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A master hand dealing with the hand dealt him
Published: 2005-07-06
 A master hand dealing with the hand dealt him
Poker: Greg Raymer has made his mark at the poker table, but away from it is where he made his most calculated move.
By Bill Ordine
Sun Staff
Originally published July 6, 2005
For millions of TV viewers who have watched the countless reruns of last year's World Series of Poker main event, winner Greg Raymer is frozen in time wearing his trademark novelty sunglasses and gleefully holding aloft a fistful of bundled cash - part of a $5 million payday.
Not surprisingly, as a result of that improbable victory, the life of the unassuming 40-year-old Connecticut patent attorney changed. But it also was nearly ended.
One night in December, after playing poker at the ritzy Bellagio in Las Vegas and looking forward to competing in a televised tournament the next day, Raymer found himself staring down a gun barrel as two holdup men demanded his money. He had $150,000 in casino chips on him.
"The gun was really big, so big that I thought it was fake," Raymer said as he headed to this year's World Series in Las Vegas, where the marquee event starts tomorrow. "We're talking Dirty Harry-style; it was that big."
The bandits accosted him as he was about to enter his hotel room at the Bellagio, but the 300-pound Raymer managed to push everyone back into the hallway and started yelling for help.
That's when the gun came out and Raymer knew his assailants wanted him inside his hotel room - the worst possible turn of events, the poker champ figured. The robbers could have him tied up, he could have gotten a good look at their faces, and they might've decided they would have to kill him.
So instead of capitulating, he fought back, yelling, flailing, knocking the bad guys around and chasing them off. Caught on casino surveillance cameras, the two eventually were arrested in California and now await legal proceedings in Las Vegas.
The choice to resist, Raymer said, was similar to deciding whether to fold, call or raise in a high-stakes poker game.
"Regardless of whether they were bluffing or were willing to shoot me," he said, "I was more likely to live if I yell and fight than if I give up and go into the room."
That substantial scare aside, the past year has been heady stuff for Raymer, including a string of appearances around the world representing PokerStars.com, the Internet card room where he won his seat in the No-limit Texas Hold'em World Championship last year.
Nicknamed "Fossilman" because of his hobby of collecting and selling rocks, Raymer finished third in the British Poker Open, winning about $50,000, and placed 33rd in the World Poker Tour Championship at the Bellagio, where he pocketed more than $47,000.
At last year's World Series, he won the main event by crushing the opposition with solid play and a run of exceptionally good fortune. Whenever a hand could have gone either way, the cards always seemed to fall in Raymer's favor.
"Greg has a lot of heart," said Mike Sexton, the color analyst on televised World Poker Tour events and an expert player. "He's not afraid to move his chips around, meaning he's an aggressive bettor.
"He's fearless. If you raise him, Greg could quite easily come over the top," Sexton added referring to a re-raise, "and not always with terrific cards. ... And unlike some other players, he doesn't have a big ego. He's very down-to-earth."
Raymer begins the defense of his World Series title having already made a final table in one preliminary event last month - a no-limit Texas Hold 'em tournament with a $1,500 buy-in and more than 2,000 entrants - in which he placed sixth and won $119,000. The World Series of Poker is actually a collection of 45 tournaments of various styles and buy-ins that began June 2. The main event is expected to draw more than 6,000 players and is scheduled to run until about July 16.
Raymer has been at the 2005 World Series from opening day, a contrast from last year when, as a lawyer for Pfizer, he squeezed in a trip to Vegas during vacation.
He turned in his resignation less than a week after winning the poker championship to work for PokerStars.com, a role that has taken him to London; Paris; Dublin, Ireland; Oslo, Norway; Copenhagen, Denmark; Stockholm, Sweden; and Monte Carlo, Monaco.
In the United States, he can't order a burger and fries at a fast-food counter without being recognized - a celebrity he takes with equanimity. "It doesn't bother me and it doesn't stroke my ego," he said.
But the married father of an 8-year-old girl said he's tiring of the travel.
His goal, Raymer said, would be to seal his poker stature with a few more World Series of Poker gold bracelets - a coveted trophy given to the winner of any World Series event. Then, he hopes to make more of his livelihood away from the playing table, teaching seminars and marketing poker-related products and books.
It's the same type of analytical thinking that may have saved his life in the Bellagio hallway.
"One of the main mental traits I've noticed about all great poker players is speed of thought," Raymer said. "In that case, I went through all the factors very quickly and made my decision what to do - and I was lucky. Just like in the World Series."
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These two 'old lions' still can roar
Published: 2005-07-08
 These two 'old lions' still can roar
RIGHT NOW, I'm at the center of the poker universe. With 35 or so World Series of Poker tournaments being played out over 6 weeks (June 3 to July 15) at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas, practically all the world's great players are here, trying to win bracelets.
There also are plenty of wannabes here, too - a wonderful thing. Some, like 2004 WSOP champion Greg Raymer, who picked up $5 million, will become rich and famous; others will find the road to poker riches too hard to handle.
My longtime pals, T.J. Cloutier and John "Bono" Bonetti, a couple of "old lions," are here and showing the "young guns" a trick or two. A few days after Bono's 77th birthday, he made the final table of the $5,000 buy-in no-limit Hold 'Em, along with 65-year-old Cloutier. (Both lions will be at my fantasy camp in
August; have a look at CampHellmuth.com.)
When Cloutie, Bono and unknown Steven Zoine made it to the final three at that Table H, the game was on! First prize was $650,000, second was $350,000 and third was $175,000. Also hanging in the balance were
ESPN coverage and poker history - Bono hoped to become the oldest WSOP bracelet-winner
ever, and Cloutier was trying to win this one and move past me into second place on the all-time money list.
After about an hour of sparring, with the blinds now at $6,000 to $12,000, and a $2,000 ante, it happened in a flash. Cloutier opened for $30,000 with Q-Q.
Bono quickly made it $106,000 to go with A-K, Cloutier just as quickly reraised all-in, and Bono immediately called. The hand played out at hyperspeed, driven by two guys who have been around the block a few times. It's natural for both to move all-in here (with these hands, especially with three players remaining), but they sure didn't waste any time about it!
In poker, we call Q-Q vs. A-K the "Classic Hand," and many tournaments have been won or lost under this scenario. It happens that the queens are about
a 13-to-10 favorite preflop to win the pot in such a hand, but you might as well flip a coin. Bono was all-in, technically, but Cloutier was effectively all-in as well. One of them would have about
$1 million in chips, a good chance to win against a relative unknown, and a shot at a record. The other would finish third, but with $175,000 for his efforts. And no matter what, Zoine would finish the day happy as a clam.
The flop came down 4s-2s-2c, and now Cloutier was about a 3-to-1 favorite to win the pot. The turn was the Jd, and Bono needed one of six remaining cards - three aces and three kings - to win. (He was now slightly more than a 6-to-1 underdog, 37 cards to six cards.) When the 10c fell on the river, Cloutier scooped the million-dollar pot. This left him roughly even in chips against Zoine, and about 45 minutes later, T.J. claimed his sixth WSOP bracelet.
Cloutier also picked up his 37th WSOP final table (No. 1, all-time; Men "The Master" Nguyen and I have more than 30 each), his 46th "cash" (fourth place; I'm No. 1, with 48), second place on the WSOP all-time money list with $3.7 million, and another
occasion for a loud roar from an "old lion," to be witnessed by the world on ESPN in August.
Quiz
The "Classic Hand" in no-limit Hold 'Em is: a) Pocket pair over pocket pair; b) A-A vs. K-K; c) A-K vs. Q-Q; d) A-K vs. a pocket pair.
Answer: C.
Phil Hellmuth is a nine-time World Series of Poker champion and the author of "Play Poker Like the Pros" and "Bad Beats and Lucky Draws."
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