Greg Raymer May Be Leaving PokerStars
On Monday, a Tweet from poker pro Kathy Liebert hinted at changes from PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker site: “I heard that PokerStars was cutting many of their Team Pros’ compensation. Take it or leave it. Greg Raymer left it.” She followed up her rumor by asserting, “I think it’s a bad business decision to cut their pay, but most won’t have a better offer, so they stay.”
Raymer won the 2004 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event over former PokerStars colleague and reigning World Poker Tour Championship winner David Williams, cashing for $5 million. He added to his legacy by popularizing his “Fossilman” sunglasses and being actively involved with the Poker Players Alliance, the poker industry’s primary lobbying voice. He also finished third in the $40,000 No Limit Hold’em event during the 2009 WSOP for $775,000.
Over on TwoPlusTwo, a conversation between Raymer and PokerStars pro Pat Pezzin that occurred at a PokerStars table appeared. In it, Pezzin asked the 2004 Main Event champ, “Why don’t you have red star by your name?” Raymer responded, “Long story, call me if you’d like.” Raymer’s likeness no longer appears on PokerStars’ website and he would be the second former Main Event champ to leave the room in the last two years after Peter Eastgate abruptly retired last July.
TwoPlusTwo posters quickly weighed in on Raymer’s apparent separation from PokerStars. One member wondered whether “Fossilman” would pop up at another online poker site in the future: “Wow that’s pretty surprising. Raymer is probably one of their top 5 pros and probably the best spoken of all of them. Should be interesting to see if someone else sweeps in to grab him.” Another member added, “Out of the first 5 champions of the boom era, not only is Greg clearly the best, he’s the only one you could accurately call a real poker player. He wasn’t world class and he wasn’t a full-time pro, but he was definitely a poker player.”
Longtime online poker player Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy, who is a former sponsored pro of Ultimate Bet, gave his two cents: “I think it is pretty simple. I don’t think it is anything personal against Greg, as he has been a very good ambassador. PokerStars has already saturated the USA and they feel there are better places to put their marketing $ to work.” A request for comment from Raymer sent by Poker News Daily was not returned at press time. PokerStars has also not commented on the news.
Team PokerStars Pro has seen 2010 WSOP Main Event champion Jonathan Duhamel and high-stakes online poker pro Viktor “Isildur1” Blom join its ranks in recent months. Last November during the WSOP Main Event November Nine weekend in Las Vegas, PokerStars announced the signings Williams and North American Poker Tour Mohegan Sun Main Event champ Vanessa Selbst.
Four former Main Event winners – Tom McEvoy (1983), Chris Moneymaker (2003), Joe Hachem (2005), and Joe Cada (2009) – remain on PokerStars’ roster. Other members of its team include Jason Mercier, Barry Greenstein, Dennis Phillips, and Daniel Negreanu.
Regardless of the reason for Raymer’s departure, one TwoPlusTwo member perhaps summed up the sentiments of the online poker community the best: “A great player and ambassador for the game. I can’t remember another playing doing as many interviews and stuff during the year he was champion. Pokerstars’ loss.”
Related Poker News:
- Greg Raymer on the WSOP-C St. Louis, Fossilman Training, and Leaving PokerStars
- 2009 WSOP Special Guest Blog: Greg Raymer on Early Success, Preparing for the Deuce-to-Seven World Championship
- The Nightly Turbo: Raymer Testifies in Court, Gold Medalist Joins PokerStars, & More
- Greg Raymer featured in Gambling.com magazine
- Poker Champ and Vice-Presidential Candidate?: An Interview with Greg Raymer
- Daniel Negreanu and Greg Raymer Have ‘Online Feud’ Over WPT Lawsuit
- PokerStars.net EPT Warsaw, Day 1b: Pedersen, Schulze Top Day
- Greg “Fossilman” Raymer Interview with Bernard Lee – Part 1 of 2
- The Nightly Turbo: Greg Raymer Sells NBC Heads-Up Shares on ChipMeUp, Davidi Kitai Wins WPT Celebrity Invitational, and More
- World Series of Poker Champion Greg Raymer Interview on Holdemback.com
- Chris Ferguson and Greg Raymer join PPA board
- Greg “Fossilman” Raymer Interview with Bernard Lee – Part 2 of 2
Poker glossary:
- FACE CARD - A jack, queen or king (a card with a face on it, not joker).
- FLOP GAME - Any of a number of poker games where a flop is dealt.
- HOOK - A Jack. So named because the "J" resembles a hook.
- MIDDLE POSITION - Betting positions approximately halfway around the table from the first player to act.
- ALL-IN - To have all of one's chips in the pot. A player who is all-in cannot be forced out of the pot by more betting, but is only eligible to win that portion of the pot he has contributed to. Generally, a SIDE POT is created each time a player is all-in.
- LITTLE SLICK - In Hold'em, hole cards of A-2, suited or not.
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