Our Verdict:
Isabelle Mercier, known online as "NoMercy", lives out of a suitcase, but you could never describe her as a bag lady.
The Team PokerStars member 's a glamorous poker babe deservedly with a reputation as one of the most marketable players in the world today as well as being recognised as a hugely gifted online and tournament player.
31-year-old Canadian Mercier began working as a poker dealer in her mid-20s in the Aviation Club in Paris after gaining a law degree. She spent four years working in poker rooms before moving to Las Vegas, where she learned poker properly and turned professional.
That’s when Mercier sold her apartment and belongings and adopted a poker life more akin to the legends of yore – travelling the circuit and living off winnings – than the modern online pro with his home comforts.
She says: “I sold everything except some clothes and a suitcase and I went for it, fulfilling my dreams. I don’t want to die and regret that I didn’t even try.”
Since that dramatic decision Mercier has had some success online and in offline tournaments, and partly attributes her proficiency to her gender. “I think I have a great advantage because I am female. I think most male players think that women have a conservative and really tight style of play, and that's good for me that they seem to think so because that really isn't my style of play.”
Mercier's first big tournament win came at the Masters Classic of Poker in Amsterdam in 2002, where she finished second and claimed $53,499. Two years later she won the World Poker Tour (WPT) Ladies Night tournament and $25,000 first prize. Commentator Mike Sexton nicknamed her “No Mercy” - and it stuck.
By far her biggest cash to date came in the £5,000 NLH tourney at this year's WSOP, when she finished 5th, good for $175,404. It was a tough Final Table that included the likes of Phil Hellmuth and Marcel Luske, That sealed her status as one of the top female pros in the world today and paid for a few more hotel rooms.
Mercier plays online at PokerStars, where she is one of their sponsored players. She tries to play at least once a day, and sticks to tournaments after initially playing cash games.
Despite accumulating nearly $600,000 offline and plenty more online, Mercier claims money is no motivation. “I don’t care about the money. I love to play. I spend the money fast when I win anyway and usually I don’t get 100 per cent of the winnings either because of sponsors and friends who stake me in tournaments. I never pay the buy-ins myself. If no-one stakes me, I don’t play.”