Greg Merson -- A Chip And A Chair Success Story

Greg Merson shouldn’t even be here. The 25-year-old professional poker player was left with just a couple of blinds with 150 players remaining on day 5 after doubling up Fabrizio Gonzalez.

Merson got it all in with second pair and the nut flush draw, only to lose to Gonzalez and his set. After the stacks were counted down, it was determined that Merson had Gonzalez covered, albeit slightly.

If his tournament had ended on the next hand, the Laurel, Maryland native would have been just fine with that. A deep run in the 2012 WSOP main event, along with his bracelet victory in event no. 57, the $10,000 six-handed no-limit hold’em event, would’ve been more than enough to call his summer a success.

“I wasn’t too tilted or anything after the hand,” said Merson. “I mean, it would be pretty ridiculous for me to be upset after the summer that I’ve had.”

Instead of bowing out, however, Merson is proving to everyone that the old poker adage of “a chip and a chair” is true. First, he doubled up. Then he doubled up again. Pretty soon, he had a stack large enough to make a few moves with. After knocking out a couple of players, he was back to average.

“I knew I needed to get a little lucky and double up once or twice, but after that, I thought it was entirely possible that I could run it back up.”

Now, with 25 players remaining in the main event, Merson is a serious threat to make the final table and possibly win his second bracelet of the summer.

Instead of a $52,718 payday, he is now guaranteed at least $294,601. Combined with his prior summer winnings of $16,850, $70,280 and his monster score of $1,136,197, Merson has quickly made a name for himself in the poker world, something that was tough to do as an online cash game grinder.

“I’m on a total freeroll, I know,” said Merson. “But making that final table would be such an incredible accomplishment. You know, I didn’t get much attention when I was playing online, so it was hard to justify my decision to play poker for a living to my friends and relatives. Now, they’ll get to see me on television, winning absurd amounts of money. This is validation to myself, showing all of those people who said I wouldn’t make it that they were wrong.”

For complete coverage of the summer poker festival, check out our WSOP landing page.

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