Rick Salomon once played a drug-fueled high-stakes poker session so brutal that he decided to get clean and check into rehab after it.
The cash game session, which took place in the fabled Bobby’s Room at Bellagio in Las Vegas some years ago, was so epic that it launched Andrew Robl’s career and led two less fortunate pros to retire. But it also encouraged Salomon to kick his debilitating drug habit and get his life in order.
Robl recalled the story during this past weekend’s High Stakes Poker live stream, and it was later clipped and shared by PokerGO.
Epic Story Shared on Poker Stream
As Robl told it, the infamous cash game session started off as a $50/$100 game with a $10,000 buy-in and included a few pros and Bellagio regulars like Dan Bilzerian. One of those pros was Steve “Mr Smokey” Billirakis, who would become Salomon’s nemesis in the session.
Salomon, a long-time high-stakes poker player best known for his 2004 sex tape with Paris Hilton, was crushing on the first day, according to Robl, but things took a turn when Salomon decided to stay up and play overnight.
“This is when Rick did a lot of drugs, so he didn’t need to sleep,” Robl explained.
By Day 3, everyone had $500,000 on the table, despite it being a $10,000 max buy-in game, and Salomon was playing wildly and straddling to $5,000 “every single hand.” Salomon got stacked and returned “with a pillow case full of cash” that he plopped on the table before upping the straddle to $10,000 a hand.
Salomon was getting tired and, according to Robl, got a group of women to stand behind him and cheer him on. But it didn’t help and Salomon was “picked off by the pros.”
Bellagio Poker Room Review
The Hand That Sent Salomon to Rehab
“If it wasn’t for him, I’d probably maybe still be on drugs.”
The session ended on a low note with a hand “so nasty” that Salomon said he “went to rehab after.”
As Salomon remembered it, Billirakis raised to $36,000 over Salomon’s straddle and he defended with six-four offsuit. The flop landed six-four-king to give Salomon two pair, but Billirakis had pocket kings to leave Salomon with nothing but life choices to question.
“The progression of me going to rehab for a year started with blowing all the money in my (Bellagio) box,” Salomon told his table mates. “He (Billirakis) did change my life. So if it wasn’t for him, I’d probably maybe still be on drugs.”
Salomon wasn’t the only one questioning their life path after the three-day session. Robl said that “two pros in the game lost their whole bankroll, like a million and a half dollars,” while Robl was more fortunate.
“I doubled my net worth, and that’s what got me started.”
Salomon played on the High Stakes Poker livestream the past three nights, losing all three sessions for over $2.2 million combined.
Connor Richards
Senior Editor U.S.