Greg Raymer followed
Chris Moneymaker as the World Series of Poker main event
champion, becoming a second rags-to-riches story in a row. These two
men symbolize the common man angle which keeps drawing more players
to the
WSOP main event every year. Each came to the World Series of
Poker Main Event by winning a satellite tournament at
PokerStars.com.
But the former patent attorney known as "Fossilman"--because he
uses a fossil for a bit of luck as a card protector--did not quite
come out of nowhere like Moneymaker did. Raymer had made a final
table in the 2001 WSOP, as well as finished in the top 100 of the
2002 WSOP final event.
Greg Raymer's Youth
Greg "Fossilman" Raymer was born in Minot, North Dakota in 1964.
His family moved to Lansing, Michigan later that same year. In 1975,
the family moved once again, to Clearwater, Florida. This would
prove a constant pattern for Raymer in his early adult years.
Raymer started gambling in college, playing penny-ante poker with
his fraternity brothers. It wasn't until Raymer went to graduate and
law school at the University of Minnesota that he began taking
gambling seriously. Hoping to win a little extra money to make ends
meet, Raymer began playing blackjack in the Indian casino. He became
a blackjack player and a card-counter, and he was not interested in
poker at the time.
When Raymer's career as a patent attorney took him to Chicago, he
started looking for a casino that would give him a good game of
blackjack. This never materialized. Raymer eventually encountered a
$3-$6 Holdem game, which started his indoctrination into the most
popular card game in the world. Fossilman started reading poker
books and participating in online poker forums.
The Education of a Poker Player
Greg began to master the game when he moved to Stonington,
Connecticut in 1999. He began to play at the nearby Foxwoods Casino,
where he started to make a name for himself. Soon, he was playing in
the $150-$300 games, a far cry from his start in the $3-$6 games.
More importantly for Raymer, he began playing online at
PokerStars. It would be PokerStars that bought Greg's way to the
2004 WSOP.
Greg played in several World Series of Poker events before 2004.
Raymer played at the final table of a 2001 $1,500 High-Lo Split 8
event. He played his way into the top hundred in the 2002 Main
Event, finishing 80th, and stayed around to watch Robert Varkoni win
the tournament that year. Little did he know he would be taking home
the prize just two years later. In his second main event in 2003,
Raymer lost on the first day, but this did not discourage him.
Raymer was ready to pay the $10,000 buy-in for the 2004 World
Series of Poker, but he didn't have to, since he won a $163 World
Series of Poker satellite tournament on PokerStars.com. This gave
Raymer a free pass to the WSOP Main Event. Over the week of poker at
the main event, Raymer began to make his name in the sport.
Fossilman became a fan favorite, in large part due to the goofy
pair of holographic sunglasses sporting lizard eyes. When I first
saw Raymer in those glasses, I started rooting against him. I
figured he thought he was the life of the party or something.
But Raymer soon showed himself to be a gentlemen and a good sport
at the table. I'm sure the glasses drove Raymer's more established
opponents crazy. Anyone who saw him bust out Mike Matusow had to
snicker.
Since his 2004 WSOP win, Raymer has backed up his victory. He
finished 25th in the 2005 main event, and his play won rave reviews
from Greg's fellow pros. One deep run in the Main Event can be
dismissed as luck, but two great showings in the WSOP can't be
considered a fluke.
Greg Raymer has become one of the most respected Hold 'Em players
in the world.
The Reluctant Poker Star
Greg Raymer has not let his win at the 2004 World Series of Poker
main event change him. He plays the World Series every year.
But he does not travel on the World Poker Tour, preferring to
spend time with his wife, Sheryl, and his daughter, Sophie. Raymer,
who did retire from his job as a lawyer, does a lot of his damage
online these days.
You'll probably also be interested in reading about
Chris Moneymaker, the 2003 WSOP of champion, and about 9-time
WSOP bracelet winner
Phil Hellmuth Jr. Another Pokerstars player and recent WSOP
champion you can read about is
Joseph Hachem.
This page was last updated on January 12, 2006.
