In a piece of surprising news, longtime Team PokerStars Pro Greg “Fossilman” Raymer has parted ways with his former sponsor. The news was reported on a 2+2 forum thread after several individuals noticed Raymer’s profile missing from the Team PokerStars page. This was compounded by a chat conversation between Pat Pezzin and Raymer. Pezzin asked why Raymer was missing the red star that normally appears by his name, signifying him as a PokerStars Pro. Raymer simply replied that it was a “long story.”
Although Raymer’s lack of online and tournament success in recent years has been somewhat disheartening, the news still comes as a bit of a shock to those who found Raymer to be an imposing, charismatic and extremely recognizable figure on the PokerStars roster.
According to a Twitter post from fellow pro Kathy Liebert, Raymer was offered a contract re-signing deal with lower pay, at which point he decided to head for greener pastures. Leibert’s post indicated that PokerStars was cutting salaries for many of their professional sponsored players, and it was left up to the players to decide whether or not to accept the new deals. Raymer, apparently, declined.
Raymer is best known for winning the WSOP Main Event in 2004, and has accumulated a total of $6.5 million in tournament winnings. He’s also one of the most influential members of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA). Five main event winners remain on the PokerStars roster, including Jonathan Duhamel, Joe Cada, Joe Hachem, Chris Moneymaker and Tom McEvoy.
As of now, neither Raymer nor PokerStars have made an official announcement regarding the split. Raymer did post a Twitter update, however: “It is true that I am not representing PS. I will have more to say later, but no further comment now.” This was followed by a thank you for positive comments, in which Raymer said he was “touched by your support.”
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