SP: Listen man, all the haters? They love me more than the people who actually love me. They’re talking all this shit but they’re gong to sit down, watch me and have some popcorn. And, they’re gonna talk shit because they’re haters. If you haven’t got haters you aren’t doing something right. That twitter feud with Dan O’Brien? He’s a bitch, to be honest. He’s talking all this shit about ethics in the game, and all this nonsense, and he doesn’t want to tip dealers? What the fuck is that? That’s bullshit. Matt Glantz is ecstatic to have me on the show. He knows that I’m going to make Poker Night in America great. The show I’m going to be on is going to be the best show they ever have on Poker Night in America, hands down. Look at what happened at Live at the Bike. I went on Live at the Bike for three episodes and it was the craziest high stakes cash game ever filmed in history. There was almost a fist fight. I called $20,000 with six high because I don’t give a fuck. Like bro, Poker Night in America will be huge. I’m going to crush it. The ratings will go through the roof all because of me. Brandon Cantu, Mike Dentale, Shaun Deeb, Doug Polk? These guys are nothing. I’m going to be the show. Fuck all those guys!
Q: You have a very aggressive style on and off the table. I like your strategy. Matt Glantz is defending you on twitter. He’s saying, ‘Hey, this guy’s entertaining, let’s give him a chance and see what happens.’ You’ve really used your talk to your advantage and you’re calling out the big names too?
SP: The thing is there’s no bigger name than me, so I’m calling out people below me. So, it’s okay.
Q: You’re a Canadian guy, you’re a chartered accountant...
SP: No, I’m a CPA not an accountant. There’s a difference. A CPA is like the creme de la creme. An accountant? Anybody can be just a regular accountant. Whatever I do, I do it the best. No one can beat me. No one. If I’m losing money it’s because I want to lose money, not cause they beat me.
Q: How do you approach the game of poker and playing against guys like Doug Polk? Do you just plan to drive them into submission with your table talk and your aggressiveness?
SP: Yes, I’m just going to knock them out. Doug Polk? He’s nothing. He’s a shitty heads-up player. Yes, he’s ranked number one in the world but that’s online, that’s not in person. Fuck that shit. Online poker is such a different game than live. I’ll crush his soul live. If you saw how I won my World Poker Tour title you’ll understand how good I am. I went all-in with six-seven offsuit against pocket nines preflop. I hit a flush on the turn because I’m so good. And I won the tournament.
Q: You knocked five guys out of that final table. You crushed it?
SP: Yes, I knocked almost everyone out of that tournament. Out of the 1,700 people, I took out almost everyone.
Q: You say you don’t care about money. Is that true? You really don’t?
SP: I don’t give a fuck. Listen man, when I want to make some money at poker I’ll make some money. When I feel like donating and punting off? No problem, I’ll punt off. If you watch my Live at Bike episodes, they were great. There were three episodes filmed. The first two, a $5/$10/$20 and a $25/$50, I crushed those games. If you watch it you’ll hear the commentators say, ‘Wow, this guy is literally the best player in the world. He’s so good.’ But on the last show, the one where I almost got into a fist fight with Bear Jew, I was like, ‘Fuck it. I’ve made enough money on this trip, I want to go out with a bang.’ I called an all-in for $20,000 with six high no problem. I lost almost 40k in that last session. I went to baccarat right after, took like 5k, and made all my money back in two minutes. You can check my Instagram, it’s on there. It is what it is. It’s just money and I have so much of it that it doesn’t matter.
Q: I was going to say, poker players shouldn’t really be hitting the baccarat tables. Should they?
SP: No I love baccarat. Blackjack’s my game, baccarat isn’t bad either, but blackjack is just so easy. I took 2k and turned it into a quarter-of-a-million dollars in half-an-hour. A week later I took 3k and turned into $150,000. Life is good you know, the tables are good to me, and I’m the best at everything. When I play something I crush it. If it’s blackjack or baccarat I have the edge, not the casino, me.
Q: Your critics say you talk too much, you don’t respect women and there’s no way Matt Glantz should have selected you for Poker Night in America. What do you say to them?
SP: I say, stop being bitches. Number one, if you look at the record, I actually do respect women. Plenty of girls love me. This liberal chick? She’s bullshit. She's calling me out for not respecting women? Fuck her. She doesn’t know anything. If you talk to real women they know what’s up.
Q: I’m wondering if you think some of this is politics. I know you’re on the 'Trump Train’ and a lot of the people criticizing you are with her, Hillary. What are your thoughts on that?
SP: Honestly? Fuck Hillary. She’s such garbage. She’s had people killed. I’m not going to say anymore because I’ll probably get shot but Hillary should dot, dot, dot. If I was American, which I hope to be one day, it would be Donald Trump all the fucking way.
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Poker Transcripts
Salomon 'HashTag King' Ponte Interview
High Roller Radio has interviewed some of the greatest gamblers, casino insiders, sports bettors, authors and poker players. Here, our interview with Salomon 'HashTag King' Ponte, one of the hottest and most controversial young poker stars playing today. His upcoming appearance on Poker Night in America is much anticipated and who knows what could happen?
@salomonponte
The Queen Stream!
Deborah Vanneste has been streaming on twitch for two years & is a two-time Pokerstars MicroMillions winner.
He’s calling her out and talking all this shit. I told him to shut the fuck up and he got pissed at me and said we should take it outside. I said, ‘Bro, you want to go outside? I’ll fucking murder you outside. I’ll put you to sleep. You got nothing on me.’ Unfortunately, I was in a hand at the time and ended up losing $5,000. So, I kind of wish I did go outside and wreck him. It is what it is. He started with me, made fun of my family, and said let’s go outside. I took boxing for years. I would have destroyed him.
Q: This is an aggressive approach man. Are you using intimidation at and away from the table to help you succeed at cards?
SP: Everyone is scared of me. I don’t even have to do anything and people are afraid of me. I walk around and people are scared of me. If you talk to me in person and we kick it, maybe go to a beach club in Las Vegas or a nightclub, you’ll know what’s up. Everyone knows I’m a good guy. Everyone loves me but, at the table, I’m talking shit and I’m taking everybody’s money.
Q: Are you primarily a cash game guy?
SP: I play everything. I don’t discriminate. I play cash games. I play tournaments. I prefer tournaments just because there’s such a large reward at the end of it but I play a lot of cash games too. I play a ton of PLO, I play a ton of no limit, and I play in some pretty big games. In Calgary, when I was there for the WPT Deepstacks, in one night I lost $150,000 in a $50/$100/$200 PLO game. It’s nothing, just another day. I felt like giving some money away and i said, ‘Here you go,’ and I gave the table 150k. They looked so broke and I felt bad for them. I said, ‘Fuck, maybe I’ll give them this money.'
Q: They don’t realize what a good guy you are?
SP: Yes exactly, I’m giving charity all day.
Q: I know you have embarked on a twitter campaign to get back in Playground Poker Club in Montreal. You have been barred from a few places. What’s up with that?
SP: I’ve been banned from 10 casinos in the past three months. I’m trying to get back into Playground because I want to play the $1 million guarantee coming up in May. They’ve been ignoring me so I’m trying to call them out on twitter. I got kicked out the same night Mike Dentale got in trouble and somehow I get banned and he doesn’t. I love Mike but there was some shit going on with him, with the pit bosses, and I decided to stick up for him. I got pissed off, he got pissed off and I got kicked out. I think the people on shift that night were stupid. The thing is, when I play poker, there are so many people who come after me that they’re stupid for banning me. People aren’t going to come to their event.
Q: Did you watch the Cate Hall/Mike Dentale match on Poker Night in America and what did you think?
SP: I thought Cate Hall was a bitch. Mike Dentale should have won that. Fuck Cate Hall.
Q: What about your line-up for Poker Night in America? What do you think of the playing roster?
SP: So it’s April 21st on Poker Night in America. It’s me, Mike Dentale and then a bunch of no names like Doug Polk, Brandon Cantu and Shaun Deeb.
Q: What happens if Shaun Deeb slow rolls you?
SP: He’s not going to slow roll me, trust me. I will slow roll the fuck out of Shaun Deeb because he’s a little bitch. I told Matt Glantz I’ll be on my best behaviour, sort of. So I will be on my best behaviour, sort of, come Poker Night in America. I’m going to respect his wishes. I’m going to go all out but I’ll still be on my best behaviour.
Q: When you look at it this is a big opportunity for any poker player. Many players would love to be in your spot, be on Poker Night in America, but they’ve chosen you because you’re outspoken...
SP: They chose me because I’m the best in the world. Obviously Matt Glantz is going to pick me. I’m the best poker player in the world, so obviously he’s going to pick me to be on the show. They’re all garbage on the show. The only player that is decent there is Mike Dentale. I’ve been in poker for a year-and-a-half now and already I’m the 20th most popular player in the world cause they all suck.
Q: You’ve challenged Doug Polk to a heads-up match and you say he won’t play you?
SP: Honestly? Doug Polk is a little bitch. He’s probably one of the worst heads-up poker players in the world if you think about it. The guy made his name online playing poker and then he started playing live. He got crushed. Online is like a video game, with all this software and nonsense the players can use. I play live poker, I’m the best at it and I’m going to crush his soul.
Q: Any message for your opponents come Poker Night in America?
SP: Ah man, they better be prepared. It does’t matter anyway because they’re all going to go broke come Poker Night in America. They’ll all be asking me for loans at the end of it, especially Doug Polk and Shaun Deeb. Doug Polk seems like a cool guy away from poker, seems like he’d be fun to party with, but Shaen Deeb just looks like a doofus dork. He’s drawing dead at everything.
Salomon Ponte Thank-you!
Salomon Ponte
WPT Champion
Salomon ‘HashTag King’ Ponte Interview
High Stakes Cash Game/Tournament Poker Professional
Full audio of this Q&A HERE
Q: You’ve been playing 49 straight hours in a cash game at the Bellagio? It must been going well for you but how do you do that?
SP: It’s actually not going that well. I usually wouldn’t be here this long if I was winning. Forty-nine hours isn’t that long. I’ve been awake much longer. How do I do that? I’m just super human. I got that skill.
Q: Not sure if you’ve been on twitter lately but you’re creating quite a stir. You’ve been selected to play Poker Night in America and some people aren’t too happy about it. What are your thoughts on all of this twitter craziness?
Griffin Benger
The Canadian pro and Shark Cage winner, talks about the ups and downs of a poker life.
Q: What happened with that situation at the Bicycle Casino where you threatened someone with their life after a hand? Can you talk about that for us?
SP: Of course, of course. I’m talking to Bear Jew and he’s talking shit to me and I’m talking shit to him, and then he starts bringing down my family. I’m like, ‘Bro, please shut the fuck up.’ He keeps going on about my mom. The only reason I was leaving Live at the Bike and flying back to Toronto the next day was to see my mom. She was having surgery.
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