Rick,
I know both Chris Ferguson & Greg Raymer, having met both of them long before they each won the WSOP main event. I met Chris playing in a WSOP one table razz satellite at the Horseshoe in 1995. I met Greg at the Orleans Open in 1999. I know that Chris has obtained the Horseshoe $2.50 WSOP Champions set, plus the Horseshoe Millionaires $5 set. There is a chip of Chris in each set. I also gave Chris a four colored set
(2004, 2005, 2006 & 2007) of the BCC Bounty octagons, like the one shown at the bottom of this post, two years ago at
BARGE. I gave another set to Greg Raymer last year. So, they do collect chips, but it is nowhere near as much as we all do.
There are no well known pro poker players in the
.
There is also Gavin Smith who is a well known player these days. Those of us who have attended BARGE for years now, have known Gavin long before he won any major tournaments. I have no idea if Gavin collects chips, but I would bet he does not.
As to...
"That would be kinda fun if we could get someone there as a guest speaker some year"
It might be interesting to those that play poker, but to those that don't, it would be boring to have a poker player as a speaker. It would be better to try & have a pro come & play in the poker tournament & maybe have an autograph session before the tournament starts.
Andy - Las Vegas