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Isabelle "No Mercy" Mercier

Isabelle “No Mercy” Mercier does not have an apartment anywhere – she is homeless, living out of her suitcase, and loving it.  She is known for her intense stare during play and that is how she got her nickname – she uses the same name online whilst playing to hone her skills.  “I sold everything except some clothes and a suitcase and I went for it, for fulfilling my dreams. I don’t want to die and regret that I didn’t even try,” Mercier said.  

Isabelle Mercier plays professional poker, but that is not the career path she started on. She was born in 1975 in Victoriaville, Quebec, Canada and started playing poker as a child.  She obtained a law degree from the Université de Montréal.  She was working as a blackjack dealer at the Casino de Montreal while studying.  She practiced commercial law for six months before moving to Paris where she attended the Sorbonne and perused a Master’s degree in international law while she worked at the Aviation Club de France that is regarded as one of the most elegant and sophisticated cardrooms, where poker grabbed and kept hold of her.  She obtained the degree at the age of 23, but has never returned to her law career.  At the prestigious Aviation Club de France that was established in 1907 and situated in the heart of Paris she quickly worked her way up to become the Poker room manager and the right-hand man to boss Bruno Fitoussi, a French poker legend.  

In addition to her numerous tournament wins, Isabelle has been the commentator for the three editions of the WPT

Isabelle Mercier

 Championships at the Aviation Club de France.  She was such a great manager that she was nominated twice for the “European Poker Awards” in the “Staff Person of the Year” category.  She was also nominated in the “Rookie of the Year” category.  Although she excelled at her job and held her position at the famed club for four years, she eventually quit the managerial position so she could pursue her dream to become a professional poker player.  It didn’t take long for Isabelle to start making her mark as a poker player. 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.  She has appeared on the World Poker Tour numerous times.  Isabelle made her debut on the professional circuit in 2004, quickly gaining respect and recognition.  She made eleven final tables in one year including two first place finishes. Her most recognizeable appearance was her first win at the September 2004 WPT Ladies Invitational (this is where Mike Sexton dubbed her “No Mercy Mercier for her aggressive style of play) where she won $25,000 as the first prize.  Isabelle played against some well known women (including Cyndy Violette and Wendeen Eolis) and absolutely dominated the table with her aggressive style.  She also played in the third season’s Ladies’ Event.  Her second victory was in the No-Limit event at the European Poker Tour Grand Final in Monte Carlo.  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’s total live tournament winnings exceed $800,000 as of 2008.  On July 12th 2009, Mercier finished 3rd in the PokerStars Sunday Millions, cashing for $115,000, her second highest cash to date.

Isabelle Mercier

She now travels the tournament circuit and gets to play in some of the world’s most prestigious events.

While many professional players enjoy playing cash games to earn their money, Mercier prefers to play in tournaments.  She enjoys the action and aggressiveness of play, which contrasts to the tone and pace of cash games, where players have to be more patient and disciplined.

Isabelle believes fine-tuned instinct is a powerful female attribute and a handy one for a poker player to have.  While the technical and mathematical aspects of the game can be learned by anyone who studies it enough, Isabelle thinks reading people is a harder skill to acquire and that women in general are better skilled at their ability to read their opponents at the table — “as long as they don’t let the men intimidate them.”

Intimidation is one of Mercier’s strong suits. Not only is she known for her aggressive play, but other players often find themselves the victim of her intense stare as she waits for them to make a move. That doesn’t mean she can’t be intimidated though. She lists Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu and her poker hero Gus Hansen, who she once worked with on a poker book, as three players she fears coming up against in a game.  She has been tutored by poker pros Dave Ulliott & David Benyamine

Isabelle Mercier

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 byFlammarion.  When she’s not playing, Mercier likes to read, run, take candlelit baths and listen to music. But she considers herself to be pretty boring away from the poker table because all she really wants to talk about or read about is poker.

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Isabelle Mercier

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