Interview with Greg Raymer, WSOP champion

Bettingchoice.co.uk: It’s an honour to be interviewing the FossilMan himself, Greg Raymer. Thank you for taking the time out of your schedule of flying around the world to compete, representing the best interests of poker players across the World., and contemplating what could be the biggest race of your life, in order to answer our questions!

Greg Raymer:   No problem.

BettingChoice: Not that you need much of an introduction, but just in case some of our readers are brand spanking new to the world of poker, here is a very brief run down: You majored in Chemistry, graduated from Law School, went to work as a Patent Attorney, developed your poker skills in the casino, drummed up backing for tourney play by selling shares of yourself online, placed well in the WSOP and then went on to win it in 2004. Since then you’ve gone deep in the WSOP, literally fought for your life against armed gunmen, joined forces with the Poker Players Alliance, and have considered running for the Vice President spot under the Libertarian party…good so far?

GR: Wow, you actually make me sound interesting.

BC: Jumping right into the politics- have you always considered a life of political service, or has the UIGEA and related issues pushed you into it?

GR: I never seriously considered politics in the past, but all of the mess we are having in the poker world lately, most of which can be traced to a silly administration, has me thinking about it more and more.  And I have voted Libertarian for many years now, because their ideals are so much more like my own than either of our present big two parties.  I understand that it is highly unlikely that anybody running for President or VP on the Libertarian ticket will be elected to that office, but I am hopeful that I can help the Libertarian Party get more attention and more votes, and that this will lead us to becoming a major party a few elections down the road.

BC: With Hilary Clinton and Barask Obama tossing their respective hats into the ring, this next presidential race already promises to be interesting- are you looking forward to getting in there and mixing it up, or fearing  the media circus that goes along with the race for office?

GR: I am not looking to “mix it up” per se, but will be happy to discuss the ideals of the Libertarian Party with reporters, and to try and bring more national attention to the party.  I truly believe that if the Libertarians were the party in power, that we would all be better off in this country.  As for the media circus, no problems.  Only if somebody starts digging up fake dirt will I be upset with them.  My past is too boring for them to dig up any real dirt.

BC: How much does poker translate into a role in politics?

GR: It probably doesn’t translate at all.  I mean, while a good poker player has to read his opponents, such skills really aren’t that useful in running for office.  Once you’re in office, and doing some of those backroom negotiations, then your poker skills could often come in handy.  But it’s not like you can judge the electorate, or how to word your speech, with your poker skills.

Where poker does come in handy is that it teaches you to judge the risk and reward of each decision, and make the decision with the best ratio, and damn the actual results.  Results are short-term thinking, and poker players need long-term vision.  I think that this willingness to overlook short-term results would make a poker player into a great politician, as we would be making decisions that produce the best long-term results.  The only question would be if we would lose the re-election due to any bad short-term results.

BC: I can see you now in your infamous hologram glasses during a town hall debate- that would certainly put your opponent on edge!

GR: I doubt I would wear them more than momentarily, because it might put the audience on edge as well.

BC: There is much about your story and background and experiences in the world of poker that just seem fantastic. Creating a business around your poker playing when you sold shares of your winnings, having to fight off those gunmen who where after your winnings, your role in the PPA, the potential Veep race – does any of it seem the least bit surreal?

GR: When you bunch together several years in one sentence, then yes, it sounds surreal.  But when you live all of it one day at a time, it is all quite normal.  I really am a pretty normal and boring guy.  Just ask my wife, lol.

BC: Based on your success in poker and your hard work as an advocate, I would say you are highly qualified to make a prediction for our readers; the future of poker- healthy? Sickly? Doomed?

GR: It is impossible to predict the future of poker right now.  In the long term, all will be fine, but we might be about to hit some rough bumps in the road.  The problem is that those bumps, if we hit them, are going to be put there by a bunch of morons who think that their personal morals should be enforced against the world.  A lot of people cannot seem to grasp the difference between morals and intolerance.  They believe that if they see something as bad, that is must be bad, and they have a duty to stop us from participating.  However, what they fail to see is that I might see something as bad that they consider good, and that if I acted like them when I was in power, they would lose what they see as a right.  In other words, they are incapable of putting on the other shoe, and seeing the world from somebody else’s point of view.  And that is intolerance.

Hopefully, the right people will get into power, or those in power will wise up.  However, having said all that, poker will be fine in the long run, the only question is how much grief will we have to endure in the next year or three.

BC: Neteller’s retreat from online poker players in America- a death blow to the industry, or just a flesh wound?

GR: In the long run, it is nothing but a death blow to Neteller stock-holders.  Somebody else will fill the gap, and as it is there are still many payment options for online poker players still available.  These companies were not as big as Neteller, but now one or more of them will be.  In my opinion, just like Party Poker and other companies who quit the U.S. market, Neteller jumped the gun, and shot itself in the foot.  These companies were too timid to fight for their rights, and as such they deserve the economic beating they are getting.  I believe that the laws are still on the side of the poker players, and these companies should have stayed in the U.S., and fought for their rights in court and in Congress.  They are cowards for quitting.

BC: What are your predictions for the WSOP this year- bigger fields, bigger prizes, or will the trend reverse because of the heated political atmosphere?

GR: It is hard to say.  We have a lot of stupid reporters out there who keep writing up articles and stating that the UIGEA made online poker illegal.  These statements are 100% wrong.  The UIGEA made it illegal for banks to process transactions with illegal online gambling sites.  However, the law failed to define what exactly is an illegal online gambling site, and merely referred to existing law.  The only relevant Federal law is the Wire Act, and that law only applies to sports betting.  As such, poker-only sites, such as PokerStars.com, are still 100% legal in my personal opinion.

However, because of this bad reporting, many people in the public think online poker is illegal, and many of them will have stopped trying to qualify online for the major events.  And many of them stopped playing online at all.  As such, there may be less money available for players to come to the WSOP, and we may see reduced fields, especially in the Main Event.  Either way, poker at this year’s WSOP is going to still be 10 times bigger than it was just a few years ago.  Do you think that if you had told us in 2000 that the 2007 WSOP was going to have 5,000 players that we would have thought that was weak?

BC: Getting back to poker- you participated in the recent Aussie Millions in Melbourne – how was your game? Does travelling half way around the world have any noticeable effect on how you play?

GR: If I hadn’t had a couple of days to recuperate from the loss of sleep, it would have been a problem.  However, I was fully rested by the time play started for me.  And I drew a great starting table, with relatively weak players in most of the seats.  Of course, as people got knocked out, the table kept getting tougher, but it was still a good table compared to the field as a whole.  And, I thought I played very well.  I made a lot of great calls and laydowns, but the cards were unkind all day.  In fact, I set a personal record for the number of times I was beaten on the river, 18.  I’ve had worse days in the cash games, but in a tournament, you usually go broke well before you reach a number as high as 18 in terms of being ahead and then getting beaten on the river.  Oh well, maybe I can get 18 river cards to go my way in my next big event.

BC: You are one of the “Big Three” over at Poker Stars- along with Moneymaker and Hachem- over all, has the sponsorship with Poker Stars been a help or a hindrance to your poker career, and in what way?

GR: It has never been a hindrance.  Sometimes, they want me to be at an event that I otherwise would not choose to attend, but not often.  I am very happy with the publicity they have generated around my name, and the money they pay me is nice also.

BC: In March 2006 you took 2nd place in the very first quarterly $1,000,000 guaranteed tournament on PokerStars- you won over $180,000 and beat out  a field of over 1500 players to do so. How do you equate this kind of online tournament success to a live event with a similar number of players, such as WSOP event?

GR: Because you can’t see your opponent, and put a strong read on him, it takes more luck to have a great result in a single online tournament than in a single live tournament.  However, you still need to read betting patterns, and situations, to make the smartest plays.  And often, those skills alone will make you a big favourite over the rest of the field.  It is no surprise that we are seeing more and more of the online poker stars do well in the big live events.

BC: Have you heard that Jamie Gold is not going up on the wall of WSOP champions at the Horseshoe? What do you think about the management’s decision to only put champs on the wall from WSOP years that are held at the Horseshoe?

GR: No big deal.  It’s their wall, and their decision.  By the way, Harrahs won’t like you calling it the Horseshoe, as they own that trademark.  The old Horseshoe downtown is now just Binions.  Had to let my lawyer out a little bit.  ;-)

BC: You’ve been spotted in the crowd supporting Joe Hachem a time or two – is it true he sought you out for advice on how to handle the role of WSOP champion?

GR: Since Joe won at like 7am, he was dead that day.  But before he went to sleep, he got ahold of me and set up a lunch the next day.  We talked about the business and emotional components of being the world champ.  I was immediately impressed with his desire to be a great champion for the entire year and into the future.  Joe truly wants to great forever.  He has already proven he has the poker talent, and I know him well enough now that there is no doubt in my mind that he has the heart and desire as well.

BC: Your fascination with fossils is well known- and the inspiration for your nickname- have you ever found any on your own? Are you an archaeology buff as well?

GR: No, every fossil I have was purchased.  I’m too busy, and lazy, to go into the hills and dig them up.  And while I enjoy archaeology, I do little more than read about it.  I’m not much of an outdoorsman, and the only outdoor activity I enjoy is golf.

BC: The lizard eyed, hologram sunglasses – what was the inspiration for wearing them at the table? Is this a long time habit, or something you drummed up for the cameras during the 2004 WSOP?

GR: I played the Main Event for the first time in 2002.  Just prior to the event, I was on vacation with my family at Disneyworld, and ended up spending time in the gift shops, as my wife and daughter always have to stop and shop.  When exiting the Tower of Terror ride, they delayed in the gift shop as usual, and while waiting for them, I found the infamous sunglasses.  When I saw them, I thought I have to buy these and wear them next month, as it would be so funny.  Early on day 1, I got involved in a big pot when I raised an opponent on the flop (we had already raised and reraised preflop).  He started counting his chips, and wasn’t paying attention to me.  I pulled out the glasses, and put them on for the first time.  When he finally looked up and saw me wearing them, he jumped back in his chair, almost falling over backward.  He quickly folded his hand, and I decided that instead of a 1-time gag, that these glasses might have some long-term value.  I found that they made my opponents very uncomfortable, and they didn’t like playing against me.  So, I started wearing them whenever I played a hand in a big tournament.

BC: What do you think of the imitators who started wearing their own versions of your glasses?

GR: It’s a free world, so they can do what they want.  However, it is probably a mistake on their part.  I looked like a dork, but a unique dork, when I first did it.  They probably look like a copycat dork to most of the world.

BC: Okay, now a few questions about poker itself- what advice would you give to the guy or gal just starting out, who wants to become a winning player?

GR: Most importantly, always play within your bankroll.  You never play with money you can’t afford to lose.  Buy some good books, and word hard at improving your game.  Start out online in the play money games, and don’t move to the real money games until you can easily win the play money.  There are hundreds of play money games on PokerStars.  Plus, once you move to real money, you can start with penny games, and move up slowly online.  The smallest games you can typically find in a casino are 2-4 limit, and you can easily lose $100 in a session at that level.  In the penny games at PokerStars, you’ll have to play bad and get unlucky to even lose $10 in a session.  Plus, once you are ready, there are real money games at every level and every type of poker.

BC: How important is it to learn how to read other players, and what is the best way to go about learning it?

GR: There are a couple of helpful books out there, but mostly it is practice.  I always recommend that once you’re at the table a little while, pick the person who is in the most pots, and focus entirely on them.  Look at every mannerism and expression they make while in a hand, and at showdown, compare their cards and the strength of their hand to each item you saw earlier.  Eventually, you will pin down some tells on them.  Once you get good at doing it one person at a time, you will find it easier to keep tabs on en entire table.

BC: How important is it to avoid all in situations? Getting your money in with the best cards is a common piece of advice, but should a player always push all in with cowboys or rockets?

GR: If you are getting the best of it, you should never fold.  While you sometimes should try to keep pots small, even when you feel you’re getting the best of it, if you are confident you are ahead or have the right price, you should never fold just because your opponent is making the pot big.  And, if you get it all in preflop as a big favorite, you definitely did nothing wrong.

BC: Should a new player focus on one game, such as NL Hold’em, or should they try out Omaha and Razz and other games?

GR: It all depends.  If you want to be a full-time pro, you eventually need to learn all the games.  Your job as a pro is to make money, and while the holdem games are usually very good right now (good for you to make money in, that is), this won’t always be true.  And even know, the holdem game isn’t always the best game in the room for you to be in.  But, if the Omaha hi-lo game is better, that won’t matter to you if you are weak at Omaha.  You might need to focus on one game at first when you’re new to poker and learning, but you should open yourself up to playing other games as soon as practicable.  In cash games, I make most of my money playing in the big mixed games, like 300-600 limit betting and a rotation of 3-4 games.  So, I have to be good at things like Omaha, badugi, stud, and triple draw to bring home the most money.

BC: Greg Raymer, it is obvious from your behaviour at the table and behind the podium that you love the game of poker – not just playing it, but all the positive aspects of a life in the game. Poker players couldn’t ask for a better representative to work towards keeping the game going. Thank you very much for your time, and best of luck in all your future races, with cards and otherwise!

GR: Thank you.  I appreciate the opportunity to speak to your readers.

This article appears with permission from holdemback.com