Greg Raymer

Greg Raymer

aka "Fossilman"
Nationality
United States
United States
GPI Rank 4,178
WSOP Bracelets 1
Total Live Earnings $8,199,973
The Hendon Mob Data provided by The Hendon Mob

Biography

Greg Raymer is an American poker player who won the 2004 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event.

Nicknamed "Fossil Man" from his hobby of collecting fossils and using them as card protectors, he won $5,000,000 for winning the Main Event

"I started using a fossil as a card protector a long time ago and got the nickname 'FossilMan,'" he told PokerNews in 2020. "Since '08, it occurred to me that I might as well take that fossil and give it to the person that knocks me out. So every single tournament is a new fossil

Biography

Raymer was born in Minot, North Dakota. He majored in chemistry at the University of Missouri-Rolla and graduated with a master's degree in biochemistry in 1989. He worked as a patent attorney for more than a decade prior to his WSOP Main Event victory.

2004 WSOP Main Event

The 'Moneymaker Effect' had fully taken hold just one year after Chris Moneymaker's victory, with PokerStars providing 315 of the 2,576 entries to the 2004 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event.

By the time the final table was reached, Raymer held almost a third of the chips in play. Dan Harrington was making back-to-back final tables after finishing third in 2003. In 2004, he finished fourth.

Raymer busted four of the first five players at the final table and eventually made it all the way to heads-up against David Williams. Raymer defeated him in just seven hands to win the $5,000,000 first prize, with Williams having to settle for $3,500,000.

At the time, the top two payouts would be the most any two players would receive in a poker tournament ever, up until that point.


Read More: The Poker Hand I’ll Never Forget: Greg Raymer


Greg Raymer Poker Achievements

Raymer has attended the WSOP regularly since his Main Event victory, but has never won another bracelet. He came closest in 2009, with a third-place finish in the $40,000 40th Anniversary Event for $774,927.

Over the years, he has amassed over $8 million in live earnings and is a regular face on the U.S. domestic poker scene.

In January 2020, Raymer won a record fifth Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) title, winning HPT Ameristar East Chicago for $171,411.

Greg Raymer Top Five Poker Cashes

YEAREVENTBUY-INPLACEPAYOUT (USD)
May 2004WSOP Main Event$10,0001st$5,000,000
May 2009WSOP 40th Anniversary Event$40,0003rd$774,927
July 2005WSOP Main Event$10,00025th$304,680
January 2020Heartland Poker Tour Chicago$1,6501st$171,411
September 2012Heartland Poker Tour St. Louis$1,6501st$121,973

WSOP Main Event Winners 1995-2004

YEARENTRIESCHAMPIONCOUNTRYPRIZE
20042,576Greg RaymerUnited States$5,000,000
2003839Chris MoneymakerUnited States$2,500,000
2002631Robert VarkonyiUnited States$2,000,000
2001613Carlos MortensenSpain$1,500,000
2000512Chris FergusonUnited States$1,500,000
1999393Noel FurlongIreland$1,000,000
1998350Scotty NguyenVietnam$1,000,000
1997312Stu UngarUnited States$1,000,000
1996295Huck SeedUnited States$1,000,000
1995273Dan HarringtonUnited States$1,000,000

PokerNews Covered Events

Event Place Prize
2024 Champions Club Winter Poker Open
$1,500 Main Event
107th $2,730
2023 RGPS Cleveland
$1,000 Main Event
31st $2,330
2023 RGPS Tulsa
$600 Main Event
16th $2,673
2023 RGPS Baltimore
$1,100 Main Event
20th $2,216
2021 MSPT Showdown Series
MSPT Sycuan $1,110 Main Event
30th $4,318
Lone Star Poker Series Champions Social
$1,300 Texas State $1M GTD Main Event
109th $3,150
2020 Heartland Poker Tour Ameristar East Chicago
$1,650 Main Event
1st $171,411
2019 Heartland Poker Tour Meadows
Main Event
2nd $37,669
2019 World Series of Poker
Event #64: $888 Crazy Eights No-Limit Hold'em
399th $3,398
2019 World Series of Poker
Event #59: $600 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack Championship
468th $1,387
2019 World Series of Poker
Event #25: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack
304th $1,026
2019 World Series of Poker
Event #19: Millionaire Maker - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em
614th $3,386
2018 World Series of Poker
Event #59: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em Super Turbo Bounty
120th $1,471
2018 World Series of Poker
Event #34: $1,000 DOUBLE STACK No-Limit Hold'em
731st $1,598
2018 World Series of Poker
Event #19: $565 Pot-Limit Omaha
204th $934
2017 World Series of Poker
Event #31: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship
171st $3,504
2017 World Series of Poker
Event #5: THE COLOSSUS III - $565 No-Limit Hold'em
589th $2,826
2015 Mid-States Poker Tour bestbet Jacksonville
Main Event
9th $8,047
2014 World Series of Poker
Event #50: $1,500 Eight-Game Mix
40th $3,497
2014 World Series of Poker
Event #14: $1,500 Limit Omaha Hi-Low
7th $33,510
2013 World Series of Poker
Event #50: $2,500 10-Game Mix (Six Handed)
11th $11,323
2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit Event - Harrah's Cherokee
Main Event
29th $6,625
2011 World Series of Poker
Event #54: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em
253rd $2,676
2011 World Series of Poker
Event #49: $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball (Limit)
23rd $6,368
2011 World Series of Poker
Event #16: $10,000 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship (No-Limit)
9th $27,928
2011 World Series of Poker
Event #13: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout
109th $4,998
2010 PokerStars.com EPT London
Main Event
92nd £9,000
2010 World Series of Poker
Event #40: $2,500 Seven Card Razz
37th $4,550
2010 NAPT Venetian
2010 NAPT Venetian Main Event
102nd $8,839
2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure
$25,000 High Roller Event
13th $46,304
2009 World Series of Poker
Event 2 - $40,000 No Limit Hold'em
3rd $774,927
2008 World Series of Poker
Event 40 - $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw
11th $9,580
2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship
$20,000 Heads-Up Championship
11th $25,000
2007 World Series of Poker
Event 39 - $50,000 H.O.R.S.E.
14th $103,008
2007 World Series of Poker
Event 20 - $2,000 Seven Card Stud Hi Lo
4th $41,460
2007 World Series of Poker
Event 3 - $1,500 No Limit Holdem
131st $4,706

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