The 330-pound former patent lawyer, who goes by the nickname "Fossilman", said he had a gun in his face and no place to run outside his room at the Bellagio on Dec. 20, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Thursday.

The 2004 World Series of Poker champion said: "I literally was weighing the odds of survival by cooperating or fighting." He said he chose the latter.

He said the robbers took off after he pushed one of them and he managed to keep the $150,000 in his pocket.

Later, the hotel's video cameras caught the two men walking through the casino and leaving in their car. Police were still looking for them.

Raymer won the $5 million grand prize in the world's most famous poker tournament, held each year at Binion's Horseshoe.