The Champion's Curse
Almost as soon as Raymer sat down, he told his new table that ever since winning the Main Event in 2004, opponents call him down with anything and everything.
In one recent tournament, he recalled, 12 players remained with nine getting paid. Raymer was first in chips and had his preflop all-in bet called by the second chip leader holding 6-4 offsuit. "The guy said he thought I was on a re-steal," Raymer said. "I told him, 'Even if that's true, how do you call with 6-4 offsuit? God himself would come down from heaven and tell you to fold that if you think I'm stealing.'"
Raymer currently has 5,500 in chips.