Raymer had to pay out 2.1m of his WSOP win to backers

[BoondockSaint]

Any of you guys know that. This is how it went down.

Raymer Pays 2.1m to Backers
Apparently after Raymer's bankroll took a hit from a bad run a couple of years ago he looked to raise money to continue playing the 150/300 tables at Foxwoods.

He turned to the online boards and offered to sell shares of himself for $500 apiece. apparently some took a shot with him and he originally raised 30k..he ended up taking 57% of all the profits..the deal was structured in six-month periods with the WSOP the end of the fiscal year.. During first six months, investors lost $12 per share. 2nd period the value went to $555 and the 3rd it rose to $601..
after he won the series each share hit $36,300..he had to pay out a total of $2.1m to shareholders

I thought it was all his.

[jokerindapack]

Nope and the same thing happened with Moneymaker and Farha (Farha actually just broke even). Raymer was on Jimmy Kimmel the other night (with Anna Nicole Smith sandwiching him on the otheer end) and explained the whole backer thing. Also from what I heard his mom was a backer has well and she got pissed at him when he told her she won. She was like now you ruined it for me, I wanted to find out on T.V. first.

[elipsesjeff]

I wondered if he filed with the SEC before selling shares of himself. You have to register all stocks offered to the public. I smell an investigation!!

[elanto]

(Farha actually just broke even)..

OMG he just broke even!! He got second for crying out loud how is that possible...poor guy


-anto

[LockLow34]

The one I wonder (worry?) about is Mike Matasow. Something tells me he's WAY in over his head and that, combined with the coke he was on, why he was acting the way he was during the WSOP.

[gutshot]

I'm confused as how this happened to moneymaker. If I remember correctly, he got a seat in a satellite for like $40 on PokerStars. Why did he need backers for that?

[Toasty]

Well I've actually read the post with Greg asking for backers and the reason stated was that he had spent most of his BR extending the house with a holiday to disney world almost finishing it off.

I know who one of the backers was "Terrence Chan" and he made 200k off the WSOP alone.

greg stated he was dissappointed he couldn't have delivered for his first bunch of backers like he did for the last set.

Took him about a week and a half to raise the money, the dude carried a lot of respect even back then.

Mike Matusow is currently in Jail from a cocaine sting operation (so i heard), did you also know that he backed Scotty Nyugen when he won the big one, he staked him 33% in a sat which Scotty won, you can see him sitting next to Scotty's mom on the WSOP tape.

[a500lbgorilla]

But this isn't the glorious world of professional poker that i've seen on TV.

Who has been lying to me?

-'rilla

[BoondockSaint]

Mike Matusow is currently in Jail from a cocaine sting operation

Mike Matusow Sentenced to 6 Months in Clark County Jail


Earlier today, Mike Matusow had his official sentencing hearing at the Clark County, Nevada Courthouse for charges stemming from a November 2003 drug arrest. He had previously agreed to a plea deal that would require 6 months in County Jail, as well as additional months probation. Originally, Matusow faced 6 felony counts including drug trafficking, conspiracy, and import - 5 of which were dropped as part of the deal. On August 3rd, Matusow agreed to enter a guilty plea to one felony count of possession for sale - CS class, Schedule I (453.337).

Judge Donald Mosley was not bound by the plea agreement but did decide today to sentence Matusow to the more lenient 6 months. Matusow was cuffed and taken to the lockup, where he will begin serving his sentence immediately. Ironically, Matusow will be serving his time less than one city block from Binion's Horseshoe - where he has built a successful poker career and won multiple WSOP bracelets.

Matusow is probably best known for his confrontation with Greg "Fossilman" Raymer at this year's WSOP Main Event - shown multiple times on ESPN. Known as an extremely emotional player, Matusow let his excitement get the best of him as he berated Raymer over his play the previous hand. When he realized he was acting out of hand, he offered an apologetic handshake, but Raymer refused. Matusow was also shown crying after being busted out of the event - in a classic example of the highs and lows associated with his play. Those who know him insist that Matusow is a good guy who simply wears his emotions on his sleeve - for better or worse.

More recently, Matusow had an impressive showing at the World Poker Tour's Ultimate Bet.com Aruba Classic. He finished third in the event, taking home $250,000. He played extremely well in the event, which will ironically air on the Travel Channel sometime during his incarceration. Only last week he was near the top of the poker world. This week, reality sets in.

The circumstances surrounding his arrest for cocaine possession are very murky - with those close to Matusow insisting he was merely caught up in a favor gone horribly wrong by overzealous narc cops. In the state of Nevada possessing more than 1 ounce of cocaine constitutes a felony with intent to distribute - irrespective of the actual intent.

[SteveO]

This is what I've heard about Moneymaker:

He won the sattelite for the $10K entry but a friend and his dad staked him 50% of the costs of travel, room and board for the WSOP week. So he repaied them 50% of his winnings. Not quite the same as Raymer.

[thepokerdude]

so is the next big step in poker, where the last one was an unknown online amatuer winning the WSOP, going to be an unbacked player who doesn't owe anyone for their appearence in the WSOP winning?

i guess if you are pro player who does nothing but play poker for a living, you have to make money anyway you can, and i guess selling stock in your skills is a good idea, but it just makes you kinda sick to learn that farha got second, and barely broke even. kinda takes the luster out of for me at least.

[Gatlin Dan]

boondock,
Where is that "Mike the Mouth" article from? Do you have the date of publication?

[highroller]

man, sucks to be Farha. He wouldve won what? a million coming in second? and he only just broke even

[BoondockSaint]

http://bigslicknews.com/2004/10/mike...months-in.html

Date was october 6th. Damnit man you just screwed my 666 posts by asking me a question. I dont have control over this section of the forum so I cant just edit your post. Well I guess it wasnt gonna last forever.

[thepokerdude]

nice boon. congrats on your evilness.

[elanto]

Boon is that actually you?' nice pic


-anto

[BoondockSaint]

Yeah thats really me. After my $380 win at a home game tournament that really made me come back to poker after the summer of skydiving. Im sure glad it happened because it really got me back into the poker money making spirit. And yes the horns are real

[elipsesjeff]

Boondock....you're nuts.

[BoondockSaint]

lol well I like to think so

[TJ]

Just a couple of points. Sam Farha merely broke even for 2 reasons. First, because he had backers and second because he lost a ton of cash in side games at the Bellagio right before the big one. So don't feel bad for Farha. He is a gambler's gambler.

As to backers in general, it is certainly a good idea. Think about it. If you win a seat in a $10,000 tournament via a $40 qualifier, at that point in time you have won no liquid cash. All you have won is a seat (along with 2500 other people) for a chance to win liquid cash. If you sell off 50% of yourself (making $5000 real dollars) then worst case you walk away with $5000, even if you finish dead last. So let's say you squeek into the money and it pays $10,000. After you pay off your backers, you still make $10,000 (not different than if you didn't have backers). Obviously the deeper you get into the money, the more money you "lose" out on to the backers.

My point is that you have to be realistic and use common sense. $5000 in my bankroll would provide me the funds to play WSOP qualifiers for years to come.

Just something to think about.

[Gatlin Dan]

boondock, sorry about messing up your evilness, but thanks for the date and the link. Nice pic. Took twenty minutes to load with my dial up connection, but still very nice.

[steelwheel]

hmm, Im confused a bit.
Raymer and Moneymaker both won their entries into the WSOP via winning a online game tourney, right?
So then why did they have to come up with the $10 grand to pay for the entry? I thought thats what they would have won on the online tourney?
probably a dumb question, but yea confused here.

steel wheels