Greg Raymer


When Chris Moneymaker won the World Series of Poker in 2003 everyone complained that he got lucky and really wasn’t that great. Since then, Moneymaker hasn’t done much in the poker world - he’s lucky his last name is so easy to remember. Greg Rayer won the WSOP in 2004 and people once again wondered if someone had “gotten lucky” and snuck past the best players in the world. Answer: No.

Greg Raymer is an excellent poker player. He has been playing since he was in college and grinded it out at the lower limits for years before taking a shot at the WSOP Main Event. Sure he’s an amateur, but in poker there are amateurs just as talented as professionals - it’s very different from other professional competitions.

The reason I can confidently say that Raymer is more than a fluke is because of his finishes in poker tournaments since the 2004 WSOP Main Event. He was on ESPN last night with the chip lead at the final table. He only lost after running into a few monsters, but he still played well. He finished very deep in the 2005 WSOP Main Event - inside the top 30. Battling through 2500 players and then battling through 5000 players the next year is an amazing feat, for any player at any level.

What’s even better is that Raymer is humble. He admits he isn’t as experienced or talented as Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Johnny Chan, or others with lots of bracelets. He is just a regular guy who happens to know a lot about poker and play it well.

I would expect to see Raymer among the multiple bracelet winners in the next few years, in fact, I hope we see him there.

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