‘What I did was wrong’: Poker player lied about having cancer to play in WSOP Main Event
An amateur poker player who claimed to have terminal cancer so he could raise money to enter the World Series of Poker Main Event admitted he was lying about his diagnosis.
Rob Mercer of Vallejo, California, told the Review-Journal Tuesday in an exclusive phone interview that he did not have terminal stage 4 colon cancer when he started a GoFundMe account in June to fulfill his dream of playing in the WSOP’s $10,000 buy-in No-limit Hold’em World Championship.
“I did lie about having colon cancer. I don’t have colon cancer. I used that to cover my situation,” Mercer said. “What I did was wrong. I shouldn’t have told people I have colon cancer. I did that just as a spur-of-the-moment thing when someone asked me what kind of cancer I had.
“I’m sorry for not being honest about what my situation was. If I would have done that from Day One, who knows what would have happened.”
Mercer received donations estimated to be valued between $30,000 to $50,000, including a suite at Bellagio in July during the WSOP.
That includes $2,500 he was given by Cody Daniels, a chronically ill poker player from Lake Havasu City, Arizona, who was similarly staked into the Main Event.
Mercer confirmed he was contacted by a representative from GoFundMe for violating its terms of service. He said has no plans to repay the money since he believes he has undiagnosed breast cancer and the donations were made because he was sick.
“We don’t give information about guests or potential guests due to privacy reasons,” a spokesperson for MGM/Bellagio said Wednesday. “There are many different factors that go into prices, so there isn’t any definitive price I can give you.”
Mercer’s confession is the latest twist in a bizarre tale that has captivated the poker community since questions about the validity of Mercer’s illness were first raised publicly by budding poker influencer Doug Parscal Jr. a month ago.
It’s been the subject of numerous late-night conversations on Twitter Spaces, with the search for truth bordering on an obsession. Additionally, many of those who were drawn in by Mercer’s cancer story and duped into donating conducted their own private investigations in an effort to discredit him.
But Mercer’s ruse reached its inevitable conclusion, with the 37-year-old now permanently shunned by the same people who were eager to help him this summer.
World Series of Poker officials did not respond to a request for comment.
Suspicions raised
Parscal didn’t know Mercer when he responded to him on X, formerly known as Twitter, in February.
A recreational poker player from Martinez, California, who goes by the handle “SnoopDoug” on social media, Parscal saw a post from Mercer asking for help because he had cancer and offered to stake him in a tournament at Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln, California.
“He responded and said, ‘I’m too sick right now, but I appreciate the offer,’ ” Parscal said. “And that was it.”
But in June, Parscal received a message from Mercer asking to spread the word of his GoFundMe, which said Mercer had “Terminal Cancer” and was seeking to raise money to play the WSOP Main Event.
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An amateur poker player who claimed to have terminal cancer so he could raise money to enter the World Series of Poker Main Event admitted he was lying about his diagnosis.
Rob Mercer of Vallejo, California, told the Review-Journal Tuesday in an exclusive phone interview that he did not have terminal stage 4 colon cancer when he started a GoFundMe account in June to fulfill his dream of playing in the WSOP’s $10,000 buy-in No-limit Hold’em World Championship.
“I did lie about having colon cancer. I don’t have colon cancer. I used that to cover my situation,” Mercer said. “What I did was wrong. I shouldn’t have told people I have colon cancer. I did that just as a spur-of-the-moment thing when someone asked me what kind of cancer I had.
“I’m sorry for not being honest about what my situation was. If I would have done that from Day One, who knows what would have happened.”
Mercer received donations estimated to be valued between $30,000 to $50,000, including a suite at Bellagio in July during the WSOP.
That includes $2,500 he was given by Cody Daniels, a chronically ill poker player from Lake Havasu City, Arizona, who was similarly staked into the Main Event.
Mercer confirmed he was contacted by a representative from GoFundMe for violating its terms of service. He said has no plans to repay the money since he believes he has undiagnosed breast cancer and the donations were made because he was sick.
“We don’t give information about guests or potential guests due to privacy reasons,” a spokesperson for MGM/Bellagio said Wednesday. “There are many different factors that go into prices, so there isn’t any definitive price I can give you.”
Mercer’s confession is the latest twist in a bizarre tale that has captivated the poker community since questions about the validity of Mercer’s illness were first raised publicly by budding poker influencer Doug Parscal Jr. a month ago.
It’s been the subject of numerous late-night conversations on Twitter Spaces, with the search for truth bordering on an obsession. Additionally, many of those who were drawn in by Mercer’s cancer story and duped into donating conducted their own private investigations in an effort to discredit him.
But Mercer’s ruse reached its inevitable conclusion, with the 37-year-old now permanently shunned by the same people who were eager to help him this summer.
World Series of Poker officials did not respond to a request for comment.
Suspicions raised
Parscal didn’t know Mercer when he responded to him on X, formerly known as Twitter, in February.
A recreational poker player from Martinez, California, who goes by the handle “SnoopDoug” on social media, Parscal saw a post from Mercer asking for help because he had cancer and offered to stake him in a tournament at Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln, California.
“He responded and said, ‘I’m too sick right now, but I appreciate the offer,’ ” Parscal said. “And that was it.”
But in June, Parscal received a message from Mercer asking to spread the word of his GoFundMe, which said Mercer had “Terminal Cancer” and was seeking to raise money to play the WSOP Main Event.
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