Poker is not a niche game encountered by a minority. Quite the opposite—many people who enjoy card games or are encouraged by friends and social media come across poker.
That's why it's no surprise to us, and we believe to you as well, that famous personalities—athletes, musicians, actors, etc.—sit at poker tables.
“PokerioMokykla.com” presents to you its new entertainment section, where we will tell you about celebrities who have appeared in the poker world.
Part III of the article series
Part VII of the article series
Part VIII of the article series
Rick Salomon (poker player)
Usually, in this article series, we write not about poker players but about entertainment world stars. However, R. Salomon falls into both categories. He is a poker player who had an online gambling site. Nevertheless, he is best known for his relationships with famous women in the entertainment industry. R. Salomon was married to actresses Elizabeth Daily (1995-2000), Shannen Doherty (2002-2003), and Pamela Anderson (2007-2008, 2014-2015).
The player managed to profit well not only from poker but also from his personal life. In 2003, during his relationship with Paris Hilton, the couple filmed their sexual act, and the video spread across the internet. This led to the end of their relationship, and R. Salomon filed a lawsuit against the company that distributed the video. A lawsuit was also filed against P. Hilton's family, who tried to control the situation by claiming that P. Hilton was a minor at the time of the incident (which would mean the video was illegal).
A year later, R. Salomon withdrew the lawsuit and, with the help of a company, began distributing the video himself. For this, P. Hilton received $400,000 plus a percentage of the sales revenue.
A clever player, he knew how to navigate poker as well. According to the database, he has won $6.4 million in official tournaments. Just last year, he managed to win 3 million euros in the Monte Carlo tournament. Unofficially, he won $40 million in 2014 alone. Even more impressively, he managed to win this amount by playing against just ONE person. This information was shared by P. Anderson during their divorce.
In fact, this information came to light precisely because of the couple's divorce. Rick wanted to annul the marriage under Nevada law, while Pamela sought a divorce under California law. A divorce would have meant she could claim half of the poker player's winnings.
It was said that R. Salomon achieved his big win against real estate billionaire Andy Beal. P. Anderson sought to bring her ex-husband's winnings to light and thus force him to pay taxes in California (there is no income tax in Nevada). Eventually, everything was resolved when R. Salomon paid his ex-wife a million dollars.
Despite his achievements, he also suffered significant losses. For instance, he once lost $50,000 in about 30 seconds. R. Salomon's life is wrapped in a story worthy of a movie.
Sam Simon (producer)
One of the creators of “The Simpsons,” who lost his battle with cancer two years ago and left the world of the living, was a good poker player. During his poker career, he won $358,000. He mostly played low buy-in tournaments and often finished in high positions.
He also reached the money zone six times in WSOP tournaments. Who can he thank for all this? His grandfather, who introduced the producer to poker during family trips.
Besides all the official tournaments, S. Simon also participated in unofficial tournaments with other entertainment industry representatives.
Interestingly, from 1984 to 1991, he was married to Jennifer Tilly, about whom we have already written here.
