure to read, both for the wisdom and experience shared and for his unconventional strategy ideas and tips. Here is his must read piece for everyone tempted by the poker pro lifestyle: 

I have enjoyed a very easy life since I turned pro at 18. Yet, many times, I’ve wondered what the hell I was doing with my life. When I wasn’t going broke, I was stagnated at the same bankroll for years, not advancing. You know what, though? You have to be thankful for how difficult it is to “break out” in poker. Often, when you win a large amount of money early in your career, you think you deserve it. You usually don’t. You usually don’t know how to save the money, stay within your bankroll, and continue studying to grow. You have, usually, only achieved a brief high, but of course you want the high to last.

read on: So You Want To Go Pro?

Will Tonking: 'I kept my promise but I didn't reach my goal'

@William Tonking, the November Niner from New Jersey who finished 4th in the WSOP 2014 Main Event, posted a touching thank-you letter to all of his supporters, family and friends. Whoever was your favorite to win the Main Event, take the time to read it and you will no doubt be moved and inspired by this talented player's humility, gratitude, and resolve not to disappoint himself or any of the people who believe in him!

..However, in poker we can't always control the outcome. We can only control how we handle each situation.

We make decisions based on limited amounts of information with the hopes that we have more information than our competition. This guarantees a profit in the long run but not always in the short run. I felt that I had as much information as any of my competitors and that with 7 left having the most chips we were the favorite to win. From that point forward what I couldn't control did not cooperate and the outcome was disappointing relative to the position I was in. Anyone that's been there will tell you that when it gets down to a certain point and if you truly understand the opportunity you have that it's not about the money or anything else. It's only about winning.

I can tell you without any hesitation that there was no one at that table, in that tournament, or in this world that wanted to win more than I did. Not just for me but for us. For where we're from, for my story, and for what I stand for.This experience was unlike anything else and I will be forever grateful for the opportunity and for everyone that made it so special.

Goodbye Team Pro

@Victoria Coren Mitchell's blog suddenly became the hottest poker destination on the Internet on November 26th when the only two-time EPT champion in history announced she had terminated her sponsorship contract with PokerStars on account of the company's decision to offer casino games:

But I cannot professionally and publicly endorse it, even passively by silence with my name still over the shop. Poker is the game I love, poker is what I signed up to promote. The question I’m probably asked most often in interviews is about the danger of addiction, going skint and so on. I’m always careful to explain the difference between the essentially fair nature of poker, where we all take each other on with the same basic chance, and those casino games at unfavourable odds which can be (especially online) so dangerous for the vulnerable or desperate. Although PokerStars assured me I would not have to actively promote the casino arm, I know in my heart that continuing in my current role could risk helping to send people to a place where they would encounter something I think is dangerous. That’s not the way I want to make a living.

Though Daniel Negreanu came out in defense of PokerStars on the issue of casino games, we can only join him in giving kudos to Vicky Coren:

What matters most is that when you draw that line you also follow it up with doing what you feel is right, and Vicky deserves all the kudos in the world for doing that.

The Power of Thinking Positively in Poker

"The power of the mind and positive thinking is something I’ve been trying to focus on more in recent times and I’ve come to the conclusion that positivity in life is strongly linked with success and happiness."

To end on a positive note, here is a great post by the world's leading online tournament player, @Chris Moorman, who this year added a major title from LAPC to his live poker resume, published a popular strategy book, and got engaged to be married, so should be an excellent source on the subject :)

One of the biggest benefits of being positive/optimistic is happiness. Optimistic people believe that negative events are temporary and manageable in that they can change their actions in the future to alter events and stop the same negative events from occurring again, i.e. learning from their mistakes. On the contrary a negative person believes that nothing is their fault and wishes failure on others to aid their jealousy issues.

Now you may ask what does this have to do with poker? In my opinion positivity is essential to being a successful poker player in the long term. No matter how good you are at this game there are going to be times when things aren’t going smoothly and you are in the middle of one of those dreaded downswings. You really learn the most about a poker player and their character not when they are winning and everything is favorable, but when times are tough and they are unsure where next months rent is coming from.

read on: The Power of Thinking Positively in Poker

Chris Moorman Nominated in Three BluffEurope British Poker Awards Categories

Dan Colman Speaks Out on the 'Ugly World' of Poker, Daniel Negreanu Looks on the Brighter Side

Will Tonking: 'I kept my promise but I didn't reach my goal'

Philipp Gruissem: 'Giving makes you happy and everybody should try it'

Victoria Coren in the Run for a Second EPT Title at Sanremo

Win Your Seat at Star-Studded Poker Awards Ceremony at London's Hippodrome Casino!

The British Poker Awards will return to @The Hippodrome Casino London for a second successive year! The ceremony is set to take place on 23 February, 2015. Thanks to organizers @Bluff Europe,  five lucky poker fans will each win a pair of tickets to the star-studded event simply for casting their votes!

Poker enthusiasts are able to vote until 31 December at www.thebritishpokerawards.com, with categories including Best Online Player and new video category Hand of the Year.

More about the nominees on RankingHero, #BritishPokerAwards :

The Four Best Poker Hands of the Year

Chris Moorman Nominated in Three BluffEurope British Poker Awards Categories

The British Poker Awards - Nominees for Best Live Tournament Player

British Poker Awards Winner and 2014 Nominee Victoria Coren Mitchell on the Phil Ivey Case

Action Hero Hand Finale

I'm sure all of the members who strategized in the #ActionHero mission are growing impatient for the answers, so - while waiting for the Mystery Hero to reveal himself and pass judgement on the entries - here's how the hand ended:

Mystery Hero responds to 3500 raise by a shove. 

Italian is fuming and eventually folds, slamming angrily his cards face up on the table to reveal A♠ 9♣ !