Interview with Isabelle Mercier

By Justin West

JW: Do you think that the World Series of Poker has lost any romance since Harrah's took it over?

IM: Yes, of course. Well first of all, downtown was good. I liked it. It was like this little village of poker players, you could feel the atmosphere and everything. Here you have none of that because people park in the parking lot, they come in, they play, they get out of here. The ambience is not there anymore.

The tournaments, you know the $1,000 events, have 3,000 people. It's a zoo. The only reason the pros play is because there's a bracelet in the end. There's no way a pro would ever play a $1,000 buy-in tournament.

At first, when I arrived here, I was supposed to take a two week break in the middle, just get out of Vegas because all those tournaments are not so good, right. Then I saw Doyle and he was there every day. I figured if Doyle was gonna be here then I'm going to be here every day playing, also.

JW: Do you do anything to prepare for the main event?

IM: Oh, yes. I'm crazy. I've been preparing for this for six months now, every day. I excercise. I go to the gym sometimes, but not that much because I don't want to kill myself. I do a lot of meditation, yoga, breathing techniques, work on my intuition.

JW: Do you think, given the size of the field, that the buy-in to the main event should be increased to thin it out?

IM: I think the good thing about this is that it's kind of popular. Everyone that really wants to qualify can do it, and make it happen, so that's why I like this format - it's open to everybody. On the other hand, my favorite tournament of the year is the $25k WPT at the Bellagio. 50,000 in chips, 2 hour levels, 5 levels a day, with only the best players in the world. This is the best tournament of the year.

Eventually, and I really believe this, there's going to be some professional leagues. Because the truth it's not that interesting to watch on TV if it's eight amateurs and one pro. Okay, we understand everyone can make it, but do you want to watch my mom and me play tennis? I mean, we can make it, right? But it's really boring.

If you have the final table with nine pros - wow! You're gonna see some moves, some play, some levels - that's the future. We're sick of seeing AK vs. pocket 5s. Okay, now what about the ten hands before, where Gus raises the blinds nine hands in a row? I think that's the future - pros only. Like other sports. Baseball, football, hockey - you don't see amateurs in there.

JW: Do you see the HORSE event possibly replacing the $10k as the main event at some point?

IM: Maybe in a few years. I don't think people are ready for that. They don't know how to play anything but Texas Hold'em. Maybe in the future, a lot of things are possible. But not in the short term. It's not so much about the buy-in, it's about the games. Those players are really good at all the games. That's why maybe in the future the all-around best player might have to be able to play all the games, not just NLHE. But for the big public today, they're not ready for it.

JW: What advice would you give to someone watching this on TV, or playing online, who wants to be a professional?

IM: My own advice is to follow your dream, whatever it is. If you really want to do it, just do it. It's going to work out. If it's true in your heart it's going to work out, and if not, something better is going to happen.

JW: You have a favorite hand?

IM: Aces. (laughing) I don't understand why people would say "Yeah, 8-6 suited!!"

JW: The WPT lawsuit... thoughts?

IM: What are their damages? What did they suffer? My main concern is what did they suffer? I think I understand why they're not happy with the contract they signed. I don't know if it's different than the one we sign here at the World Series of Poker, because we sign one here. I mean, I never read those things, I just sign them. If you want to use my image, that's fine. I don't care. It doesn't affect me.

What I have to say is "Thanks, to the WPT! Thank you, guys! Cause I'm here because of you." This is great. If they were not here, maybe someone else would have done it, that's the usual answer. I don't know. I just say thanks. Thanks to Steve Lipscomb, I think he's a great guy, been amazing for poker. All those guys are there because of him, by the way. I just gotta say thanks to Steve. I don't think he did anything wrong, and I don't think any of those players suffered any damages.

JW: You don't think they suffered any damages at all?

IM: I don't understand. What damages... did the WPT create a T-Shirt with Greg Raymer's picture on it and sell it? No.

JW: Well let's say the WPT took your picture, and they make $1,000,000 off of new players coming in because they use your picture.

IM: Did they do that?

JW: Well, hypothetically, don't you think you're entitled to some of that money that comes in as a result of using your image?

IM: Yeah, probably. What do we sign at Harrah's?

JW: I'm not sure. I haven't seen the contract.

IM: Well I think that's important, and I think we suffer more because of the things like lack of security than what they're complaining about. So we're just suing if hypothetically they do something, but until then, you have no damages.

I think there should be a real association of players together. I think it's pointless to sue the WPT. I think you need an association where you have 500 pro players, and this association negotiates with the WPT, a contract is signed, and everybody's happy. Like a union. We need this like every other sport. That's what we need, not seven players isolated suing the WPT for damages that are hypothetical.

JW: I ask this question of just about everyone. The Poker Boom: Is the bubble going to burst?

IM: I think that poker is establishing itself as an international competition, where everyone can compete equally; men, women, old, young, black, white. This is a great thing. Poker is going to save the world. I think poker is going to unite the world. Everyone can play, everyone loves the game. For sure, it exploded and it's chilling down, but it's not going to disappear. Never. It's going to establish itself as a mainstream sport.

JW: Do you have a parting message for all your fans out there?

IM: Only message is follow your dreams. Life is really short. People think they're going to live forever. That's really sad, because if you ask people that are dying, they have a lot of regrets. And it's not that they wish they had more stuff, had more money. They wish they'd done things they loved, spent more time with my family, traveled more. That's my message. Just enjoy your life in the moment because you don't know how long it's going to last.

Part I | Part II

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Justin West played poker since the age of 17, he spent more than a year earning a living on the green felt; a modest living, to be sure, but a living nonetheless. His aim was at one point to win the WSOP main event, thus causing Hell to freeze over. However, given his penchant for sin and his extreme dislike of cold weather, Justin has put that dream to rest.