PartyPoker icon and World Poker Tour host Mike Sexton has issued a remarkably harsh wakeup call to his fellow poker pros, urging them to think about their responsibilities to the public.

Sexton claims to be "disgusted" with how some of today's poker professionals handle issues like interviews and TV appearances and warns that if future generations of pros do not live up to their responsibility as role models, the industry could suffer in the long run.

"Recently, I've been disappointed and frankly, disgusted, with what I perceive to be a lack of professionalism by some poker pros," Sexton writes on the PartyPoker Blog.

"I feel many have no vision for the future or an understanding of the present. They don't see the big picture - growing our industry and making it a better place to play/or work in and doing what it takes to bring sponsorships into the poker world. They just live in their own little worlds," he adds.

Sexton goes on to mention a few examples of how some pros have lacked professionalism in their conduct and public appearances, pointing to especially TV appearances as important for the industry's survival.

"Because of television, poker popularity exploded and poker rooms began expanding and popping up everywhere. This not only enabled more people to make a living playing poker, but created many more jobs, and not just within poker rooms, but with poker portals, media outlets, new poker magazines, player reps and assistants, etc," Sexton writes.

"Players need to realize that their actions and/or behavior have a ripple down effect on the entire industry. If we lose the TV shows, you’ll see poker become less popular which will cause a wave of cutbacks on jobs within our industry," he adds.

In order to turn around the tides, Sexton proposes a number of things players can do to help in order to "wake up and smell the coffee," as he puts it.

These include professional behavior against media workers and fans, as well as suggestions to "dress nicely" for televised final tables to leave a good impression.

With more than $4.2 million in lifetime cashes, Sexton belongs in the absolute elite of live tournament players, as well as he earned a spot in the prestigious Poker Hall of Fame for his lifetime achievements in 2009.

Read the full blog post at the PartyPoker Blog here.