Success Story: Greg "Fossilman" Raymer: From Patent Law to Poker

We've blogged before on lawyers and poker with a post about Marc Seif, a former attorney who rose to stardom in the poker world with two tournament victories in the 2005 World Series of Poker, as well as a post about a book by professor Steven Lubet entitled 52 Lessons that Lawyers Can Learn from Card Players.

More recently, we read about Greg Raymer, a graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School, who was toiling in obscurity as a patent lawyer for pharmaceutical manufacturer Pfizer when he began playing poker at Foxwood Resorts Casino near his home in Connecticut. He participated in the 2001 and 2002 World Series of Poker before winning the whole thing - and $5,000,000 - in the 2004 event.

After paying off financial backers and Uncle Sam, Raymer took home $1.7 million, quit his job and moved with his family to Raleigh, North Carolina. He now earns a living from speaking at corporate events, endorsements, and participating in occasional tournaments. Clearly a family man, Raymer and his wife chose Raleigh precisely because they sought more idyllic surroudings away from the glare of poker meccas like Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

Raymer got his nickname - Fossilman - from the fossil he uses to protect his cards during games (he also collects fossils).

All in all, a very interesting career path and individual - you can read more about Raymer on his website, on Wikipedia and in a recent story in the online edition of The News & Observer, one of Raleigh's papers.