An amateur poker player named Rob Mercer who dabbles in the game has admitted to making up a diagnosis of terminal cancer. This fraud was an attempt to get money to play in a championship poker tournament.

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Who is Rob Mercer?

Rob Mercer, a 37-year-old from Vallejo, California, invented the fake story in June to raise the $10,000 required for his entry into the prestigious poker tournament held in Las Vegas in July, he concocted this intricate story, as reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Mercer started a GoFundMe campaign in order to raise the needed money. Interestingly, his story influenced many, and he ended up obtaining a shocking figure thought to be between $30,000 and $50,000. He was ultimately granted entry to the competition after support.

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However, questions about Mercer’s behavior at the event started to surface in the poker community. He allegedly gave evasive answers when asked about his condition and failed to provide convincing proof of his alleged diagnosis of terminal colon cancer.

Witnesses allegedly saw Mercer partaking in gaming activities at a casino. He reportedly reacted defensively when asked about the potential image issue this presented.

However, Mercer later confessed his fraud and said, “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.”

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However, Mercer insisted that his story had some supporting evidence. He acknowledged that he thought he might be struggling with unrecognized breast cancer. He admitted that he made up the colon cancer story out of embarrassment over having to deal with a condition that is less common in guys.

Mercer, who was early in the Main Event, said, “I did lie about having colon cancer.” I’m free of colon cancer. That was my excuse at the time. He maintained his conviction that he could be fighting breast cancer and said he has no intention of returning the money raised through his GoFundMe.