Pokerstars making room in their budget for Phil Hellmuth

You might be on to something. Def looks like it.

had to emphasize this so people would quit slamming Greg. He's been awesome for poker. Shame on Pokerstars.

Agreed.

yeah but, I disagree with a lot of/most of what the PPA is all about, isn't that who Raymer is rolling with?

He just isn't keen on being whored out by 'stars for less than he's worth. The benefits aren't there anymore. He can either go it alone or (more likely) get snapped up as an ambassador somewhere else. Good luck to him.

Its obv about him not being showed da money.

Not surprising really.

He has value to a poker site but if he wants X and Stars is only willing to pay Y and they can't agree then no contract.

The reality is that very few of the sponsored players actually bring much value to a site like Poker Stars and I think every male American Team Poker Stars Pro will be looking at a pay cut.

Yea PPA is a big ineffective, stupid, worthless money grab.

Raymer is cool, obv; also I think he has value for Stars as one of the pros who is more professional/effective in like the poker room manager/support/Lee Jones type roles that Pros are sometimes called upon for.

But we don't know the story, so it's impossible to draw any conclusions about whether either party made the right or wrong decision.

I would probably never look at a card again if this happens. Would be suicide on Stars' part imo.

Is there a more annoying person than a PPA nuthugger?

+1

Good guy, good for the game...and def. a solid player. I dont think he will have to look far for sponsorship if he wants.

Or Viktors never ending bankroll

If Phil went to tilt or stars it would just further the public perception that the online casinos are all one big cheating fraternity.

You probably haven't been around long enough in poker to realize what you just said makes you look like the total donk that you are. If you've ever watchd Raymer play you would know he is a very solid player. So take your wanna-be popular checkboxes and stick them up your you know what

i dont know if this is what pokerstars is thinking, but if i were them i'd be thinking that all the donk main event champions from the first 5 years of the boom are worth less now than they used to be.

Stars has a fairly solid lineup of pros - negreanu, greenstein, etc - who can actually stay relevant because they are still winning poker players (well, most of them anyway) who continue to show results in tournaments and TV cash games.

if Stars lost moneymaker, hachem, and the rest of them at this point, would it really make any difference? do they even feature them in any commercials anymore? i dont think so.

the interesting thing is that out of the first 5 champions of the boom era, not only is greg clearly the best, he's the only one you could accurately call a real "poker player". he wasn't world class and he wasn't a full time pro but he was definitely a poker player.

Hell yeah liebert for speaking out

Kathy Liebert
I think it's a bad business decision to cut their pay but most won't have a better offer so they stay. #notverified

Kathy Liebert
@DianaPricePhoto I don't think they are but they figured they could get away with it. Most stayed. Many figure some $ better than no $

f the haters raymer is awesome. ps made a mistake here.

pretty surprising imo. he's good for the game as well as having a lot of name recognition. dunno why people act like he's a donk either. he might not be an elite top tier player, but he's pretty decent afaik.

I think it is pretty simple. I don't think it is anything personal against Greg as he has been a very good ambassador. Pokerstars has already saturated the USA, and they feel there are better places to put their marketing $ to work.

Just my dos centavos,

Bax

A surprise on one level not so much on others. Something had to give with PS continuing to sign more and more players while dropping very few. Just look at the long list from the "request" button.

Raymer is a smart guy and if PS gave him a take it or leave it offer he would be more incline to decline it than say Moneymaker would be. I agree, of the ME Champs he is the best ambassador in the bunch.

would you agree to have the difference between greg's former and current salary come out of an increase in the rake?

i love when people make statements about business decisions they would make with other people's money.

paying someone less or firing them is not about whether you "like them" or "think they're a cool person". you pay people in proportion to the amount of money you expect them to bring in for your business. some of you need a Business for Five Year Olds course.

He has said in the chat before that nlhe was his least favorite game. Said his best game was h/l stud. Seemed like a great guy and allways would chat while playing with the micro limit players.

Greg looks like a nice guy and def. good for poker, but nvg flames away stars in such ridicolous paths. First with jared (who i think its not mad like the 10k nvbustos), now with Raymer. They allways forget that week ago they made very good changes to buyins

and by the way, every year that goes by and brings a new main event champion in the post boom era significantly diminishes the value of any individual main event champion.
when Stars had the first 3 and ONLY 3 post boom champions, it was a big deal. now that there's a million of them, including pros, amateurs, a guy who has quit the game and sold his bracelet on ebay, another guy who disappeared completely after his win - at this point its like who gives a sh*t