Greg Merson Kicked Out of Restaurant After Vodka Row

Former Main Event champ and recovering addict Greg Merson had his sobriety seriously tested at a bachelor party yesterday when a waiter served him vodka instead of water, with Merson exploding at the server’s obnoxious response when told of his mistake – resulting in Merson being kicked out of the Seacrest establishment…

After ordering water twice, Merson claimed he was instead served vodka soda and was met with a rude “So?” reply when he pulled the drinks waiter up about his actions – having already been on the receiving end of a joke about his non-alcohol order.

Merson, however has received a mixed response to his public call for the waiter in question to be sacked for his actions, with support from some big names in the game…

…while others sought to find a middle ground over what may have been simply a bad day at work and inappropriate handling of the situation…

…and others still angry at Merson’s OTT reaction and hounding of the waiter on social media…

Merson, the 2012 WSOP Main Event champion, recently had his eyesight fixed after years of being ‘legally blind’ and also celebrated 6 and a half years of sobriety from a host of addictions and drugs, including cocaine and Adderall, which may explain his rather extreme reaction to the ‘vodka instead of water’ incident…

…although he later toned down his mood somewhat…

Although many feel that Merson has blown the incident out of all proportion, he has received support from others who are trying to fight addiction on a daily basis – and the poker world is not short of players who match this description.

Mike ‘The Mouth’ Matusow has had a long fight with various addictions, last year seeing Daniel Negreanu pulled up for his insensitive and frankly hateful Twitter attack on the subject…

The legendary Stu Ungar eventually succumbed to his addiction to cocaine at the young age of 45, once telling New York’s Icon magazine:

“You use it as an excuse to stay up and play poker, but then you take it home with you. When you have access to it and the money don't mean nothing ... it's a sickness. I guarantee you it's taken 10, 15 years off my life."