The Professional & Personal Life of Poker Player Greg Raymer
Greg Raymer was born on June 25, 1964 in Minot, North Dakota. From North Dakota, he and his family relocated to Clearwater, Florida, and from Florida, he and his family moved to Saint Louis, Missouri. He spent his high school years at the Parkway High School and then obtained his bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Missouri-Rolla. In 1992, he also graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School and then eventually worked as a patent lawyer for more than ten years. However, now that he is a professional poker player, Greg Raymer has stopped working as a lawyer.
In 1999, Greg Raymer relocated to Stonington, Connecticut where he started frequenting the Foxwoods Resort Casino in order to play poker. During that time, he was still working for Pfizer as a patent attorney.
Greg Raymer has always been known as the poker professional who always wears a pair of opaque holographic sunglasses at the poker table. But after his success in 2004, he started to be known as the guy who won at the 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event. He qualified for such event through the Web site PokerStars.com, which was exactly how his opponents Chris Moneymaker and David Williams qualified for such event. Aside from the fact that Williams became a runner up to him, Greg Raymer was also ecstatic to know that he was able to beat a total of two thousand five hundred seventy six poker players in a single event. The cash prize that Greg Raymer received was worth US$5,000,000. After the game, Greg Raymer was honest enough to admit that the bluffs he used against his opponents were all successful. And so, this only goes to show that aside from luck, a poker player definitely needs a lot of poker skills in order to emerge triumphant.
Aside from the sunglasses he wears at the poker table, Greg Raymer is also known for collecting fossils. As a matter of fact, he uses some of his fossils as card protectors at the poker table. There was even a time when he would sell fossils to his opponents at the poker table. This is the reason why the poker industry calls him "Fossilman."
Although Greg Raymer is very interested in playing poker his whole life, he has decided to participate in just a few poker tournaments after his WSOP victory. This way, he would be able to spend more quality time with his wife and daughter. He admits that although playing poker allows him to travel a lot, it prevents him from being with his family often.
Greg Raymer's latest achievement as far as live poker tournament is concerned is a money finish in the H. O. R. S. E. World Championship at the 38th Annual World Series of Poker. He was awarded the cash prize of US$103,008. Such event was held on June 24, 2007.