April 13 2011, Chad Holloway

After his win in the 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event, and near-successful title defense in 2005, Greg Raymer instantly became one of the most recognizable faces in the poker world. Known as “Fossilman” for his signature card protectors, Raymer has made headlines as of late after parting ways with long-time sponsor PokerStars and subsequently sporting a Full Tilt Poker patch at this year’s NBC National Heads-Up Championship.

Raymer was recently at the WSOP Circuit at Harrah’s St. Louis to play in the Main Event and host one of his new Fossilman Poker Training courses. The addition of a former world champion was a treat for all and Raymer, ever the ambassador, was more than happy to sign autographs, answer questions, and socialize with the fans. PokerNews caught up with Raymer during the Main Event* to discuss his visit to St. Louis, the new training course, and, of course, his sponsorship status.

*Raymer went on to make a deep run into Day 2 but ultimately fell short of the money.

How long have you been teaching the Fossilman Poker Training courses?

The ones that are under the brand name Fossilman Poker Training, you were in the second one ever. I did one at home in Raleigh, kind of tested it out, it was the beta you might say. When I got a call from Paul [Harris] and Dennis [Phillips], they were saying ‘Hey, if we ask Harrah’s St. Louis to fly you in for their Circuit event, would you come play?’ I said yeah but ask them to buy some seats [in the training course] and I’ll teach a seminar too. Then they’ll have these seats that they can give away in super satellites or one-table satellites toward a promotional giveaway or whatever, and Harrah’s immediately said yes, they’d love to do that, so they bought some seats and I sold some others on my FossilmanPokerTraining.com website.

You used to teach for the WSOP Academy. Is that something you still do or does Fossilman Poker Training conflict with that?

The WSOP Academy is kind of going through a reorganization you might say, but I expect everything there to be great and expect to teach those seminars going forward. It’s sort of a different demographic that we’re looking at. I’ve got a one-day camp for $300 and they’re teaching a two-day camp with a tournament the first night, and they tend to go more toward big destinations like Vegas for their academies. I intend to do most of these in locations where the they’re probably not going to try to run their WSOP Academy.

You seem to have a strong connection to St. Louis. Are you from here?

High school. I moved around a lot and have lived in like 12 places in my life, so it was high school here and other parts of my life all over the country.

We saw some supporters of yours on the rail earlier. Were those your parents?

Yes, my parents live in Kansas City right now, as does my brother and his wife and four kids. So when my parents had finally retired and jobs no longer had anything to do with where they lived, they kind of had to pick. At the time, I was in Connecticut and my brother was in Kansas City. I have one of their grandchildren, he has four of their grandchildren, and my dad isn’t an East Coast guy, so he wanted to go to Kansas City.

Do either of your parents play poker?

My dad plays [poker] online in the play money games and that’s it. He refuses to play for cash. I’m like ‘let me give you ten dollars and you just play ten-cent tournaments or something,’ and he’s like, ‘No, no no. I won’t do that. I don’t actually want to lose money.’

What is the story behind your split with Pokerstars? Was it an amicable split?

Well, it was amicable, but we just failed to agree on a contract. They decided when my last contract expired, and when we were negotiating my contract, they were offering less money. They seemed to be focused right now on their members of Team Pro mostly being non-American players and mostly very young players. So they want twenty-somethings, preferably early twenty-somethings, and people who are from countries where they feel they have a current opportunity to gain lots of new customers. They’re losing customers in the American market right now, I think everyone is, so they’re just not that interested in American pros.

You’re known as one of the best ambassadors of the game and most people in the industry agree that your representation is highly sought after. We saw you wearing the Full Tilt patch at the NBC National Heads-Up Championship. Is there a possible future there or do you have any other sponsorship opportunities before you?

If Full Tilt wanted to open a dialogue and make me an offer, and it was a good offer, I would probably say yes. They’re a good company also, but really, when it comes to the American market, it’s pretty much PokerStars and Full Tilt. The other companies are way, way down in market share compared to those two, so I really don’t expect anything to happen online immediately, not because I would say no, or that I’m not interested or anything like that, I still like playing online poker, I’m just not doing it at the moment.

If the American market ever opens up and the World Series of Poker launched an online poker room endeavor, do you feel that would be a good fit for you?

Oh yeah, it’d probably be a good fit for any Main Event Champion.

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April 12 2011, Rich Ryan

Last week, reigning World Series of Poker Main Event champion Jonathan Duhamel got off to a fast start in the second session of this season’s High Stakes Poker. He finished the episode with over $100,000 in profits after turning the nuts against Bill Perkins, and rivering trips against Julian Movsesian. During this week’s episode, Duhamel cooled down a bit, Haralabos Voulgaris used the force to win a massive pot, and Perkins felt very charitable.

SPOILER ALERT: If you are waiting to watch the HSP episode, read no further.

Laak Insta-Folds Aces: Bill Perkins limped in with , Phil Laak woke up with two black aces and raised to $4,200, and Jonathan Duhamel looked down at two black queens in the small blind and called. Perkins also came along, and the flop came down . Duhamel led for $7,000, Perkins raised to $27,000, and Laak instantly folded his pair of aces. Duhamel tanked for a bit before following suit, and Perkins shipped the pot with just six-high.

Drama > Action and Comedy: “Silent” Mike Baxter opened to $2,300 with , Julian Movsesian called with , and Bill Perkins reraised to $11,300 with on the button. The action folded back to Baxter who got out of the way, but Movsesian called. The flop fell – bingo! – and Movsesian checked. Perkins fired $12,000, Movsesian moved all in for $77,000, and Perkins went into the tank.

“First donkey call of the night?” he asked himself.

“Want a chicken tender?” Movsesian offered.

“I don’t eat meat,” Perkins returned.

There was a beat.

“Action or comedy?” Perkins asked.

“Drama,” Movsesian answered smartly.

Perkins then clapped his hands and made the call. With the cards tabled, and Perkins asked Movsesian if he wanted to run it twice. Movsesian had no idea what this meant and told the dealer to, “do it normal.”

Perkins did not catch a queen on the turn () or the river (), and Movsesian doubled to $180,900.

Movsesian Takes More from Perkins: Julian Movsesian opened to $6,800 from under the gun with , Bill Perkins called right next to him with , and everyone else mucked their hand. The dealer fanned , and Movsesian check-called $12,000. The turn was the , and Movsesian led for $23,800. Perkins tanked, was offered another chicken finger, denied it, and called.

The river was four-sided, but the didn’t complete Perkins’ straight draw. Movsesian bet $33,800, and Perkins instantly folded his hand.

High Stakes Legends: This week HSP honored Bobby Baldwin during their “High Stakes Legends” segment. Baldwin, a casino executive, poker player, and WSOP Main Event champion, helped open the Golden Nugget, Mirage, City Center and of course the Bellagio, where the high-stakes poker room is named after him.

Do I Hear $2,000?: Bill Perkins straddled to $1,600 and the action folded to Jonathan Duhamel who raised to $4,200 on the button with . After Jason Mercier reraised to $11,800 from the small blind with , the action folded back to Duhamel who called. With the flop , Mercier led for $14,800 and Duhamel called.

The turn was the , and Mercier led again – this time for $36,300. Duhamel called.

The river was the . Mercier emptied the chamber, firing a third bullet worth $71,000. Duhamel unhappily folded, but before Mercier mucked, Bill Perkins asked him how much it would cost to show his hand. Mercier told him he’d show for $4,000 – an offer that Phil Laak thought was absurd. Mercier cut it in half, and at one point a myriad of players had pooled $1,700 before they all took their money back and Mercier’s hand hit the muck.

Just Make it $7,000: Bill Perkins was second to act and looked down at . He paused before acting.

“I’m so hungry I can’t think,” he said.

“Just make it $7,000,” Haralabos Voulgaris joked.

Perkins obliged, Barry Greenstein folded, and Voulgaris woke up with . He raised to $24,000, and the action folded back to Perkins.

“Did you see your hand before you did that?” he asked Voulgaris.

“I did not,” Voulgaris answered with a grin. “But if I did it would’ve been a real sweet move. I’m a bit of Jedi when it comes to stuff like this.”

Perkins made a loose call, and the flop fell . Perkins quickly checked, and Voulgaris tossed out $44,000.

“What do you want?” Perkins asked coolly. “Do you want me a call, fold or go all in?”

Silence.

Perkins repeated the question, but Voulgaris remained motionless. A few other players began to jab Voulgaris for suddenly becoming a hermit.

“Where’s the Jedi action now kid?” Phil Laak needled.

“They told me I was going to lose $300,000 on this show,” Perkins professed. “Might as well, right?”

Perkins moved all-in, and Voulgaris snapped it off. After the two agreed to deal it twice, the first board came , , the second came , , and Voulgaris took down a massive pot.

Stack Sizes

Last Hand: Haralabos Voulgaris opened to $2,400 with , and was called by Phil Laak (), “Silent” Mike Baxter (), and Jonathan Duhamel (). Jason Mercier bumped it to $13,70, and only Baxter called.

When the flop fell , Mercier continued for $18,800 and Baxter called.

Mercier led again after the turned – this time for $30,500 – and Baxter immediately raised to $81,000. Mercier folded and Baxter took down the final pot of the night.

Can Bill Perkins get out of this hole? Will Phil Laak only play aces preflop only to fold them on eight-high boards? Tune in next week to High Stakes Poker to find out!

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