What do you think?
Life's a Gamble
In his four decades as a poker professional, Mike has excelled as a poker player, poker businessman and poker ambassador. He was instrumental in the creation of PartyPoker in 2001 and was a key player in the launch of the World Poker Tour in 2002, an event that changed the world of poker forever. He has been a commentator on the WPT, along with Vince Van Patten, since its inception. He is a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner. Mike was recognized as poker’s Top Ambassador at the Card Player Magazine Player of the Year Awards gala in 2006. That same year, he won the World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions, collecting $1 million in prize money – half of which he donated to charity. In this book Mike recounts his personal experiences and gives his take on some of poker’s legendary characters over the past 40 years. If you enjoy poker, are fascinated by the evolution of the game and enjoy compelling poker, golf and gambling adventures, then you’ll love Life’s A Gamble.
269 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 22, 2016
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
Read
December 8, 2024Video Review: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_DdNy...
September 8, 2020
Rest In Peace Mike Sexton.
A legend in his own right and one of the most key contributors to the growth of the game of poker; Michael Richard Sexton takes us on a journey through poker rooms, golf courses, cruise ships and board rooms in this gem of a book. What is essentially a collection of degen stories mixed with the inside scoop of the birth and rise of Partypoker.com and the World Poker Tour, this is a fun ride for all lovers of the game. I especially enjoyed the overlap with stories I recently read in Doyle's 'The Godfather of Poker' autobiography, and think these two books complement each other nicely. Overall I would recommend this book to all poker players and degenerate gamblers.
I also wanna give major props to D&B Publishing for the quality of the print. The hardcover edition of this book is probably the highest quality printing of a poker book that I have ever seen.
A legend in his own right and one of the most key contributors to the growth of the game of poker; Michael Richard Sexton takes us on a journey through poker rooms, golf courses, cruise ships and board rooms in this gem of a book. What is essentially a collection of degen stories mixed with the inside scoop of the birth and rise of Partypoker.com and the World Poker Tour, this is a fun ride for all lovers of the game. I especially enjoyed the overlap with stories I recently read in Doyle's 'The Godfather of Poker' autobiography, and think these two books complement each other nicely. Overall I would recommend this book to all poker players and degenerate gamblers.
I also wanna give major props to D&B Publishing for the quality of the print. The hardcover edition of this book is probably the highest quality printing of a poker book that I have ever seen.
March 30, 2022
Like many people, I got swept along by the poker craze in the early 2000s. I devoured every book and magazine going: instruction books, biographies, poker related tales - the lot. I played, watched or studied the game in almost every hour of my spare time, I even left my job of thirty years and took up playing poker tournaments, both live and online and was fairly successful without ever progressing into high stakes although I did play in a number of big buy-in events.
Mike Sexton, as commentator on the World Poker Tour was well known to me and I loved his commentary and relationship with co-commentator Vince Van Patten. He truly was an ambassador to poker and together with his involvement with the rise of online poker, he certainly left his legacy on the game and is (in my opinion) very deserving of his place in the Poker Hall of Fame.
Had I read this book 'back in the day' I'm sure I would have been totally absorbed in it and given it a five star rating but reading it now, it seems a bit tired and did not have any real impact on me.
I enjoyed reading about his interesting life, the decisions he made and the consequences of those decisions but somehow I never really felt engaged in the book.
He also recounts many stories about the so called poker 'legends' who were making the rounds long before poker became fashionable (indeed it was illegal in many states). Although interesting, over the years I have read so many similar accounts of the exploits of these early poker players, despite the 'larger than life' characters involved, they often sound like what they actually were: a bunch of degenerate gamblers betting higher and higher amounts of money (that some of them didn't even have!) on poker and other exploits outside the world of poker, mainly golf and sports betting.
That is not to say it isn't well written, it is well written and it's good to read some of the yarns from the authors first hand experience, but despite that, it just seemed a bit old hat to me.
Mike Sexton, as commentator on the World Poker Tour was well known to me and I loved his commentary and relationship with co-commentator Vince Van Patten. He truly was an ambassador to poker and together with his involvement with the rise of online poker, he certainly left his legacy on the game and is (in my opinion) very deserving of his place in the Poker Hall of Fame.
Had I read this book 'back in the day' I'm sure I would have been totally absorbed in it and given it a five star rating but reading it now, it seems a bit tired and did not have any real impact on me.
I enjoyed reading about his interesting life, the decisions he made and the consequences of those decisions but somehow I never really felt engaged in the book.
He also recounts many stories about the so called poker 'legends' who were making the rounds long before poker became fashionable (indeed it was illegal in many states). Although interesting, over the years I have read so many similar accounts of the exploits of these early poker players, despite the 'larger than life' characters involved, they often sound like what they actually were: a bunch of degenerate gamblers betting higher and higher amounts of money (that some of them didn't even have!) on poker and other exploits outside the world of poker, mainly golf and sports betting.
That is not to say it isn't well written, it is well written and it's good to read some of the yarns from the authors first hand experience, but despite that, it just seemed a bit old hat to me.
June 23, 2026
The majority of this book was really interesting, giving all sorts of insights into the lives of high-stakes gamblers. A portion of it needed an editor, to tell Mike, "You don't need to tell EVERY story you think is interesting."
I take away three major lessons from this book:
1) Inveterate gamblers eventually lose it all. Mike admits at the end of the book that his gambling likely cost him three marriages, but that wasn't enough to stop him, and he hopes that this book might help others do so. This is unlikely, however. Books like Liar's Poker have not served as cautionary tales but as inducements for others to come try their luck as well.
2) Many of the poker players Mike writes about end up making their entire lives about this game. Some can leverage it for good, for charity, but to look back at a life that was built entirely around playing cards...I don't understand how that can justify the gift of a life...the wreckage of many marriages and promising situations lost to the evils of gambling are catalogued by Mike during this read.
3) The title is true: life is a gamble...you should be willing to risk things in life to gain something greater. The subtitle might have been: "But find a balance." If life is only a gamble, then there's only losses at the end that will outweigh the gains.
I've always wanted to know more about Mike as someone who enjoys watching poker commentary on YT. He was a legend in his time. Will his "cautionary tale" make a difference? One can only hope.
I take away three major lessons from this book:
1) Inveterate gamblers eventually lose it all. Mike admits at the end of the book that his gambling likely cost him three marriages, but that wasn't enough to stop him, and he hopes that this book might help others do so. This is unlikely, however. Books like Liar's Poker have not served as cautionary tales but as inducements for others to come try their luck as well.
2) Many of the poker players Mike writes about end up making their entire lives about this game. Some can leverage it for good, for charity, but to look back at a life that was built entirely around playing cards...I don't understand how that can justify the gift of a life...the wreckage of many marriages and promising situations lost to the evils of gambling are catalogued by Mike during this read.
3) The title is true: life is a gamble...you should be willing to risk things in life to gain something greater. The subtitle might have been: "But find a balance." If life is only a gamble, then there's only losses at the end that will outweigh the gains.
I've always wanted to know more about Mike as someone who enjoys watching poker commentary on YT. He was a legend in his time. Will his "cautionary tale" make a difference? One can only hope.
September 18, 2020
One of the BEST Biographies of poker players. He played a very important role in the "Poker Boom" of 2003 with the launching of the online site PartyPoker and the World Poker Tour circuit that was on prime time in TV.
In 21 chapters you can read about his interesting life and how he became a professional poker player. He was a witness of the first years of the WSOP and he played in the events from 1991 to 2019, winning a bracelet and the "Tournament Of Champions" for $1 million, donating half to charity.
He was a friend of many poker legends like Doyle Brunson, Stu Ungar, Amarillo Slim, Chip Reese, Billy Baxter, Phil Ivey, Puggy Pearson, Jack Strauss and many more. He tells great gambling stories will all of them.
Rest In Peace Mike Sexton, Poker will miss you.
In 21 chapters you can read about his interesting life and how he became a professional poker player. He was a witness of the first years of the WSOP and he played in the events from 1991 to 2019, winning a bracelet and the "Tournament Of Champions" for $1 million, donating half to charity.
He was a friend of many poker legends like Doyle Brunson, Stu Ungar, Amarillo Slim, Chip Reese, Billy Baxter, Phil Ivey, Puggy Pearson, Jack Strauss and many more. He tells great gambling stories will all of them.
Rest In Peace Mike Sexton, Poker will miss you.
July 26, 2026
This book does not claim to be all about poker however it does say "Mike Sexton Poker Ambassador" on the front cover. It includes a significant percentage of other subjects in particular gambling stories about golf. There are no poker hands talked about played by Mike Sexton himself or poker hands he has observed as a commentator and I believe this was a missed opportunity. The section about partypoker was interesting and could have been longer. More details about his experience of winning poker tournaments could have been included.
December 18, 2020
It's been bugging me for years - commenting vs. commentating. Life's a Gamble finally made me research and accept commentating. Beyond that, this memoir gives insight into the action junkies, the first 25 years of WSOPs and the colorful characters that made it possible (all poker hall of fame inductees). Think Brunson, Reese, Ungar, Baldwin, etc. I had no idea the amount of money changing hands on the golf course.
April 2, 2018
If reading stories about degen gamblers doesn't gross out your nitty bankroll management sensibilities, then this book is a hoot for poker players and golfing gamblers alike. Mike is known for having tons of stories and here you get them back to back to back. I consumed them all in about 24 hours which I guess is as good an indicator of their quality than anything else I could say.
July 18, 2021
This was an entertaining book filled with a ton of great poker stories. The weakness of this book is either Mr Sextons life had none or very few struggles or he chooses to leave these out. He occasionally hints at a problem with sports betting but never gets into the details. Most people have struggles in life and a biography without them feels like its missing something.
June 14, 2023
It was just as Vince Van Patten wrote in the Foreword of this book: “fun to read and extremely entertaining. Once you start the book, it’s hard to put down.”
I couldn’t have laughed harder while reading it, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and highly recommend it to anyone, who, like me, plays poker and loves the game.
I couldn’t have laughed harder while reading it, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and highly recommend it to anyone, who, like me, plays poker and loves the game.
May 1, 2018
Gr8 book. I enjoyed reading it and some of the stories taught me more about how the legends viewed and perceived poker and gambling. I’m unfamiliar with golf so I skimmed thru the golf stories. It was a good read and anyone serious about poker, or jus gambling and golf should read this book. You might not be able to put it down once you start reading it!
June 12, 2021
Great Book. My only qualm is there was a lot about golf in it and I know nothing about golf. But that's not the authors fault and if anything, I learned a lot of interesting stuff about a sport I never really bothered to learn about. I really recommend this book.
September 23, 2018
First 25% about Mike's childhood was a little dry but after that it was very interesting. Many great stories about the best poker players of all time.
September 11, 2020
Decent stories. Interesting to hear about the early days of the WPT & PartyPoker.
June 18, 2022
This book was really cool to read so much enjoyable hearing crazy story of people gambling crazy amount of money like it was nothing. Narrated and wrote in a very entertaining way
December 6, 2022
Great read about business and poker, Mike's life is a riveting tale of being a star gymnast to poker to running one of the worlds biggest poker sites and selling his equity before it went huge!
December 20, 2022
Great book..
July 6, 2016
Mike Sexton's new memoir, Life's a Gamble, officially went on sale July 7, but it's been available at the World Series of Poker for a couple of weeks. Casino City was lucky to receive a review copy shortly before the Independence Day long weekend, which meant I was able to indulge in a very American holiday of reading poker and golf stories in between naps in the sun while drinking beer and being sat on by dogs.
Read the rest of the review at Casino City.
Read the rest of the review at Casino City.
July 12, 2016
Mike is on of the great story tellers and this book is a collage of stories. Some you have heard him tell before but there is ton of new material i did not know. Great book if you like gambling stories.
July 27, 2016
Mike Sexton reads the audio-book and adds a special energy to a lifetime of stories. His early life had a lot of surprises and his experiences cross a list of the who's who is poker. I enjoyed the book. Recommended for any poker fan.
July 30, 2016
Enjoyable Stories & Entertaining Book Without Being Well-Written! YouTube Stories
Per Gambling On Wi-Fi Is Better Choice!
Per Gambling On Wi-Fi Is Better Choice!
November 21, 2016
Super interesting back stories about the gambling world from someone who was part of it all.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews