After a few different attempts at installing VMware-player in Ubuntu ( ), I finally found a one-line recipe.

First, download the bundle from the VMware website.
http://www.vmware.com/download/player/

Then enter the following line with the correct path and the wmware version.

sudo sh '/path/VMware-Player-2.5.2-version_number.i386.bundle'

for example:

sudo sh '/home/jauntyjackalope/Desktop/VMware-Player-2.5.2-156735.i386.bundle'

Note:
It is also possible to install the rpm file by converting it to a deb file.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RPM/AlienHowto

First, you need to install Alien. Then convert the rpm file and finally, install the debian package.

sudo apt-get install alien

sudo alien -i package_file.rpm

sudo alien package_file.rpm

sudo dpkg -i package_file.deb