Isabelle Mercier
Encyclopedia
Isabelle Mercier is a professional poker
player.
Mercier originally learned to play poker as a child, but prior to turning to a poker career, she earned an undergraduate law
degree
from the Université de Montréal
and practiced commercial law
for six months. She then moved to Paris
, France
and earned a master's degree
while working as the poker room manager at the Aviation Club de France
, before turning to poker full-time. During her time working at the Aviation Club she was nominated for Staff Person of the Year twice at the European Poker Awards.
She first made a name for herself by finishing in second place in the €800 No Limit hold 'em
tournament at the Masters Classic of Poker 2002 in Amsterdam
, where she earned $53,499.
In 2004 Mercier won the World Poker Tour
(WPT) Ladies' Night tournament and the $25,000 first prize, where Mike Sexton
nicknamed her "No Mercy."
In 2005 she finished tenth in the European Poker Tour
(EPT) Grand Final in Monte Carlo
, earning €23,090, and outlasting players such as World Series of Poker
(WSOP) runner-up Julian Gardner, WPT multi-tournament winner Gus Hansen
, WPT season 2 champion Martin De Knijff
and Barny Boatman
. Also in 2005, she had three money finishes at the WSOP
.
Mercier made her first EPT final table in February 2006 in Deauville
, finishing seventh at a final table also featuring Ram Vaswani
and Kirill Gerasimov
.
Mercier has her own instructional DVD
and appeared in the documentary That's Poker. In January 2008, she released her own biography: Profession : bluffeuse (Profession: Bluffer), in Montreal
and printed in France by Flammarion
.
Until 2009, she was a member of the PokerStars
online poker
cardroom's "Team PokerStars" group of sponsored players. Mercier's total live tournament winnings exceeded $1,150,000 as of 2010.
On April 27, 2009, Mercier won the PokerStars
' Ante Up for Africa charity tournament in Monte Carlo
. The final table included fellow Canadian Daniel Negreanu
, Australian Tony G
, John Duthie
(creator of the European Poker Tour
), Italian pro Dario Minieri
(who finished third), and English soccer star Teddy Sheringham
(who came in second).
On July 12, 2009, Mercier finished 3rd in the PokerStars Sunday Millions, cashing for $115,000, her second highest cash to date.
By the end of 2009, Mercier left the PokerStars pro team and on December 2, 2009, joined gambling giant BetClic as a consultant
for their online poker site.
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
player.
Mercier originally learned to play poker as a child, but prior to turning to a poker career, she earned an undergraduate law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
from the Université de Montréal
Université de Montréal
The Université de Montréal is a public francophone research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It comprises thirteen faculties, more than sixty departments and two affiliated schools: the École Polytechnique and HEC Montréal...
and practiced commercial law
Commercial law
Commercial law is the body of law that governs business and commercial transactions...
for six months. She then moved to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and earned a master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
while working as the poker room manager at the Aviation Club de France
Aviation Club de France
Aviation Club de France is a gambling club/casino in central Paris, France.The club opened in 1907 and is widely regarded as a classic gambling site.In 2005 the Grand Prix de Paris leg of the World Poker Tour took place at the Aviation Club....
, before turning to poker full-time. During her time working at the Aviation Club she was nominated for Staff Person of the Year twice at the European Poker Awards.
She first made a name for herself by finishing in second place in the €800 No Limit hold 'em
Texas hold 'em
Texas Hold 'em is a variation of the standard card game of poker. The game consists of two cards being dealt face down to each player and then five community cards being placed face-up by the dealer—a series of three then two additional single cards , with...
tournament at the Masters Classic of Poker 2002 in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, where she earned $53,499.
In 2004 Mercier won the World Poker Tour
World Poker Tour
The World Poker Tour is a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting the final table of each tournament. It was started in the United States by attorney/television producer Steven Lipscomb, who served as CEO of WPT Enterprises , the firm that...
(WPT) Ladies' Night tournament and the $25,000 first prize, where Mike Sexton
Mike Sexton
Michael Richard Sexton is an American professional poker player and commentator. He is a member of the Poker Hall of Fame.-Early years:...
nicknamed her "No Mercy."
In 2005 she finished tenth in the European Poker Tour
European Poker Tour
The Pokerstars European Poker Tour is a series of poker tournaments similar to those in the World Poker Tour , created by John Duthie, winner of the inaugural Poker Million tournament. It began in 2004 as part of the worldwide explosion in Texas Hold 'em popularity...
(EPT) Grand Final in Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....
, earning €23,090, and outlasting players such as World Series of Poker
World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker is a world-renowned series of poker tournaments held annually in Las Vegas and, since 2005, sponsored by Harrah's Entertainment...
(WSOP) runner-up Julian Gardner, WPT multi-tournament winner Gus Hansen
Gus Hansen
Gustav "Gus" Hansen is a professional Danish poker player who lives in Monaco. In his poker career, Hansen has won three World Poker Tour open titles, the 2007 Aussie Millions main event and was the season one winner of the Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament...
, WPT season 2 champion Martin De Knijff
Martin De Knijff
Martin de Knijff is a professional sports bettor and high-stakes poker player from Gothenburg, Sweden.His last name is from his Dutch father. His mother is Swedish...
and Barny Boatman
Barny Boatman
Barny M. P. Boatman , is an English professional poker player and the oldest member of the poker-playing foursome known as The Hendon Mob...
. Also in 2005, she had three money finishes at the WSOP
2005 World Series of Poker
The 2005 World Series of Poker opened play on June 2, continuing through the Main Event No Limit World Championship starting on July 7. The conclusion of the Main Event on July 15 marked the close of play, and the largest prize in sports and/or television history at the time was awarded to the...
.
Mercier made her first EPT final table in February 2006 in Deauville
Deauville
Deauville is a commune in the Calvados département in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.With its racecourse, harbour, international film festival, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino and sumptuous hotels, Deauville is regarded as the "queen of the Norman beaches" and...
, finishing seventh at a final table also featuring Ram Vaswani
Ram Vaswani
Ram Vaswani is an English professional snooker player, turned professional poker player and the youngest member of The Hendon Mob...
and Kirill Gerasimov
Kirill Gerasimov
Kirill Gerasimov is a Russian professional poker player.Gerasimov worked as an insurance salesman in Moscow, and started entering poker tournaments throughout Europe in 2001...
.
Mercier has her own instructional DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and appeared in the documentary That's Poker. In January 2008, she released her own biography: Profession : bluffeuse (Profession: Bluffer), in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
and printed in France by Flammarion
Groupe Flammarion
Groupe Flammarion is the fourth largest publishing group in France, comprising many units, including its namesake, founded in 1876 by Ernest Flammarion, as well as units in distribution, sales, printing and bookshops . Flammarion became part of the Italian media conglomerate RCS MediaGroup in 2000...
.
Until 2009, she was a member of the PokerStars
PokerStars
PokerStars is the largest online poker cardroom in the world. PokerStars' satellite tournaments produced the 2003 World Series of Poker champion, Chris Moneymaker. 1983 champion Tom McEvoy, 2005 champion Joe Hachem, 2009 champion Joe Cada and 2010 champion Jonathan Duhamel and others also represent...
online poker
Online poker
Online poker is the game of poker played over the Internet. It has been partly responsible for a dramatic increase in the number of poker players worldwide...
cardroom's "Team PokerStars" group of sponsored players. Mercier's total live tournament winnings exceeded $1,150,000 as of 2010.
On April 27, 2009, Mercier won the PokerStars
PokerStars
PokerStars is the largest online poker cardroom in the world. PokerStars' satellite tournaments produced the 2003 World Series of Poker champion, Chris Moneymaker. 1983 champion Tom McEvoy, 2005 champion Joe Hachem, 2009 champion Joe Cada and 2010 champion Jonathan Duhamel and others also represent...
' Ante Up for Africa charity tournament in Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....
. The final table included fellow Canadian Daniel Negreanu
Daniel Negreanu
Daniel Negreanu is a Canadian professional poker player. He has won four World Series of Poker bracelets and two World Poker Tour Championship titles. He is currently ranked second in the all-time career earnings list and is the star of poker game show Million Dollar Challenge. He plays a big...
, Australian Tony G
Tony G
Antanas Guoga , more commonly known as Tony G, is a businessman and professional poker player. As a child, he was the Rubik's Cube champion of Lithuania before moving to Melbourne, Australia at the age of 11. He has played poker since the age of 18, and is known for his outlandish table talk and...
, John Duthie
John Duthie
John Duthie is a London-based English television director and creator of the European Poker Tour.-Film and television:...
(creator of the European Poker Tour
European Poker Tour
The Pokerstars European Poker Tour is a series of poker tournaments similar to those in the World Poker Tour , created by John Duthie, winner of the inaugural Poker Million tournament. It began in 2004 as part of the worldwide explosion in Texas Hold 'em popularity...
), Italian pro Dario Minieri
Dario Minieri
Dario Minieri is an Italian professional poker player from Rome, Italy who won a bracelet at the 2008 World Series of Poker at the age of 23, is a member of team PokerStars, is an online poker player who was the first person to collect enough Frequent Player Points to buy an automobile with them,...
(who finished third), and English soccer star Teddy Sheringham
Teddy Sheringham
Edward Paul "Teddy" Sheringham MBE is a retired English footballer, and the father of footballer Charlie Sheringham. Sheringham played as a striker, and had a successful career at the club level, winning almost every domestic honour available with his clubs, most notably the Treble with Manchester...
(who came in second).
On July 12, 2009, Mercier finished 3rd in the PokerStars Sunday Millions, cashing for $115,000, her second highest cash to date.
By the end of 2009, Mercier left the PokerStars pro team and on December 2, 2009, joined gambling giant BetClic as a consultant
Consultant
A consultant is a professional who provides professional or expert advice in a particular area such as management, accountancy, the environment, entertainment, technology, law , human resources, marketing, emergency management, food production, medicine, finance, life management, economics, public...
for their online poker site.