Bay Area man made up cancer diagnosis to play in World Series of Poker

Bluffing is a key component of poker — there’s a reason it’s called a poker face. But the bluffing is supposed to apply only to your cards, not your bill of health.

Such was the case for Rob Mercer of Vallejo, California, who reportedly raised up to $50,000 in charity donations after he claimed to have terminal colon cancer. He reportedly used the proceeds to enter the World Series of Poker Main Event in Las Vegas.

But amid mounting questions, Mercer admitted the colon cancer diagnosis was fraudulent on Tuesday in an interview with the Las Vegas Journal-Review.

“I did lie about having colon cancer. I don’t have colon cancer. I used that to cover my situation,” Mercer said to the newspaper. “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.”

The Las Vegas Journal-Review estimated the total value of donations to Mercer to be between $30,000 and $50,000. Mercer raised over $12,000 via a GoFundMe page and also took in other donations — including a multinight stay at a Bellagio Hotel suite. The Bellagio, a five-star resort, does not list its suite prices but travel blog Feeling Las Vegas notes that suite costs can easily exceed $1,000 per night.

With a $10,000 buy-in, which Mercer paid for with his ill-gotten donations, the World Series of Poker is the most famous poker tournament in the world. Daniel Weinman earned over $12 million for his tournament victory this year. Mercer was eliminated during the first day of the tournament.

GoFundMe said it refunded all of the donations given to Mercer following the admission and banned him from using the platform.

“GoFundMe has zero tolerance for the misuse of our platform and takes swift action against those who exploit the generosity of our community,” the company said in an emailed statement to the Associated Press.

While Mercer admitted to lying about his colon cancer diagnosis, he told the Las Vegas Journal-Review that he believes he suffers from breast cancer. However, the Associated Press said his potential breast cancer was “undiagnosed.”