Well, kind of.

Raymer, the 2004 World Series of Poker Champion is known for his holographic lizard eye sunglasses he wore during the tournament that made him a poker superstar.

They've become something of a trademark. Also his trademark is kicking some serious butt in poker tournaments.

And now he wants to help others do the same. Raymer will conduct his second "Fossilman Challenge" seminar through World Tavern Poker at Hucka's in Baltimore Sunday.

The challenge is designed to give players hands-on learning experience with a pro. The event concludes with a tournament and Raymer (whose nickname comes from his fondness for fossil collecting) will join the final table with an average chip stack.

The Times talked to Raymer about some of his tips, his life as a pro and why beer and poker don't go together as much as one might think.

Q: What are people most clueless about when it comes to poker?

A: Really it's a variety of things. There's not one overall thing that's everyone's typical weakness. But there are people that are new to poker who quite typically play too many hands.

Especially new players like to get in there and wager on everything. They think that they should do that or that they've won on the same hand before, but it's irrelevant. You can golf with your eyes closed and make the putt, but that doesn't mean it's how to play the game.

Q: You cover a lot of bases in these seminars: bluffing, tells, advanced pot odds. What's the best overall tip you can give someone who wants to turn pro like you?

A: Well, honestly, people want to go full-time pro and I tell them not to do it. It's a lot safer and smarter to go pro the way I did. I had a regular job [as a lawyer] and just played a couple days a week at certain places and did some other games during the weekend.

Only eventually did I decide to go pro and only after when I realized that I could quit my job and make a living as a full-time pro. I had a wife and daughter to support so it would have been foolhardy to do it any other way.

Q: Why did you decide to do these seminars?

A: I've always liked to teach people. My secondary nickname was Shell, for the Shell Answer Man. Remember those commercials? I was that guy in our fraternity that people would come to for advice. I'd always have people three or four deep at my door waiting for their turn for help with their physics homework or something.

Teaching helps you understand your own skills. Helping people helps me look at [poker] in a new way.

Q: What kind of people come to the seminar?

A: We'll see a mix. Some people are new and then there's people trying to go pro and make it full time. They think coming to the seminar will put them over the top to get there.

Q: Bluffing seems difficult to teach. Do you find that some people just don't have the ability?

A: The main thing about bluffing is that the art form is sensing weakness and so you have to sense that in others and determine that therefore they are bluffable. Even with the best possible hand bluffing can be learned and improved upon. The other trick for beginners is not to randomly decide to bluff. They do it because they decide that it's got to work at least sometimes.

You have to think what story are you selling.

Q: So are you really allergic to alcohol? That seems odd for a poker player.

A: Yeah. There's lot of players that don't drink when they play.

Q: That's just not what I'd expect.

A: I'll tell you what. I've been playing this game for 15 years and 10 or more years ago, people were drinking a lot more often. But now not even 10 percent of them are drinking alcohol.

They're more serious about the game.