Poker Pro Jason Mercier Appears On ESPN's 'The Dan Le Batard Show'Five-Time Bracelet Winner Discusses Poker, Gambling |
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Jason Mercier is coming off an incredible World Series of Poker where he won two bracelets, cashed 11 times and grabbed $960,424 in prize money, along with an untold, but definitely massive, sum in side bets. On Tuesday, the Floridian appeared on The Dan Le Batard Show on ESPN.
The audio of the interview can be found here.
“I wonder how happy these guys actually are,” Le Batard said of poker pros, “it’s just another form of being a junkie, where it’s not enough to merely be in a [single] poker tournament.” Le Batard was referring to players who multi-table tournaments at the WSOP.
Mercier eventually came on and described the experience trying to go for a hat-trick at the WSOP. “I love playing poker,” Mercier told Le Batard after he asked him if he had fun grinding as many bracelet events as possible at the Rio Convention Center.
“Do you have a gambling problem?” Le Batard asked him at one point.
“No, I don’t think so,” Mercier responded. “I play poker to make money, and I gamble to make money. It’s more of a job for me. The thing that I always look at is, are you able to stop? Are you able to take a couple of weeks off and not play poker.”
Mercier, who has $17,253,095 in lifetime tournament earnings and five career WSOP bracelets, also discussed a $1 million loss in a cash game.
After the interview, he took to Twitter and explained how he felt about the interview. His feelings appeared mixed. “Degenerate, junkie, addict—not exactly my favorite words to describe myself as one of the best in my profession,” Mercier said. “Oh well, I’ll just keep printing!”
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