Richard Allan "Rick" Salomon (born January 24, 1969) is an American high-stakes

poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...

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, and socialite. Hilton was born in New York City and raised there partially; shuttling between Los Angeles and New York City; she is a great-grandda ...

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

Shannen Doherty Shannen Maria Doherty (; April 12, 1971 – July 13, 2024) was an American actress. During her career Shannen Doherty filmography, in film and television, Doherty played a number of notable characters, including Jenny Wilder in ''Little House o ...

, and

Pamela Anderson Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian-American actress, model and media personality. She rose to prominence after being selected as the February 1990 ''Playboy'' Playmate of the Month. She went on to make regular appearan ...

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

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

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

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

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 Eldorado Resorts, Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best ...

Big One for One Drop The Big One for One Drop is a $1,000,000 buy-in No Limit Texas Hold 'em poker tournament hosted first in 2012, and for its first four editions, with the World Series of Poker (WSOP). It became the highest buy-in poker tournament in history as wel ...

Early life

Salomon was born and raised in

Neptune Township, New Jersey Neptune Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 28,061, an increase of 126 (+0.5%) from t ...

. He is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

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 and Pot-Limit Omaha 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, drawin ...

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 ran f ...

''. 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. Poker career Kenney played '' Magic: The Gathering'' competitively before transitioning to poker. His first major live cash was in 2007 at t ...

, when he beat Kenney's set with a straight, winning $868,200. Salomon has not been cashing 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 professionally made pornogra ...

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 Kløfta, Norway, 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 the Un ...

, 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 under the title ''

1 Night in Paris ''1 Night in Paris'' is a 2004 porn video filmed by Rick Salomon. Promoted by Kevin Blatt, it depicts Paris Hilton having sexual intercourse in May 2001 with Salomon. Not originally intended for release, it was filmed primarily with a single, ...

''. 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), known professionally as E. G. Daily or 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 ...

. The couple had two daughters, 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 former comedian, actress, television host, writer, and producer. She began her career in stand-up comedy in the early 1980s, gaining national attention with a 1986 appearance on '' ...

in September that she was engaged; she referred to her fiancé only as a poker player. The couple 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 and illusionist. Biography Klok was born in Purmerend, North Holland. On his tenth birthday, he received a magic set as a present and began performing f ...

's The Beauty of Magic" at

Planet Hollywood Planet Hollywood International Inc. (stylized as planet Hollywood, planet Hollywood observatory and ph) is a themed restaurant chain inspired by the popular portrayal of Hollywood. The company is owned by Earl Enterprises corporation. Earl E ...

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 The concept of irreconcilable differences provides possible grounds for divorce in the United States of America and Australia, among other jurisdictions. Australia Australian family law uses a no-fault divorce approach, and irreconcilable differe ...

. 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 intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...

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

References

External links

*
Card Player profileHendon Mob profileWSOP profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salomon, Rick 1969 births Living people Film producers from California American entertainment industry businesspeople American poker players American Jews People from Neptune Township, New Jersey People from Ocean Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey People from Hollywood, Los Angeles Film producers from New Jersey