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Location of Interview Thread : here
Date of Interview : Interview was posted on 23rd January 2006.
Official Site : here
these questions are in no particular order :)
Question : (From BSQUAD)
First of all, thank you for taking the time to join us here at Texas Holdem Forums.
A recent debate came up lately here at the forum and a few of our members chimed in with their thoughts. I wanted to get a proffesional players point of view. I will be asking this question to other proffessionals as well and will post the results along with the responses from our forum members. So heres the scenario:
Its the very first hand of the WSOP and your in the Big Blind and you look down to see Pocket Aces. Everyone folds except the Small Blind ( an obvious rookie ) who announces "ALL-IN"!! . The question is.. Do you call? and why or why not?
Answer :
I call right away in the hope of doubling up on the first hand and use this stack to built more and more chips. We all know that two-third of the field is eliminated on the first day of the WSOP, those pocket Aces with all the money in is the best start I can think of. If I’m not willing to put all my money in with this hand because this is the WSOP Main Event, when will I do it??
Question : (From kikolo)
Hello Miss Isabelle. Being a tournament player, what would you stress mostly to people coming from cash games that are trying to improve upon their tournament skills (other than just lots of practice)?
Answer :
Basically you said it, practice is the KEY element. You can talk with players you respect, read books about tournament poker, watch it on TV and etc, but really, you need the experience for yourself. Playing online is a good way to see A LOT of hands in a short time, so my suggestion is to log on to PokerStars.com and test your skills in one of their tournaments. To make things a little more funky, you can register in a small tournament and try the following experience: You are only allowed to raise or fold during the entire tournament. I suggest that because aggression is a key element today in poker, so I think a lot of players should work on this and this little experiment will bring surprising results. Obviously, calling is a weapon you have to use in tournament poker, so just do this as a one time experiment to develop your aggressiveness.
Question : (From Jvelez)
Ms. Mercier, I am interest to apply in the future for a job related to casino management in the area of poker. Any advice?
Answer :
I don’t have any particular advice for the casino management than for another form of management. Just be serious about it, and if this is want you really want to do, it will work out well. I would say that in the casino business, you would need to be very flexible, able to work at night and able to handle crazy players complaining all the time! LOL!
Question : (From THPKRPlayer)
Hi Isabelle, I want to thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions here at THF. Being from Ottawa, Canada...both you and Daniel Negreanu are 2 of my favourite Poker Pros. I really liked your website and enjoyed looking at all the pics.
My question is about the WSOP Main Event.
The WSOP Main Event in 2005 had over 5600 entrants. Next years WSOP Main Event will probably have between 6000 & 7000...maybe even more.
- With the popularity of this event increasing over the last few years and the ever increasing number of online qualifiers, do you think a well known professional poker player will ever win this event again? If so...who do you believe has the best shot at it (besides yourself) in a field of 6000 to 7000+ players? Mike the Mouth came close in 2005.
- Do you think the buyin for this event should be increased to (15K, 20K or 25K) so as to reduce the amount of amateur entrants or do you even think it would even make an impact, what with the number of online qualifiers these days increasing year after year?
- Who is the friendliest Pro you have met while playing? The funniest? The most serious? The most annoying? lol
Thanks again
Answer : - Yes I am sure a professional poker player will win again the WSOP! I think we all have a fair chance to make it happen, but like you said, with those huge number of entrants, it feels like destiny to win it!
- I don’t think the buy-in should be increased, on the contrary, the fact that this is the WSOP and it’s a popular tournament open to all makes it so great.
- I love to play with players who talk a lot, like Tony G or Mike Matusow, and I think the most serious would be Howard Lederer, and I’m not going to name the most annoying, that wouldn’t be polite or respectful.
Question : (From homeville)
Miss Mercier, Thank you for your time. Do you play internet poker? If so, how much do you play?
Do you think that once you feel you have a good handle on the game, you should play in the higher buy in tournaments. I feel that the level of play is better, and you have a better chance at winning these higher buy in tournaments. What do you think? Thank you.
Answer :
Yes I do play on internet, I play as much as possible depending on my free time. Mostly, I try to play every Sunday’s tournaments on PokerStars.com. Yes I agree that the level of play is better in higher buy-ins tournaments, that’s what makes it so fun to play in those big Championships. It’s like if you play Tennis against me, you are going to be bored to death and it’s going to look like a circus. But if you play against Andre Agassi, you’re going to have a lot of fun, an interesting game and you will improve your own game much faster. Same goes for poker. If you play with a bunch of idiots or if you play with a bunch of Champions. Those last ones make you push your own limits further and it’s very motivating to play with good players.
Question : (From THPKRPlayer)
Hi Isabelle, Here's another "what would you do" type question. Similiar to the one above, but a little different.
You are in the WSOP Main Event. It's bubble time and your in the BB and you look down to see Pocket Aces. Everyone folds except the SB ,who announces "ALL-IN"!!. Thye have you covered. The question is.. Do you call? and why or why not?
My view is....why take the chance that your Aces will get cracked. Just keep folding them until the bubble bursts. After the bubble bursts, you can loosen up a bit.
What's your view? Thanks again for taking the time to answer a few questions.
Answer :
I tend to disagree with that and I will call right away with my Aces. I’m not playing to cash-in and it’s not going to change my life to win a little prize or to say “I cashed in the main event”. What I want is to win, and doubling up my stack is always a good step towards that, even on the bubble.
Question : (From JeremyLW)
Hello Isabelel, first of all; congratulations on being the hottest female poker player on the planet.
My question for you is, if you were at the final table of a major world event and it was down the the final 4 players, who would be the 3 opponents you would least likely want to have at the table with you and why?
p.s. Are you a Habs fan and if so who's your favourite player? Thanks again for taking the time to answer our questions, and best wishes.
Answer :
I guess it would be Phil Ivey, Gus Hansen and Sam Farah. I would have a hard time and would need a lot of heart to take my place at this table. But I would looooove it to happen!!!!
What’s Habs? LOL!
Question : (From THPKRPlayer)
Hi Isabelle, A few of more questions for the best looking female poker player out there today.
- I know you like to watch movies and listen to music. When playing in a tournament, what type of music do you like listening to the most on your iPOD or MP3 player? Rock, pop, country, classical, etc.
- I know you live out of a suitcase year round, and it doesnt seem to bother you that much. I also read that you turned 30 this year and are single. Do you think very often about settling down some day (in a house), getting married, having children, etc? If so, when do you see yourself reaching this point in your life? 2 years, 5 years, 10 years and above.
- At the time you won the World Poker Tour (WPT) Ladies' Night tournament in 2004 to win the $25,000 first prize, Mike Sexton nicknamed you Isabelle "No Mercy" Mercier. How did you feel about this nickname at the time? Did you feel it suited your aggressive style of play? Did it take awhile to get used to this new nickname that Mike tagged you with?
- If you could give just one piece of advice to someone who has a goal of becoming a professional poker player (not me). What would it be?
Thanks again for taking the time to answer some questions here at THF.
Answer : - I listened to all kind of music, I have over 80G just music in my computer. But mostly, I do not listen to music when I play because I like to listen to the players and talk with them.
- Setting down I don’t know, I don’t think about that right now and I don’t think I would be attracted today to a man who would want to settle down. I don’t think much about the future because I always remember I can die today. So just enjoy the moment and be happy.
- I just LOVE the nickname that Mike Sexton gave me (THANK YOU MIKE!) and yes it suited my aggressive style perfectly. However, this was the beginning of my tournament life career, so I was a bit suicidal in my poker moves. For the last year, I have been trying to stay aggressive but be more intelligent!
- My advice to someone who would want to become a poker player, or to someone who would want to do anything else would be the same: If you do EVERYTHING you can to make your dream happen, the Universe will find ways to make it happen for you. And if it doesn’t, something better will happen!
Question : (From Fonzerelli_79)
And finally tell us a little bit about your website!
Answer :
I have been working a lot recently on my website www.isabellemercier.com and I have received a lot of emails from fans. It’s always very encouraging. There is also an online store. If you are looking for ideas for gifts, this is a great poker store, with poker jewellery, nice shirts for women, funky bags, etc.. All the pieces are hand-made in the USA with high quality products.
A Huge thank you to Isabelle Mercier for taking the time to answer our questions and comments :):)
You can comment on this interview in this thread.
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