Greg Merson, WSOP 2012 champion, was born on December 8th 1987 and hails from Laurel, Maryland. Not enough can be said about the year he had in 2012. Not only did he win the $10,000 WSOP Main Event for $8,530,000, but he also achieved another 7 figure score at the WSOP in Las Vegas, winning the No Limit Hold’em 6-Max Event for a whopping $1,136,000. Greg outlasted a field of 6,598 contenders over the course of 7 grueling days, including 11 hours of 3-handed play. He was praised extensively for his relaxed demeanor during the whole tournament, especially at the end. Many top seasoned pros have not come close to reaching such financial success, but with the swoop of an inspirational run, Greg Merson has etched his name into poker history.

Like many aspiring poker players at the turn of the century, Greg Merson was introduced to poker by the inspiring victory of Chris Moneymaker during the 2003 WSOP Main Event. Greg and his friends began to watch poker coverage on ESPN, hosting numerous home games of their own with very small buy-ins. Eventually Greg realized he had a knack for the game, and began taking it much more seriously. It was on the virtual felt that Merson acquired some $220,000 in tournament wins. He continued to play poker throughout college, where he attended the University of Maryland for 2 and half semesters. Soon it became apparent that he would have to choose between school and a poker career, and needless to say he chose the latter.

Even prior to his Main Event score, Greg Merson had won over $2 million in live tournaments. Although he had had much success as an online and live tournament player, his specialty had and has always been high stakes cash games, particularly 6-Max No Limit Hold’em. Greg can often be found playing stakes as high as $400/$800 live and online.

Although Merson has achieved massive success with poker, he has also endured some very bad beats. Greg Merson developed a drug addiction during his late teens which continued into his early 20’s. It was during this time that Greg began to act erratically and started to show poor performance in his poker game. However, he has proclaimed his sobriety since early 2012, crediting his passion for poker as one of the driving forces for helping him to quit. Sober Greg admits to still battling the urges that come with addiction, and has decided to make it a life goal of his to spread awareness about the dangers of addiction and to help prevent other young and vulnerable people to falling victim to drugs.

Greg has also become a devoted health enthusiast, adopting good dietary habits and exercise regiments. Like many committed poker professionals, Greg is re-investing the money into himself and the poker community.

For now, Merson plans to spend some time with family. But his fans will be happy to hear that he also wants to play in other tournaments, including the World Series of Poker Europe. He currently resides in Toronto, which was where he moved to after Black Friday.