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Who is Rob Mercer? Internet furious World Series of Poker player lied about cancer diagnosis to get into main event

Rob Mercer received donations estimated between $30,000 to $50,000 after lying about having cancer

VALLEJO, CALIFORNIA: Rob Mercer, an amateur 37-year-old poker player from Vallejo, California, who wanted to enter the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, recently landed in hot waters for lying about having cancer to raise money for participating in the main event, TMZ reported. 

Mercer reportedly admitted to lying about his health condition during an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal and apologized for his actions, saying, "What I did was wrong."

"I did lie about having colon cancer. I don't have colon cancer. I used that to cover my situation," he told the publication. 

Rob Mercer's GoFundMe raised over $12,000

Mercer reportedly set up a GoFundMe with the aim of raising $50,000 and said he was suffering from terminal colon cancer.

However, during his recent interview, Mercer admitted that he did not have stage four cancer when he started his initial GoFundMe to raise $10,000 to participate in the No-limit Hold'em World Championship.

While Mercer's GoFundMe raised over $12,000, per the Daily Mail, the poker player managed to receive donations estimated between $30,000 to $50,000, including a suite at the Bellagio during the event, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

A person identified as Benjamin Lee reportedly donated half of the GoFundMe money with a donation of $4,649 while another person donated $1,000 and others donated hundreds.

Mercer also reportedly received perks in addition to the monetary donations, including a suite at the Bellagio, which can cost several thousand dollars based on different factors, the Daily Mail noted.

Mercer said a GoFundMe representative contacted him to say the fund would not be allowed to accept additional gifts as it violates the terms of service. 

While speaking to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, a Bellagio representative said that they could not confirm if Mercer was a guest at the property or how much the suite cost.

"There are many different factors that go into prices, so there isn't any definitive price I can give you," they mentioned.

Cody Daniels, a chronically ill poker player who also donated $2,500 to Mercer, said the latter provided vague answers to his questions about his medical condition when they spoke.

"He was very vague on the answers. Nobody wanted to say it. It was fishy to us, and obviously we weren't the only ones," Daniels told the outlet.

While Mercer doubled-down on his apology, he said he has no plans of repaying the money as he now believes he has undiagnosed breast cancer and that he is genuinely ill.

"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," the poker player told the publication.

"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," he added.

How was Rob Mercer caught lying about having cancer?

As per the Daily Mail, the credibility of Mercer's cancer diagnosis was first questioned by members of the poker community, primarily poker influencer Doug Parscal Jr.

Parscal said he first responded to a direct message from Mercer in February when the latter asked the influencer for help because he had cancer.

Parscal offered to stake him and to bankroll his game for a tournament in Lincoln, California earlier this year.

"He responded and said, 'I'm too sick right now, but I appreciate the offer.' And that was it," the poker influencer told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

However, Mercer reportedly reached out to Parscal once again in June and asked him to spread the word about his GoFundMe fundraiser to cover his buy-in for the WSOP event.

Shortly after, Parscal began using his own connections to help Mercer raise money, including connecting the latter with famous player Nick Vertucci.

Vertucci reportedly offered to cover the difference if Mercer's GoFundMe did not end up meeting its goal. The fundraiser eventually met reached it's desired goal, alongside private donations and gifts.

Mercer was reportedly eliminated a few hours into the game during the tournament when his lie began to unravel in front of the world.

Vertucci told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Mercer was allegedly seen gambling in the casino following his elimination, leaving many to doubt if he was spending the fundraising money.

Vertucci said Mercer became defensive when he was confronted about the situation. Shortly after, the former decided to distance himself from Mercer.

When another poker player and donor pulled Vertucci aside at the World Series of Poker event, they realized Mercer may be lying about his diagnosis.

When Parscal asked Mercer for proof of his cancer, the latter gave him a MyChart.org note where he asked his doctor to confirm his diagnosis. Mercer reportedly showed a similar note to the poker community in June but the message never received the response of the doctor.

Parscal began doubting Mercer after WSOP and started receiving multiple phone calls from donors who shared similar concerns. Following a confrontation, Mercer deactivated his social media accounts.

"Obviously I was just trying to keep up with my story," Mercer admitted in his interview, adding, "I didn't want to get exposed because it looks bad. It does look bad."

"I lied. I'm not going to deny that. I lied. I should have just been transparent and comfortable with what is going on with me and tell people what was happening," he continued. 

Mercer continues to maintain that he has cancer but said that he was embarrassed to admit the truth because he may have breast cancer, which has not yet been confirmed.

''At the end of the day I lied to a lot of people because I was scared to tell the truth," Mercer stated. "And I guess I'll have to pay for that," he added.

Despite the controversy, Vertucci said he hopes that Mercer really does not have terminal breast cancer.

"He's still a human being and you need to care about every person on the planet regardless of what a big piece of cheese they could be," Vertucci mentioned.

"I don't want the kid to have cancer. Ultimately, I'd rather him just be a bad person," he added.

Rob Mercer's lie left the internet furious 

Netizens were left angered after Mercer's lie came to light and many took to Twitter to call out the poker player.

"Disgusting," one wrote. "Put him in jail," another added. "Never trust a gambler or drug addict," a third commented. 

"Scum of the earth," one user slammed. "Make him go through a couple rounds of chemo!" a fifth user suggested. 

One said, "Karma is going to get this guy, but if someone beat karma to it, I certainly wouldn’t be opposed."

Another asked, "Y’all didnt take one look at that face and think, scam?"

One tweeted, "Wish nothing but the worst for that loser" while another added, "Lifetime ban."