Why Poker player lied about having cancer and received thousands in donations to play in a World Series of Poker tournament

\  A California man has admitted to lying about having terminal cancer after receiving thousands of dollars in donations to play in a World Series of Poker tournament, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Robert Mercer claimed to have terminal stage 4 colon cancer and convinced people to donate to his GoFundMe campaign to help pay to enter the Las Vegas competition. Now, the 37-year-old Vallejo resident tells the Las Vegas Review-Journal that it was all a lie. “I did lie about having colon cancer. I don’t have colon cancer,” Mercer told David Shorn of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “I used that to cover my situation. What I did was wrong. I shouldn’t have told people I have colon cancer.” Mercer started the GoFundMe in June, according to the newspaper. But a few months later, people in the poker community grew skeptical about Mercer’s condition, according to Doug Pascal Jr., who donated to Mercer. “It was a mix of emotions because on one hand, I wanted him to be lying,” Pascal Jr. told CNN. “Because I don’t want someone to be dying of that.” The goal of the GoFundMe was to fulfill Mercer’s dream of playing in the WHOP’S $10,000 buy-in No-limit Hold’em World Championship, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Mercer also received donations through private transactions, including a paid suite at the Fellatio hotel during the tournament. In all, he received between $30,000 to $50,000 worth of donations, according to the newspaper. He has no intention of paying anyone back, according to the Review-Journal, because “he believes he has undiagnosed breast cancer and the donations were made because he was sick.” 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. "I did lie about having colon cancer. I don't have colon cancer. I used that to cover my situation," Mercer told the paper. "What I did was wrong," he continued. "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." 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 Fellatio. 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 had done that from Day One, who knows what would have happened," Mercer remarked to 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. Mercer confirmed to the Vegas-Review that GoFundMe got in touch with him about violating its terms of service. People who donated to Mercer were notified late Wednesday by GoFundMe that they'd be getting refunds, according to the newspaper.