Greg Raymer
With those fabled eerie, goggle-eyed hologram glasses, Greg “Fossilman” Raymer put enough players on tilt to win his way to the 2004 World Series of Poker main even title. Following in the footsteps of his predecessor of just the year prior, Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer won his way into the main event via a satellite tournament hosted by the very same PokerStars.com.
A former Patent Attorney, with a Bachelor’s in Chemistry and a Master’s in Biochemistry, Greg Raymer got his start in high stakes poker after coming to Connecticut in 1999 and playing regularly at Foxwoods Resort Casino. Before then, his involvement with cards was limited to blackjack, which he played as a card counter to earn extra money while in college. But while searching for a blackjack game in Chicago, where he had his first job, he found instead a poker game, and was instantly hooked.
Raymer’s 2004 WSOP victory was not his first World Series of Poker in the money finish. That was back in 2001, in the $1500 Omaha Hi Lo Split 8 or Better game that Chris “Jesus” Ferguson later won. But even before that, in 2000, he made a splash on the pro poker scene finishing 3rd place, and pocketing $49,000, at the World Poker Finals. At the 2002 World Series of Poker he came in 8th out of 631.
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He earned his 2004 WSOP No Limit Texas Hold’Em main event bracelet, and the grand prize of $5 million, after the field whittled down from 2,576 players to just he and fellow PokerStars satellite winner David Williams. The final hand was Raymer’s pocket 8’s versus Williams’ A4. The board came up 4-2-5-2-2, which meant both players had a full house, but Fossilman’s was higher. He moved all-in and Williams called. The rest in poker history.
In 2005, Greg Raymer won about $305,000 finishing 25th out of 5,619 competitors in that year’s main event. Also that year, he came in 3rd at the British Poker Open in London, England, the United Kingdom’s largest live poker tournament, and flew home $20,000 richer.
While not playing at major land-based tournaments, Fossilman boned up on his game playing a ton of online games at PokerStar.net, most notably shorthanded and heads-up games. In recent PokerStars news, Greg Raymer finished 2nd place in their March 2006 $1 million guaranteed tournament, beating out more than 1,500 competitors and garnering more than $180 grand for his efforts. Since his 2004 victory, he is now one of the official spokespeople for PokerStars.
Greg Raymer’s nicknamed “Fossilman” comes from his passion for collecting fossils. In his early days he’d sell fossils to other players in order to bolster his bankroll. And he always uses a fossil as his card protector.
Protective of his winnings – to put it mildly – Greg Raymer once held off armed robbers attempting to mug him as he was returning from a cash game to his hotel room until the police showed up. He has accumulated a career earnings, as of 2006, of over $5.7 million.
And in other, non-poker-related, Greg Raymer news, the 40-year old Fossilman, husband of 10 years to wife, Cheryl, and father of 8 years to daughter, Sophie, announced in December of 2006 that he was considering throwing his hat into the ring for U.S. Vice President in 2008 under the Libertarian Party. Can you not wait to see those holographic goggle-eyes peering out from the Oval Office? If he’s as great in politics as he is at cards, Greg Raymer could be the nation’s next best bet.
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