Greg Merson's road to this year's main event final table has probably been the toughest of all 9 finalists. About 5 years ago he finally managed to put an end to his drug addiction, and ever since he has been very open about his addicition in interviews.
For example: In a recent interview with ESPN, Merson said that he financed his addiction by playing poker in the beginning of his career and tha[...] Read more » Many Pitfalls Along Greg Merson's Way to the 2012 WSOP Main Event Final Table
Kudos on quitting, although who knows, maybe if he was coke he would've cashed 10 times, won 2 bracelets and had the biggest stack at the main-event final table, you never know.
Joined: Mar '12
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 40 (M)
Posts: 1277
Well, let's hope he doesn't get addicted again - because he will be dead within a year regardless of how he does on the FT. The scene in Scarface comes to mind, a pile of blow on the desk...
Joined: May '08
Location: Lithuania
Age: 39 (M)
Posts: 10090
cool- i hope he will bring some weed at the ft- what? no weed no go. nice to see anyone who admits he has problems, does so publicly and beats his problems (at least it looks like) surely hope that this will not happen again with him, fighting with addiction is tough, better just be addicted to poker than drugs
Joined: Apr '11
Location: Romania
Age: 58 (M)
Posts: 2432
Greg Merson is a survivor,ha passed drug addiction once,is open to talk about it.Doing good on the tables keep him focused on the business,nothing can stop him now.Nice to hear about the winners from time to time.Temptations are everywhere.
Joined: Apr '09
Location: Portugal
Age: 44 (M)
Posts: 4827
It's sad to see young poker promises with problems like this, leting a substance taking advantage of their minds, wills and many times also their own future. I don't want to be a moralist, i like to drink a couple of beers every now and then, one just have to realize when it's crossing the limits. After passing that line, the act that at the begining was a pleasure starts being an obsession, turning the person into a slave. No use...
Joined: Apr '11
Location: Romania
Age: 35 (M)
Posts: 6669
I really think he is a good poker player considering that he had to strenght to say no to drugs and live a normal live!
In all cases drug addiction and playing poker is usually a sad combo but he is a living example of will in my opinion. I wish him best of luck, it should be an interesting final table.
