Rick Nebiolo
08-27-2004, 03:26 PM
Wednesday night at the Bicycle Casino WSOP Champion Greg “Fossilman” Raymer was gracious, accessible thoughtful and witty (nothing less could be expected based on his posts on the forum!). He had lots of time to chat and made himself available to everybody.
Greg indicated he didn’t yet see the WSOP ESPN episode with the first Mike Matusow incident and was curious regarding what was shown. After describing the scene, we let him know that most of the RGP and 2+2 world agreed that under those circumstances they wouldn’t have shaken Mike’s hand either and that many of us were interested in what he scribbled in his notebook. Regarding the notebook, Greg couldn’t remember (or wasn’t telling). ESPN color commentator Norman Chad’s “on air” guess as to what was written gave us all a chuckle.
The “mysterious 2+2 celebrity” was a no-show /images/graemlins/frown.gif but his (and Greg’s) friend Dangerous Dan made it (and wonders why he hasn’t gotten in touch with him!). Dangerous Dan, Hero and I had a lot of time to talk to Greg’s dad Phil Raymer, who if it seems possible is even more charming, intelligent and witty than Greg.
Somebody asked if Greg had any offers to appear on Letterman or Leno and he said not yet (perhaps they are waiting for the final ESPN show to air given that to much of the viewing audience, Greg’s win is still unknown). Later while chatting with Greg’s dad Phil I mentioned that perhaps last years champion Chris Moneymaker last name worked especially well for him in terms of publicity. Phil agreed - who could imagine a more perfect name for a poker champion. Greg told us about some of the interviews he had and indicated that sometimes it was difficult to come across well when the interviewer is thousands of miles away and you are speaking into a headpiece (even at the speed of light, there is a significant delay when signals are bounced off a satellite that takes some getting used to).
Like any father Phil mentioned that he had concerns about Greg’s move into full time poker. I made the case that, based on what we all know of Greg, he will probably have more wealth years from now and that the only other WSOP champ I would comfortably say the same about is Dan Harrington. IMHO Greg is that well grounded and Phil conceded this was true and that he was very proud of his son.
We all got a kick out of the Bike’s poster hung on the wall of The Grill: It said “Welcome Fossilman, WSOP $5,000,000,000 champion”. With that much money Greg could own a bank!
Anyway, thank you Greg and good luck in the Bike’s Legends of Poker WPT Final Event. /images/graemlins/grin.gif
Regards,
Rick
Greg indicated he didn’t yet see the WSOP ESPN episode with the first Mike Matusow incident and was curious regarding what was shown. After describing the scene, we let him know that most of the RGP and 2+2 world agreed that under those circumstances they wouldn’t have shaken Mike’s hand either and that many of us were interested in what he scribbled in his notebook. Regarding the notebook, Greg couldn’t remember (or wasn’t telling). ESPN color commentator Norman Chad’s “on air” guess as to what was written gave us all a chuckle.
The “mysterious 2+2 celebrity” was a no-show /images/graemlins/frown.gif but his (and Greg’s) friend Dangerous Dan made it (and wonders why he hasn’t gotten in touch with him!). Dangerous Dan, Hero and I had a lot of time to talk to Greg’s dad Phil Raymer, who if it seems possible is even more charming, intelligent and witty than Greg.
Somebody asked if Greg had any offers to appear on Letterman or Leno and he said not yet (perhaps they are waiting for the final ESPN show to air given that to much of the viewing audience, Greg’s win is still unknown). Later while chatting with Greg’s dad Phil I mentioned that perhaps last years champion Chris Moneymaker last name worked especially well for him in terms of publicity. Phil agreed - who could imagine a more perfect name for a poker champion. Greg told us about some of the interviews he had and indicated that sometimes it was difficult to come across well when the interviewer is thousands of miles away and you are speaking into a headpiece (even at the speed of light, there is a significant delay when signals are bounced off a satellite that takes some getting used to).
Like any father Phil mentioned that he had concerns about Greg’s move into full time poker. I made the case that, based on what we all know of Greg, he will probably have more wealth years from now and that the only other WSOP champ I would comfortably say the same about is Dan Harrington. IMHO Greg is that well grounded and Phil conceded this was true and that he was very proud of his son.
We all got a kick out of the Bike’s poster hung on the wall of The Grill: It said “Welcome Fossilman, WSOP $5,000,000,000 champion”. With that much money Greg could own a bank!
Anyway, thank you Greg and good luck in the Bike’s Legends of Poker WPT Final Event. /images/graemlins/grin.gif
Regards,
Rick