When your VMware Player crashes unexpectedly upon start (ie. UI opens up for 1-2 seconds then disappears), fear not. Magix fix is (as root):
cd /usr/lib/vmware/lib
mv libcurl.so.4 libcurl.so.4.old
That's it, really. :)
Credits:
http://communities.vmware.com/message/1444574#1444574