Poker Player’s Cancer Scam Makes Headlines Around The WorldSome Argue Rob Mercer Needs To Face Criminal Charges |
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One poker player made plenty of headlines last week, only it wasn’t for a big tournament win.
Instead, poker player Rob Mercer confessed to scamming fellow players and supporters out of thousands of dollars after lying about having cancer.
News sites from San Francisco to New York to England and everywhere in between reported on the story after Mercer confessed his supposed terminal stage four colon cancer was a lie.
“I did lie about having colon cancer,” he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “I don’t have colon cancer. I used that to cover my situation. 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 1, who knows what would have happened?”
Raising Big Bucks
After hearing his story, numerous players pitched in to Mercer’s GoFundMe site, reportedly reaching $30,000 to $50,000. The cash helped fund a seat in the World Series of Poker main event, and he also received a Bellagio suite during the series.
The ordeal drew plenty of interest among media outlets, and GoFundMe announced that the company would be refunding players’ donations.
“GoFundMe has zero tolerance for the misuse of our platform and takes swift action against those who exploit the generosity of our community,” the site noted.
“We have removed this fundraiser for violating our terms of service, all donors have been fully refunded, and Rob Mercer has been banned from using the platform for any future fundraisers. Additionally, GoFundMe cooperates with law enforcement investigations of those formally accused of wrongdoing.”
Doubts Begin To Surface
Several players initially began working to help raise funds for Mercer. Hustler Casino Live co-founder Nick Vertucci was one of those and feels he was duped, speaking about the experience on his YouTube channel.
“It’s unfortunate, it’s sad,” he said. “I take full accountability for the fact that I did not vet the information. I took it at face value. The whole community was rallying behind it.”
Vertucci said he was told of poor behavior by Mercer during the WSOP, which included cursing at donors. He told the player that his behavior toward others who supported him was inappropriate.
Mercer’s main event run didn’t last long and some supporters began having doubts about the entire ordeal. Poker player “SnoopDoug” then released text messages on Twitter involving Mercer and a player who donated $2,500 while battling his own chronic illness.
Mercer admitted the cancer diagnosis was a ruse and he instead believed he has male breast cancer, although he hasn’t been diagnosed by a doctor and presented no proof. He also said he has no plans to give back the money.
Rob Mercers (Confession) text messages in all its glory pic.twitter.com/9xMMK5M0Po
— Snoopdoug (@PuntingStacks) September 20, 2023
Going Underground, Possibly Facing Charges
As Mercer notes in the messages, deleting the GoFundMe page and deactivating his social media only added to the suspicions that his cancer wasn’t real. Vertucci said many reporters have tried to reach out to Mercer but are quickly hung up on.
As GoFundMe alluded to, criminal charges could possibly be considered in the case and that’s something some players have clamored for.
Todd Witteles, who runs PokerPraudAlert.com, Tweeted: “I am going to see what I can do to get him prosecuted.”
Anyone who donated to cancer scammer Rob Mercer, Gofundme is now issuing refunds. Either contact them or Snoopdoug if you donated through Gofundme and have not been refunded yet.
Thanks to @DavidSchoenLVRJ for the article which likely made it happen: https://t.co/YxzTHmdeeQ https://t.co/x8gTQPlUhE— Todd Witteles (@ToddWitteles) September 21, 2023
Another player took to Twitter to encourage the FBI to get involved so that Mercer faces more than just heat on social media and in the news.
“Clearly this was a fraud and scam committed by this individual,” the Twitter user noted. “It should be an FBI jurisdiction as it was nationwide and by using GoFundMe should amount to wire fraud charges. Should be open and shut case. Rob Mercer needs legal consequences.”
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