Yeah, I'm sure it really puts a dent in their billions of dollars in profit they pull in every single year.

Also would like to +1 everyone who has said nice things about Raymer. He's one of the few who remain who they were before the money and fame came their way. And let's not forget that he fought off two armed robbers in the hallway of a hotel. True hero imo.

Dennis Phillips probably takes what Stars gives him.

Professional poker and casual poker for that matter has a pretty sketchy image with the general public. Raymer has always come off as the opposite of that,approachable,professional and a true ambassador of the game. If Pokerstars divorce with the former WSOP champ is over some petty issue that could have easily been resolved it is their loss.

On a lighter note:

I have always considered Greg a class act, and a solid all-around player. To me this is a Shame. Greg went out of his way to represent Poker and Pokerstars, in the best light possible. Best of luck in the future Greg.

Echoing many others, Greg, in wishing you the very best of luck. Thank you for all you've done and continue to do for the game.

I have no idea what the reason for Raymer and Pokerstars to have split up but it is possible that he is going to represent a different site in the future but first he must end the affiliation with Stars.

It could happen, PH and Annie Duke left UB.

Of course, this is just a WAG so don't go telling me why it can't be true, I'm just putting out a guess.

if I'm wrong, big deal, if I'm right, who cares?

It has to be a $$$ issue. Why the **** would you keep Chris Moneymaker and get rid of Raymer unless the money offered to Raymer wasn't enough to make him want to stay / continue travelling the poker circuit etc.....

Either that or Greg made the later choice anyway.

Just my 2 cents but logic surely would suggest one or the other

that doesn't matter when it come to marketing a player.

Hellmuth is hands down the most marketable player in the pokerz!

Tilts me so much when noobs come along thinking they know everything, when new players come along it is this man who will guide them


the honourable

Greg Raymer true class act

dump McEvoy keep Raymer

Raymer never played microstakes, so idgaf if he's gone

JMO, but I think Greg would crush Hachem longterm in mixed cash games, tho LDO no way to know. As for donkaments, Greg has 14 WSOP cashes and Hachem has 11, if that means anything.

Greg's easily been the best ambassador/spokeman for poker of the recent ME champs. Great contributor to 2+2 & rec.poker back in the day, and has always been a friendly guy & a class act. GL to him in the future.

this, as well as beating up the two robbers & Kantner's LOL costing Greg possible GOATness.

+1

Uh, doesn't McEvoy own a a % of PS from the early days?

McEvoy is a world champion. I'm sure he has some value to PS. I am sure Raymer has more value for endorsements, but not as much more as we or Raymer thinks.

I wonder if AD and PH leaving UB has partly to do with the old name pros aren't worth that much anymore. Neither of them has won big in MTTs lately. Maybe UB wouldn't pay them what they wanted either.

Dennis Phillips is incredibly personable and just an all around great guy. Last year he showed up to a small tournament in Chicago and was nice to everyone as far as I could tell. He made a 20$ last longer bet with my roommate just for ***** and when he busted he tracked down my roomie at the table to pay up and see how he was doing. Seemed like a guy that would sway many of the amateurs at the table to try playing on PS just because he has a big patch on, a known name, and a great attitude.

That said I have no idea how they let Raymer go and I wish we knew a bit more, I'm certainly disapointed if it negatively effects Greg as he also always seemed personable and a good ambassador for poker.

^^ This is the problem, look at the direction ps is going, signing young flashy exciting kids, trying to gain maketshare in the emerging markets
Look lets be honest everyday theres scores of kids getting turned on to poker, thats where the money's at and where their focus should be. So thats what their trying to promote(IMO) the hoodie wearing bling life style, its image and marketing. I think we can all agree that a softspoken middleaged man with crazy shades and sandals is not what they want for the face of their company. Their trying to move in the direction pokers headed, ie where the new money is gonna come from. For online poker its a younger crowd,so it makes sense that should be what they embrace moving forward, not the patten attorney next door that gos by the name fossilman, sorry. That ship has long since sailed.
nothing personal just business

I think some of this really has nothing to do with Raymer and more to do with the crackdown on internet poker. The US market is shrinking because of all the proscessor seizures. Internet poker in the US is dying, rather quickly at that. As a result the major sites are being deprived of there main source of revenue. They are forced to make some tough choices and unfortunaltly Raymer was one of them. They probably felt he wasn't that marketable over seas. Just a theory of mine.

Yea, but for we US players the new surge in home-games is phenomenal. The US government had an opportunity to have a regulated taxable new source of revenue and in the own stupidity is going to drive that money underground and good luck taxing that.

Good luck with the new fish getting money on Stars.... Options that work:

[ ] ECHECKS
[ ] Credit Cards
[ ] Pre-paid Debit Cards
[X] Western Union (Stars will NOT absorb the deposit fee's)

Good luck with the new players trying to deposit....

I didn't mean STARS home games, lol.

Home games and the bm's stand to the gain the most.

Dear pk_nuts:

There’s an interesting Part Time Poker article here:

http://www.parttimepoker.com/what-gr...poker-industry

about the parting of ways between Greg Raymer and Pokerstars. In the case of Greg Raymer specifically, I think this has a lot more to do with the last factor noted in the article, (namely the fallout from the failed effort to pass the Reid bill back in December), than any of the other factors listed. Nobody really wants to acknowledge this, but when it comes to legalization and regulation of online poker here in the United States, the offshore sites, (i.e. Pokerstars, Full Tilt, and the others), have a very different conception of what “legalization” should entail versus what the traditional land-based brick and mortar operators here in the U.S. (i.e. Harrah’s, MGM/Mirage, et cetera), think legalization should entail. In a word, the land-based B&M’s think “legalization” means that Stars and Tilt are out – at least for 15 months - if not permanently out. The Reid bill exposed these fissures for all to see. Since Greg Raymer is so clearly identified with the PPA, it was an easy decision for Pokerstars to decide to let him go. Look at it from Pokerstars point of view: Why should they be sponsoring (and paying) a “pro” who is openly advocating for their removal from the [online] U.S. market – which is exactly what would have occurred if the Reid bill had passed.

This is the latest manifestation of what I have suspected all along. There is a definite conflict of interest (if not an outright “war”) between the land-based B&M’s here in the United States and the offshore sites, specifically Stars and Full Tilt. These entities view each other with scorn and derision. Greg Raymer is just the latest casualty in this war between the major land-based B&M’s and the offshore sites. Again, it’s nothing personal – just business.

Former DJ