Thursday, December 30, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Gambler calculates odds, wins fight with robbers

Poker champ accosted outside Bellagio room

Greg "Fossilman" Raymer Robbers didn't get $150,000

Greg "Fossilman" Raymer had a gun in his face and no place to run.

The two men wanted his money. Raymer wanted to live.

As though he were playing in a high-stakes poker game, the 2004 World Series of Poker champion paused and calculated his next move outside his room at Bellagio on Dec. 20.

"I literally was weighing the odds of survival by cooperating or fighting," the 40-year-old said Wednesday.

He chose the latter.

The 330-pound former patent lawyer fought off the would-be robbers, kept the $150,000 in his pocket and lived to tell about it.

"It could be my judgment was wrong ... but it turned out OK," Raymer said from his home in Stonington, Conn.

Raymer gained international fame in May when he won the $5 million prize in the world's most famous poker tournament, held each year at Binion's Horseshoe.

Since his win, Raymer had been approached by countless fans seeking autographs or asking questions. He never feared for his safety until early Dec. 20 at Bellagio, he said.

Raymer was in town for the Five Diamond World Poker Classic at the hotel. Although he had been out of the tournament for several days, Raymer passed the time by golfing, socializing and playing poker.

On the morning of the attack, he finished a game about 2 a.m. and headed for his room. He didn't think much of the man pounding on the door next to his, shouting about his misplaced room key.

But as soon as Raymer opened his door, the man and another man jumped him and tried to push him inside Raymer's room. When Raymer shoved them away, the smaller man pulled a handgun out.

"We just want the money," he said.

Raymer paused. If he cooperated and went into the room, he thought, they could tie him up and kill him. He decided to take his chances and fight.

Raymer shoved the larger man to the floor and shouted for security. Instead of fighting back, the man got up and limped down the hall with his accomplice, past two hotel security guards who responded to Raymer's screams for help.

The hotel's video cameras caught the men walking through the casino and leaving in their car. Police Lt. Ted Snodgrass said police identified the men and were attempting to find them.

A hotel guard recognized one of the attackers, who had been involved in an earlier incident at the hotel and was a player in the casino's poker room, according to a police report.

"These guys were morons," Raymer said.

The incident has caused Raymer to rethink his personal security. He has considered hiring a bodyguard or taking martial arts classes, and he definitely won't carry large sums of cash anymore, he said.

Raymer wants the men arrested, prosecuted and jailed for as long as possible. He has no pity for people who prey on others, he said.

And he has no regrets for his actions that morning.

"In hindsight, the only thing I would have done differently is kicked the guy in the face when he was on the ground," he said.