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Poker pro Andrew Robl shared a wild story from a legendary high-stakes cash game during this past weekend’s High Stakes Poker live stream, revealing how the session led Rick Salomon to check into rehab.
The game took place years ago in the famed Bobby’s Room at Bellagio in Las Vegas, starting as a $50/$100 cash game with a $10,000 buy-in. Notable players included Dan Bilzerian and Steve “Mr Smokey” Billirakis, who would later play a key role in Salomon’s downfall.
According to Robl, Salomon was dominating early on but stayed up all night fueled by drugs, forgoing sleep entirely. By the third day, stacks at the table had ballooned to $500,000 each despite the game’s original buy-in cap, with Salomon straddling every hand for as much as $10,000.
Robl said Salomon even brought a “pillow case full of cash” back to the table after busting his stack, and later had a group of women cheering him on as he grew increasingly exhausted. Despite the support, he was ultimately outplayed by the table’s more composed professionals.
The turning point came in a hand where Billirakis raised with pocket kings and Salomon defended his straddle with six-four offsuit, flopping two pair but still losing to Billirakis’ set. Salomon said the devastating loss began his path toward a year in rehab.
Robl noted that two other players in the game lost roughly $1.5 million each, while he himself doubled his net worth, marking the start of his professional career. Salomon has continued playing on High Stakes Poker recently, dropping more than $2.2 million across his last three sessions.
