It is the beginning of 2003. Just a couple of months before, I have seen Isabelle Mercier in action at the poker tables for the first time. It was at the 2002 Master Classics of Poker in Amsterdam, where she finished second to the young Swede Koray Saka in the €820 no-limit hold’em. I was the reporter at that event, and had been able to watch her very closely. Stylish and elegant she was, certainly, but she also seemed a bit uninterested at times – and yes, it needs to be said, maybe a tad arrogant as well.

In this report of mine, I actually wrote that on the decisive hand, she probably made one or two mistakes that cost her the tournament. Why did I write that? Well, basically because it is my job to try and be as objective as possible. Of course, I could just as well have written something completely different: that during this entire event, I had not been able to keep my eyes off her. That this attitude of hers, this calmness, this being friendly but not too friendly, that all of this stuff had me quite dazzled. I could have written that – but I didn’t. I simply stuck to the story.

Anyway, it is the beginning of 2003 when I send an e-mail to Isabelle. In this mail, I more or less offer myself to the beautiful and prestigious Aviation Club (ACF) to do the reporting for an upcoming major event, and Isabelle is the manager there. Frankly I don’t care that much for the job, I just want to act like I am important – but hey, that’s not what you usually tell people when you apply for a job. She even writes back, and is in fact very complimentary about my works. I am happy as a little boy.

And then, two years later, we meet again. As fate has it, I am actually working at the Aviation Club at that exact time, doing whatever it is that I applied for two years ago: taking care of the reports for the big event there, in this case the $10,000 WPT. And in addition to that, I have the honor to interview her as part of this cover story that you are reading now. Actually, it had in fact been me who had come up with the suggestion to CardPlayer Europe that Isabelle would make for a great cover – when of course I really meant “Please Jesse, just let me talk to Isabelle for hours, so I can pretend to be a young and hot poker writer.”

Anyway, when she walks up to me at the bar of the Aviation Club where we have agreed to meet, I once again feel like this little boy, and all I can think is “Isabelle, just take this chair and don’t you ever leave.” But then I decide that it is CardPlayer Europe that pays my bills, and that it is them who have sent me here with a specific task. I pull myself together, and get ready for business. I confront this beautiful young lady with some nice and some obvious, but also some critical questions, and I decide that I’m not going to let this woman affect me with her charms in any way. In the end, this is what we come up with: Eleven questions & answers with one of the rising stars in poker - “No Mercy” Isabelle Mercier.

RS: You have had quite an interesting life. Please tell us where you came from, and how you have gotten to do what you do now.
IM: I actually started working already at a very young age. At some time I even worked full time in a casino at night, while studying at college during the day. I had always wanted to be independent, and in fact I started travelling at quite a young age, being just 18. I even spent quite some time in New Mexico doing some studying over there, and in the end I was 23 when I had gotten my Masters degree in International Law. One needed six months of practice to actually get that official title, so this is what I did. But to tell you the truth I didn’t like law one bit, and I especially disliked the fact that my alarm clock was always ringing, that I had to get up early day in day out. So, after these six months I sent out my resume to about 100 companies around the world, saying who I was, what I had accomplished, and that I simply was eager to travel - so that if they could offer me a good job, I would be willing to work and live wherever this job may be. And to my surprise, quite a few companies responded in a positive manner. In the end, the Aviation Club in Paris was obviously the best choice for me. Being from Quebec, I am a native French speaker. I already had some casino experience, and most of all working at the Champs Elysees just looked very exciting to me. And exciting it was: I have never regretted going there, not one minute.

RS: OK, so then you started working as a dealer in the Aviation Club, and you quickly worked your way up to being a manager there. Now, by all accounts, this must have been an excellent job. You had the chance to travel, to meet all kinds of famous players and you probably made decent money. Yet, you gave all of this up to pursue a career as a poker pro – a shaky and insecure existence, to put it mildly. Why?
IM: Well, it may have been a somewhat rash move, but I don’t consider it to be that risky at all. I mean, the worst that could happen was that I would lose all my money. Now, knowing that I hardly had any money to begin with, it was not like I had a lot to lose. Yeah, my job – but hey, I was just ready for the next step and I felt I had to broaden my horizon. After I had been in Amsterdam and then had been with my father on the same cruise that you & Elvira were also on, I returned to the ACF thinking just one thing: I want out. And that had nothing to do with that I didn’t like my job there anymore – it was just that I was ready to take on a new challenge. And yes, maybe the decision was a bit rash, because I had maybe like $10,000 total as a bankroll. And it was not like I had that $10K in my pocket – one had to be very creative to actually come up with that total amount. But that’s just me: I want to live life to the fullest, and I don’t want to let go of an opportunity that I know could make me very happy.

RS: So, you became a pro in January 2004, and if you look at your results you can indeed see many good scores in recent times. But being the devil’s advocate, I would say that you may have many final tables and indeed two tournaments wins, but no really big ones yet. In fact, your biggest cash ever is still your second place in the 2002 Master Classics. Now, taking into account that you have entered a lot of big events lately, this must be quite disappointing, I presume. So, what is your view on your performances so far. Are you pleased with them, and are you still as happy with this move of yours as you were in the beginning?
IM: Well yes, extremely happy! You know, the first six months that I was officially a poker pro were actually quite a struggle. I was playing cash in some small games – and when I say small, I mean really small games. I was not doing that well actually until this WPT Ladies Night Out Invitational that I won. From there, it was PokerStars who took me under their wings, and I could suddenly enter all the big tournaments that until then I could only dream of. So, when I now analyze my results so far in a very critical manner, it is clear that I often seem to be freezing when I get to the point in a tournament when things get truly important to me. This is usually the final three or the final table, but in some cases even the final three tables. Either way, I often tend to become too conservative at that stage, when I should be continuing the aggression that people know me for. But on the other hand, I do have a long list of excellent results, and I have clearly proved that I am at least way above average – not bad for someone who has been playing seriously for just over a year. But I don’t want to stop here. It’s not like there are 200 or 300 top players in Europe - I am fairly certain I could easily work my way up to the best 10 players here. I know what I’m capable of, and I am very serious about improving. I also am very aware of my specific weaknesses. Now, the combination of these factors should make sure that in the future I will be able to finish things off – especially at the biggest and most prestigious events.

RS: You are Canadian but when I see you, you always look so French to me: stylish, elegant, but also a bit eccentric and even a bit arrogant at times. Do you feel more like Canadian or French?
IM: I feel like neither one. More than anything, I probably feel international. I truly like living out of my suitcase, spending one third of my time in Europe, one third of my time in the U.S., and one third of the time in the rest of the world, including Canada. I guess I just feel good anywhere.

RS: You are one of the few people in poker who likes to dress up, who is fond of wearing some exclusive and rather expensive brands. Are they in some way important to your game, or do you just wear them because they make you feel comfortable, because it is something that you like to do?
IM: Well, the first reason is that I like to spend the money that I win. So, knowing that I don’t have a home and truly live out of my suitcase, I decided that instead of buying lots of cheap stuff, I would be better off buying a little bit of expensive stuff. (Laughs) Yes, my clothes of course make me feel good, but I used to wear them way before I started playing poker. What I have changed is that nowadays I use more make-up than before. Without make-up, I basically look like a 17-year old, and because I want to be feared at the poker tables at least somewhat, I simply have no choice but to wear it. Also, I once saw a picture of me in a magazine where I had no make-up on and was seated next to someone who was wearing a lot, and I just thought it didn’t look good. Also, I guess it is just necessary with all of this media attention that I get.

By the way, as you know I don’t get to wear many kinds of different clothes anymore, because I always wear my PokerStars sweater at the tables nowadays. This sweater obviously has my “No Mercy” nickname on it, and sometimes I have to smile at myself when I make an incredibly stupid move, and then see this fierce “No Mercy” sign on my shirt. Ah, well.

RS: I read somewhere that after you quit your job at the ACF in order to become pro, you organized an open-door sales weekend where you sold everything you owned, so you could then go living out of your suitcase in order to start travelling the world. Is that exactly how things went, or is this just a free and somewhat romantic interpretation of the actual situation?
IM: (Laughs) That is exactly the way it went! I posted something on a website for French-speaking people that I would be selling all my stuff – or better, that I would give away all my stuff almost for free, and that people could simply come over to me and get it. I can tell you, the place was cleared in two days! And yes, ever since that day I have been living out of my suitcase, and as things look now, this is not about to change any time soon.

RS: When doing research for this interview, I bumped into a number of interesting quotes that I would like to share with you. I found them interesting, and hope you can comment on them.
Quote No. 1: “I’ve been criticized by men for not having good poker etiquette.”

IM: That thing just makes me furious! After I had won the WPT Ladies Night Out, I got lots of comments from people who said I had been too serious, too aggressive, too intense, too anything I guess. But I actually think I have great poker etiquette! I never yell at the dealers, I never yell at my fellow players, I basically never do anything at the table that is out of line. Yet, just because I am a girl, I cannot be intense, I cannot be serious, and I cannot try to make my opponents feel uncomfortable at times. When Tony G – don’t get me wrong, someone that I really love - says things at the table like “You are going to die!”, nobody says a thing, but when I sit at a table, I should suddenly be a lovely young girl who smiles at everyone. This just does not seem fair to me.

Quote No. 2: “I’ve got no interest in settling down, in marriage and children.”

IM: I don’t believe in marriage Rolf, I just don’t think it serves any purpose. It often just tends to keep the women in place, and as you should know by now this is not something I think very highly of. Maybe after being together with someone for 30 or 40 years, one could claim the marriage has a purpose, because then you could say: Baby, you are really the only one for me. But people say that to each other in front of the whole world when they barely know each other, and to me that just can’t be right.

And children? I had to give away my cat – so what do I do with a kid? No really, maybe if some day I meet a great guy yes. But then I would actually still want to travel around the world and then spend some quality time with my kid when I’m back, the same as so many men do nowadays. But when women say things like this, it is just not accepted, as if you could not be a good mother then. Besides, what the hell am I talking about. I will turn 30 in two weeks* and I haven’t had a boyfriend in ten years. So then I would have to get and a boyfriend and a child all in just very little time. In all fairness, I think the odds are against that.

Quote No. 3: “I did have a relationship with another poker player but I kept beating him.”

IM: Yes, and I guess now you want to know who I was referring to, right? (Laughs) Well, I am not going to tell you! Besides, this quote was not exactly what I had said. My exact words were that I was a slightly better player overall, but it certainly was not like I was beating him all the time. Still, because this was someone who was considered to be a brilliant mind, his Ego just couldn’t stand getting things rubbed in by me, a girl. Anyway, I guess it was not a fun time really and besides, we were together for maybe two months - so it is not really worth mentioning.

As for me and the boys: I guess we are just not such an excellent combination. I know what you are saying: “Hey, the boys are all standing in line for you”, but I can tell you: I don’t see any line. Most of the poker players I meet are either very old or very young. There are not many guys of say, 30 to 35 who are good-looking, nice, interesting and reliable. Besides, even if I could find someone like that, he would have to be a hell of a guy to cope with me. I am bored very easily, so the guy would have to be a super-entertainer, he should never be tired, never rest. Now, I know this is just a bit too much to ask for – I guess I am basically my own worst enemy in this respect.

RS: Continuing with the subject of Men. You have been great friends for a very long time now with Bruno Fitoussi from the ACF. I saw you guys at the World Heads Up in Barcelona and you both showed a lot of interest in each other’s performances – I thought that was great to see. Also, I heard that many great players have actually helped you in improving your game, to help you lift it to the level you have reached now. Can you expand on that a little?
IM: Well, one of the most important persons in this respect is obviously Bruno. In all the years that we have worked together at the ACF, we must have played hundreds of heads up games, and we used to talk about the game all the time. In fact, it was Bruno who was the first one to have faith in my poker abilities, as he was the one who sponsored me into the Master Classics event in 2002 that I finished second in. Now, ever since I turned pro I have gotten considerable help from some of the best players in the world. For instance Paul Magriel has helped me a lot, and in addition to that Dave Ulliott and David Benyamine have taken a lot of their time to help me improve. Also, I had worked with Gus Hansen on a poker book, and learned a whole lot from him during the time we were working together. Now the project fell apart of course, and all people involved in it went separate ways, but the knowledge I had gained there was invaluable.

RS: You have been together with PokerStars for quite a while now. How do you feel about this deal: what have they done for you, do you like it, or are there also some things that you don’t like?
IM: Well, I can only say they have been great to me. I have never had any real money. I still don’t have much because obviously, a very large percentage of what I win goes back to them. But I do get the chance to perform in the biggest events in the world without having to put up any money myself. So, I don’t feel any money pressure at any stage of the event, not even at the final stages because even if the first prize is very high, I don’t actually get to keep that much money myself. Without PokerStars, I would probably still be struggling in these small-stakes money games. So, basically they have helped me sky-rocket my way to the top of international poker, so that nowadays I get to play with some of the best players in the world. Because of PokerStars, I simply get so much more exposure, and this can help me grow even further – both as a person and as a player.

Now, obviously not everything is great. For instance, you give away some part of your freedom, but this seems like a small sacrifice to me. And as for the meetings, the interviews the pictures etc. – I love them all. The only thing that I don’t like is something that has nothing to do with my sponsor. Because of all the travelling, the interviews, the meetings and such, I have to do a whole lot of organizing – and if you know me just a little bit, you will know that I don’t find this the most exciting way to spend my time. But hey, hopefully I will win the WPT in a couple of days – then I can probably afford my own personal assistant. (Laughs) In fact, I guess it has always been by goal to become a millionaire before I turn 30 – so then this WPT over here is probably the last chance for me to actually achieve that.

RS: Now that you mention it. Is it important to you that you will be 30 soon? Do you feel bad about this, and will you make some changes in your life maybe, now that people don’t automatically label you as “young” anymore?
IM: Well, I have told people all year that I am 30 already, so basically for me there won’t be that many changes probably. But the fact that some of the guys that are at least somewhat attractive seem to be getting younger all the time, all this does not really help. Still, as I said before, I will try to create the most important change myself: becoming a millionaire this week. So I guess I will have to win the WPT to achieve that, but you know me well enough to know that I will give things my all to accomplish this. By the way, in all honesty I have also bought some lottery tickets for just in case. So basically I have given myself two shots at becoming a millionaire before 30 – I just don’t know which of the two gives me better odds (laughs).

RS: OK Isabelle, thanks for all your time. I really appreciate it, and I am certain that the readers of this magazine appreciate it a lot as well. Now, I have decided to give you the final word. Is there anything that we have not mentioned yet, something important that you might want to add, or that you think needs to be said.
IM: Well yes, Rolf, I guess it is a little piece of general advice. You have talked a lot about all of these moves I have made, the risks I have taken, all these seemingly rash decisions. But in my view, things are simple: You should always follow your heart. So many people that I know are not pleased with their lives and are not happy in their jobs, but feel like they have no other choice. I say: There is always a choice. I read somewhere that 90% of the people who die have regrets, more than anything about the things they haven’t done. I am pretty certain that I am part of this other 10%. I try to live life from the notion that every day could be the last, and therefore I try to get the max. out of everything that I do. In poker, this means that I will continue to give things my all, in order to get to the absolute top. I know I’ve got the abilities, and I certainly have the determination. I will simply pursue these goals of mine with my entire heart, hoping to get rewarded for this in the end. My advice would be that all others follow this example as well. Now if they do, I am fairly certain that people will be happier, and as a result the world may be a better place.

* This interview was conducted on July 23rd, just two weeks before Isabelle’s 30th birthday.

ISABELLE MERCIER: HER LIFE – THE FACTS – THE FIGURES

Full name: Isabelle Mercier
Date of birth: August 5, 1975
Place of birth: Quebec, Canada
Marital status: Single, no children
Education: Masters degree International Law
Languages: French, English
Previous jobs: Started working at 14. First in a restaurant and in a music store, later as a blackjack dealer in the Montreal Casino. Became a manager at the Aviation Club in Paris at 24.
Turned pro in: January 2004
Favorite game: No-limit hold’em
Least favorite game: Likes all game (“except nobody sponsors me in the other games”)
Online / Live: Live
Favorite poker book: Super System 1
Favorite magazine: CardPlayer
Favorite writers: Daniel Negreanu, also Phil Gordon
Most influence on career: Bruno Fitoussi, Gus Hansen, Paul Magriel
Nickname: No Mercy (coined by WPT-commentator Mike Sexton for her ultra-aggressive and fearless play)
Plays online under: Mercedez (soon to be changed into No Mercy)
Sponsor: PokerStars
Tournament wins so far: 2004: WPT Ladies Night Out Invitational ($25,000 cheque for the Bellagio Main Event), 2005: $500 no-limit hold’em side event at the EPT Grand Final (for €25,660 total)
Biggest cash so far: EUR 53,697 (runner up at the EUR 820 no-limit hold’em at the Master Classics)