Rob Mercer claimed to have terminal cancer to gain his Main Event buy-in has been revealed as a scammer who stole over $12,000 from unsuspecting poker fans!
Good news, Mike. Looks like the dude was a scammer who didn’t really have cancer.
I suspected as such, but I couldn’t say anything because I already used up my 2023 poker cancer callout quota early in the year. https://t.co/BZWVnx3dVx
— Todd Witteles (@ToddWitteles) August 20, 2023
Ryan Feldman, Danielle Andersen, Dan Shak, Ben Lee and Jose Barbero were among 80 people who donated to Rob Mercer’s GoFundMe.
Mercer described himself as “a 37-year-old semi-professional poker player with terminal cancer,” claiming he had “anywhere from 6 months to 18 months depending on how rapidly it progresses.”
He played on the heartstrings of poker players everywhere with the bucket list comment: “If I didn’t at least try to find a way to play the Main once before I die, it will haunt me even in death.”
On hearing his sob story, HCL boss Nick Vertucci stepped in to guarantee Mercer’s participation in the Main Event.
Rob Mercer didn’t make it beyond day 1 of the biggest tournament of the year, but his Instagram showed that he played the event in some style, with a suite at the Bellagio.
Now it appears Vertucci was only one of dozens who have been scammed, a Twitter Spaces convo revealing Mercer’s scam…
Truly hope im wrong about Rob Mercer scamming the entire community out of countless time, 30-40k, & many hours of tears & advice have spent trying to help him
Feel personally responsible since I brought his story to the community
Feel sick about it allhttps://t.co/dHCnWZZoIF
— Snoopdoug 🃏🧨💸 (@PuntingStacks) August 20, 2023
The Californian player who had championed Mercer’s cause had recently grown suspicious of the claims and asked for proof of his terminal cancer diagnosis.
That wasn’t forthcoming, with Mercer unable to provide any paperwork and revealing his doctor was just a GP rather than an oncologist.
“Proof” sent today pic.twitter.com/nKrGuXLH9G
— Snoopdoug 🃏🧨💸 (@PuntingStacks) August 20, 2023
Cody Daniels was another victim of Mercer’s fake cancer story. Daniels is suffering from his own terminal illness diagnosis and was shocked by the news about Mercer:
“If he’s telling the truth, he’s dying. If he’s lying, he’s a scam artist. I don’t know what outcome to hope for.
“But if he’s a scammer, he got me for 10% of my “potential winnings” of my main event after I offered when he busted out. Well I cashed for $30k so if he’s a “con artist”, I unfortunately fell victim to it as well.
Now Rob Mercer has shut down his Twitter account and Poker Fraud Alert founder, Todd Witteles, tweeted: “I’m starting to believe nobody in poker has ever had cancer ever.”
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