Greg Raymer is not exactly one to seek the spotlight. He tweets, but never anything controversial. He speaks out on occasion, but typically on behalf of poker and the Poker Players Alliance when trying to get online poker legalized and regulated in the U.S. Sometimes, though, it’s tough to not to step the fore. Winning four titles in a matter of months will do that to you.
Raymer made the Player of the Year race on the Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) a laugh riot by winning his fourth HPT Main Event title of 2012. The $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event of the HPT Championship Open concluded Monday at the Belterra Casino Resort in Florence, Indiana with Raymer taking down yet another title and $106,030.
The incredible run seems fitting for such a humble guy on a quality, unassuming poker tour. The Heartland Poker Tour’s roots are in the smaller casinos of the American Midwest, in stark contrast to many of the glitzy venues of the World Poker Tour and the enormity of the World Series of Poker. Raymer began his tear in July, winning the HPT Albuquerque stop at the Route 66 Casino. Then, this fall, he was totally unconscious. He won the Main Event at the River City Casino & Lumiere Place in St. Louis in September. Then he captured the crown at the Prairie Meadows Racetrack Casino Hotel in Altoona, Iowa in October. And now the championship in Indiana.
Greg Raymer has played in six Heartland Poker Tour Main Events this year. He has cashed in four, all victories. His total winnings of $371,967 are a reflection of the smaller buy-ins and lower profile of the HPT, paling in comparison to the $5 million he won for his 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event championship. But we doubt that matters to Raymer.
“I’m overwhelmed,” he told HPT officials after his latest win.
Raymer’s twitter followers extolled his virtues online, to which he replied, “Thank you all so much for the many kind tweets. It has been an unbelievable run here the last 5 months on @HPTPoker. Winning 4/6 is too much for words. Thx to @Belterra for a great championship event. Cya all on the HPT next year!”
While Raymer does not frequently make the headlines nowadays, this recent streak is nowhere close to his first sniff of success in live tournaments since he won his bracelet in 2004. The very next year, he wowed the poker world by making another deep run in the WSOP Main Event, placing 25th in a field of 5,619. In 2007, he finished 14th in the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event at the WSOP and won three-quarters of a million dollars for a 3rd place finish in the 2009 WSOP $40,000 No-Limit Hold’em 40th Anniversary Event. Most recently, Raymer finished 9th in the $10,000 No-Limit Deuce to Seven Draw World Championship at last year’s WSOP.
The conclusion of the tournament Monday put a merciful end to the HPT Player of the Year race, which Raymer won with 200 points (50 for each win). The next closest was Gary Lambert with 83 points. This week’s win also catapulted Raymer to the top of the all-time HPT money list. His $371,967 just beats out the appropriately named Craig Casino, who has amassed $347,207 in career earnings on the tour.
*The photo associated with this article is NOT Greg Raymer.