What poker players can learn from Rick Salomon
Barry Carter ponders whether the professional poker world could learn a thing or two from Pamela Anderson's soon-to-be ex-husband.
No doubt the surprise story of the month has to go to the news that Pamela Anderson revealed Rick Salomon won $40 million from Andy Beal. There are so many newsworthy aspects to this story, but I’d prefer to keep it to the most poker specific elements and less of the TMZ stuff.
If the figures are true, Rick Salomon could be the biggest winner in poker history. Just like if you have read Molly’s Game, there is a good chance that Tobey Maguire is also one of the biggest money winners the game has boasted.
The chances are that neither man is anywhere near the skill level of the players we generally discuss as being the best in the game, but it doesn’t matter. Salomon’s success reminds us that game selection is still the most important skill in poker.
Vanity at the nosebleed games
If you take a typical Super High Roller table, or the online nosebleeds, you will see several similarly skilled elite players. One or two will profit more than the rest, but their edge will be very small. Some otherwise very good players who would normally beat most games, like Gus Hansen, haemorrhage money because they have ignored the fundamental rule of game selection.
Salomon on the other hand might not even be able to beat $1/$2 online. However, he has orchestrated a situation where he has isolated a huge whale with deep pockets where he does enjoy a big skill edge.
You may laugh at the very idea that I’d even imply for these reasons that Rick Salomon is the superior player to someone like Phil Ivey. We all know that given half a chance, Ivey would destroy him at the tables. But if you look at poker from a purely business standpoint, Rick Salomon might be the best businessman in the game.
The art of 'getting it quietly'
Until last week he also demonstrated another fundamental rule of game selection. The art of getting it quietly. It is vanity that puts a lot of the nosebleed players against each other in tough games, wanting to prove they are the best by beating the best. It is an entirely different skillset to be able to win mind blowing sums of money and to not broadcast it to the world.
Of course it is in Salomon’s best interest not to boast about his winnings, especially as he has a potentially expensive divorce and tax bill on the horizon. We all know too that, based on the other thing he is famous for, he is not shy about boasting about his achievements. But it still reminds us that by not bragging about winning tens of millions he manages to both prevent his opponent from being shamed into quitting and also keeps superior players unaware of the best game in town.
Salomon may be the tip of the iceberg. We may never know who the best player or the biggest winners in poker are, maybe there are billion dollar games we will never hear about. Game selection is not a sexy skill to have in poker, but it is still the most important and perhaps most overlooked skill in poker.
How do you think Rick Salomon would do in the nosebleed games online? Do you think he is the biggest winner in poker? Let us know in the comments.
