Rick Salomon (born January 24, 1969) is an American

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game wa ...

player, who is best known for his 2004 sex tape with

Paris Hilton Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American media personality, businesswoman, socialite, model, and entertainer. Born in New York City, and raised there and in Beverly Hills, California, she is a great-granddaughter of Conrad ...

. He had high-profile marriages with E.G. Daily,

Shannen Doherty Shannen Doherty (, born April 12, 1971) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Jenny Wilder in ''Little House on the Prairie'' (1982–1983); Maggie Malene in ''Girls Just Want to Have Fun'' (1985); Kris Witherspoon in '' Our Hous ...

, and

Pamela Anderson Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian-American actress and model. She is best known for her glamour modeling work in ''Playboy'' magazine and for her appearances on the television series ''Baywatch'' (1992–1997). Ander ...

. As a poker player, Salomon won $2.8 million in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

, $3.3 million in 2016, and $2.84 million in the

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

versions of the

World Series of Poker The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker pl ...

Big One for One Drop The Big One for One Drop is a $1,000,000 buy-in No Limit Texas hold 'em tournament hosted at the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Added in 2012, it became the highest buy-in poker tournament in history as well as the largest single payout offered. T ...

Early life

Salomon was born and raised in

Neptune Township, New Jersey Neptune Township is a township in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township's population was 28,061, an increase of 126 from the 2010 census enumeration of 27,935, in turn an increase of 245 ( ...

. He is of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

descent.

Career

Salomon owned an online gambling site. On July 1, 2014, he won $2.8 million in the World Series of Poker's

. Four years later, he won $2.84 million at the same event. Salomon has made regular TV poker appearances on PokerGO shows including World Series of Poker coverage,

Super High Roller Bowl The Super High Roller Bowl is a recurring high stakes No-Limit Hold'em poker tournament that takes place at venues across the world. The first edition of the event was held in July 2015 and featured a $500,000 buy-in, drawing a field of 43 playe ...

coverage, ''Rob's Home Game'', ''

Poker After Dark ''Poker After Dark'' is an hour-long poker television program that originally aired on NBC, premiering on January 1, 2007.

'', and ''

High Stakes Poker ''High Stakes Poker'' is an American cash game poker television program. The poker variant played on the show is no limit Texas hold 'em. The first four seasons ran from January 16, 2006 to December 17, 2007 on GSN. The next three seasons ra ...

''. Salomon was one of the new players appearing in Season 8 of ''High Stakes Poker'' and appeared in the first eight episodes. Salomon played one of the biggest pots of the season against

Bryn Kenney Bryn Kenney (born November 1, 1986) is an American professional poker player from Long Beach, New York Long Beach is an oceanfront city in Nassau County in New York, United States. It takes up a central section of the Long Beach Barrier Isl ...

, when he beat Kenney's set with a straight, winning $868,200. As of February 2021, Salomon has not cashed since 2018, after accumulating live tournament winnings in excess of $9.9 million.

Personal life

Sex tape

In 2003, a

sex tape Amateur pornography is a category of pornography that features models, actors or non-professionals performing without pay, or actors for whom this material is not their only paid modeling work. Reality pornography is made porn that seeks to e ...

featuring Salomon and then-girlfriend

was leaked onto the Internet. Shortly afterward, Salomon filed a lawsuit against the company that distributed the tape, and against the

Hilton family The Hilton family is an American family that originally comes from San Antonio, New Mexico, and spans over four generations from New York City and Los Angeles. The family members hold varying degrees of power, wealth and status as socialites in t ...

, whom he accused of tarnishing his reputation by suggesting that he had exploited Hilton. Salomon further claimed in his $10 million suit that representatives of the Hiltons tried to discourage media outlets from playing excerpts of the tape by saying that Hilton was underage when the tape was made (which would have made showing the tape illegal – Hilton was actually 19 when the tape was filmed), and were attempting to crush him to preserve the image they had created for her. Hilton later sued the company that released the tape, Kahatani Ltd., for $30 million for violation of privacy and emotional distress. In April 2004, Salomon began distributing the tape himself through the adult film company

Red Light District Video Red Light District Video (RLD) is an American pornographic film studio headquartered in Chatsworth, California. History The company was founded in 2001 by industry veteran Dion Giarrusso and his half-brother David Joseph, who co-owned the company ...

under the title '' 1 Night in Paris''. In July 2004, Salomon dropped his lawsuit against the Hilton family after Paris Hilton's privacy lawsuit was thrown out of court. Salomon and Red Light District Video agreed to pay Hilton $400,000 plus a percentage of the tape's sale profit.

Marriages

In 1995, Salomon married voice actress

Elizabeth Daily Elizabeth Ann Guttman, (born September 11, 1961) better known as E. G. Daily and Elizabeth Daily, is an American actress and singer. Daily is best known for her animation voice roles as Tommy Pickles on '' Rugrats'' and its spin-off ''All Grow ...

. The couple had two daughters, Hunter and Tyson, before divorcing in 2000. In 2002, Salomon married actress

. The marriage was annulled after nine months. On September 29, 2007, Salomon and actress

applied for a marriage license in Las Vegas. Anderson had told talk-show host

Ellen DeGeneres Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer. She starred in the sitcom ''Ellen'' from 1994 to 1998, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for " The Puppy Episode". Sh ...

in September that she was engaged; she referred to her fiancé only as a poker player. The couple were married on October 6, 2007 during a break between the 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. shows of "

Hans Klok Johannes Franciscus Catharinus "Hans" Klok (born 22 February 1969) is a Dutch magician, illusionist and actor. Biography Hans Klok was born in Purmerend, Netherlands. On his tenth birthday, he received a magic set as a present and began perform ...

's The Beauty of Magic" at Planet Hollywood resort, where Anderson was starring as a magician's assistant. Salomon and Anderson separated less than ten weeks later and, on December 14, Anderson filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences. Two days later, Anderson and Salomon were seen shopping together. Anderson later posted a message on her website indicating that they were reconciling. On December 28, 2007, Anderson's attorney filed a proof of service of summons in Los Angeles Superior Court regarding the divorce claim. In February 2008, Anderson filed to have the marriage annulled citing

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compen ...

as the reasoning. The following month, Salomon also filed for an annulment citing fraud. The marriage was annulled on March 24, 2008. In January 2014, Anderson announced she and Salomon had married at an unspecified date. Anderson again filed for divorce from Salomon on July 3, 2014, while Salomon filed for an annulment in Nevada on the grounds of fraud. On April 29, 2015, her divorce was granted, with a $1 million settlement payment from Salomon to Anderson.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Salomon, Rick 1969 births Living people Film producers from California American entertainment industry businesspeople American poker players American people of Jewish descent People from Neptune Township, New Jersey People from Ocean Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey People from Hollywood, Los Angeles Film producers from New Jersey