Why Greg Raymer matters to poker

Jonathan Duhamel? No. Joe Cada? No clue. Peter Eastgate? Did I go to college with him? Jerry Yang? Nope. Jamie Gold? Still nothing. Joe Hachem? No. Greg Raymer? Isn’t he the fossil guy? And there you have it, the number of World Series of Poker Main Event Champions it takes for my wife to recognize one -keep in mind my wife plays almost zero poker, and watches even less.

It’s hard to explain to anyone who has not met Greg Raymer in person, but he has a certain presence about him that makes him very approachable, despite his intimidating size, and is extremely accommodating to poker press and fans alike. Raymer is also the best spokesman for the game of poker, which he frequently does as Poker Players Alliance rep, and has a terrific reputation amongst his peers.

Let’s remove Phil Hellmuth, Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, and Phil Ivey from the following example: So, with the exception of the four aforementioned names, and likely Chris Moneymaker, is there another poker player that a non-poker fan who only has periphery knowledge of the game and the best poker players would know by name -not nickname or by a picture (sorry Chris Ferguson) — ahead of Greg Raymer?

This is why Greg Raymer matters in poker. And let me throw in the added evidence of my wife specifically recognizing him at Mohegan Sun at the 2010 NAPT walking anonymously down the hallway -she had no idea that the guy walking with him was Matt Glantz, or who Matt Glantz was. So, why on earth did PokerStars let one of the most recognizable, and arguably the best-spoken, WSOP champ in their stable get away?

Now, the haters on some of the online poker forums will point to his lack of poker accomplishments over the years, but this is obviously not a requisite to be considered one of the most marketable poker players: Really what have Erick Lindgren, Annie Duke, Mike Matusow, Tony G, or Howard Lederer done in any tournament outside of invitational’s and such over the past 5 years?, Even Phil Hellmuth, Johnny Chan, and Doyle Brunson have had scant success in that time period in major poker tournaments.

Marketing poker to serious poker fans and solid players is easy, and it’s unlikely a sponsored pro is going to make a big impact on their final decision of where to play; on the other hand the casual player, or complete greenhorn, is looking for a place that is fronted by reputable names that he knows, and that list probably has 10 names on it at the most!

Losing a top 10 name in poker amongst casual poker players -which I feel Raymer is-is devastating, and the only reason I can even fathom PokerStars going this route is that they feel they have exhausted the US market at this point and Raymer is expendable as they still have Negreanu and Moneymaker.

Now, no offense to any of the other players I have mentioned, but if someone brought 10 identical products to me, each endorsed by one of the aforementioned poker players, the one with Raymer’s endorsement would be the one I gave the most credence to.