Poker Hall of Fame member and World Poker Tour broadcaster Mike Sexton was recently interviewed in New Jersey, and he had two things on his mind:
1) The decision to move the WPT Championship to the Borgata.
2) Adding a shot clock to poker tournaments.
WPT Championship Moves to the Borgata – Mike Sexton Thrilled
The latter has been on his mind for months, but we’ll get to that in a minute. As for moving the WPT Championship to the Borgata, Sexton thinks that this was an excellent decision. “I was a fan of changing the WPT Championship, moving it to the East Coast because the past couple of years, the majority of players and big-time tournaments have been on the East Coast, and they have the largest turnouts,” Sexton told Bluff Magazine.
“Plus online poker is now legalized in New Jersey, meaning you can get some satellite qualifiers from online for a cheap amount of money,” he added. “So really I thought it was a really good move, and I think the Borgata is a phenomenal property and we’ll see how it all comes out. And as you see, partypoker has become a sponsor of the event as well, certainly that is good for the event.”
Mike Sexton Still Pro Shot Clock
Later on, the interview switched to what Sexton has been preaching about for quite some time – the shot clock. “I think it would be good for the game, I think everybody would enjoy it more. You could have more hands, it would speed up the process and people would enjoy the game more,” said Sexton. “The slower the game goes, the more bored people are, the more angry they become and the more frustrating it is to play.”
Not surprisingly, Sexton also brought up the survey that the WPT put out at the L.A. Poker Classic, which asked if players were in favor of a 30-second shot clock. As he cites, 80% of the voters are in favor of the clock. “That tells you that the majority of players are indeed tired of the guys that play slow that ruin the game for everybody,” Sexton commented. “I’ve never understood why really good players wouldn’t be in favor of a shot clock because the more hands you get out, it can only be better for them. And amateurs want to play more hands as well.”
He went on to say that the 30-second clock is only a suggestion with two “1-minute time buttons” for extra time. Sexton stressed that this isn’t set in stone and there could be a 40-second clock or three time buttons, for example.
Now, some players like to argue that there already is a working system in place, where players can call the clock on each other. However, Sexton argues that no player should be put in the position where it’s their responsibility to possibly anger an opponent by calling the clock.
Prominent players like Marvin Rettenmaier have pointed out that many amateurs might be turned off by a shot clock. But with Sexton having such a powerful voice in the WPT, there’s a strong chance that the shot clock will be implemented within the next WPT season or two.