World Series spotlight will be on defending champ
World Series spotlight will be on defending champ
from www.mysanantonio.com
Greg Raymer has no idea how to beat the estimated tournament field of 6,000-plus players in next month’s World Series of Poker Main Event, but he does know how to whip 2,576.
That’s how many opponents he had to storm though en route to last year’s Main Event championship, and that qualifies him as the pre-eminent expert in mega-tournament play in my book.
“There’s no way around it, you gotta make a lot of good decisions,” Raymer said. “You have to get your money in when it’s good to do so, and you have to avoid being unlucky.”
The good decisions come easy for Raymer. He’s been crushing the poker games at his local Foxwoods casino in Connecticut for years and knows how to play the game.
Raymer thrives on aggression and likes to keep the pressure on his opponents. He’s prone to attack the table if he believes he has the best hand or knows his opponents don’t.
“I’m more active and play more hands than the average player,” Raymer said. “I believe in seeing more flops and taking a few more risks. If I do bluff, it’s not because I’ve folded three-straight hands and I’m telling myself it’s time to bluff. It’s because I don’t think you have enough of a hand to call.”
The ESPN cameras proved that Raymer only put his money on the line in the most opportunistic circumstances. He was an underdog only twice — both times at the final table — when he turned his cards over, and even then it didn’t matter since he was dominating in chips.
Early in the tournament, the four times he went all-in and would have been knocked out if he hadn’t won the hand, he was over an 80 percent favorite in three of them. One of Raymer’s key hands came in the first two hours, when he put in all his chips with pocket eights after a flop of J-8-3 against pocket kings. Any king on the turn or river would have sent him packing.
There is no formula for avoiding the bad luck. That’s the great equalizer.
“Sometimes you can get your money in good and lose anyway,” Raymer said. “Even the greatest players are going down if they hit a full house and lose to a bigger one. I don’t think there are too many players that can get away from something like that. You are just going to lose.”
Raymer did it all in dominating fashion and has enjoyed life since his victory. After Uncle Sam and financial backers got their cuts of his $5 million prize, he was allowed to keep about $1.7 million, which was enough to quit his job as a patent attorney.
He’s been spending his days traveling the globe as a spokesperson for pokerstars.com and playing in many of the big buy-in tournaments the past year. He also does speaking engagements and has a book in the works.
As for this year’s Main Event? Don’t count Raymer out for a repeat championship, but the sheer numbers in the field will make it difficult for him, or any other well-known pro, to win.
“I’m looking forward to trying to win it again, but statistically it’s very unlikely,” Raymer said. “I’ve been there before, so I know I’m not going to choke or make any stupid mistakes. I didn’t have that problem last year, and I have no reason to believe I would this year.”
And, yes, Raymer will be playing with his signature reflective lizard man glasses that he made famous at the final table last year.
“That would be like Elvis not swiveling his hips,” Raymer said. “That’s my signature. I feel obligated to wear them.”
