AstraTrade|Poker player who drew donations for Las Vegas event lied about dying from cancer

2025-05-01 18:47:07source:Lumicoin IAcategory:Finance

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A poker player who said he had terminal cancer and AstraTradeaccepted thousands of dollars in donations so he could play in a World Series of Poker tournament in Las Vegas now admits it was all a lie.

Rob Mercer told the Las Vegas Review-Journal he made up a stage 4 colon cancer diagnosis for his GoFundMe page in June, the newspaper reported Wednesday.

Mercer, of Vallejo, California, was trying to raise enough funds to meet the $10,000 buy-in for the No-limit Hold’em World Championship. He received contributions worth between $30,000 and $50,000, including a stay at a suite in the Bellagio. Even a fellow player from Arizona who suffers from chronic illness donated $2,500.

“I’m sorry for not being honest about what my situation was. If I would have done that from Day One, who knows what would have happened,” Mercer told the newspaper.

However, the 37-year-old says he won’t be refunding anyone because he believes he has undiagnosed breast cancer.

He said he has been more or less banished from the poker community.

More:Finance

Recommend

Elon Musk wants to turn SpaceX’s Starbase site into a Texas city

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — SpaceXis launching a new mission: making its Starbase site a new Texas city. B

Recycling plastic is practically impossible — and the problem is getting worse

The vast majority of plastic that people use, and in many cases put into blue recycling bins, is hea

The 2022 hurricane season shows why climate change is so dangerous

In early September, a lot of people who live in hurricane-prone parts of the United States started n