Matthew Salsberg at the 2014 Borgata Winter Poker Open WPT Main Event
For television fans and Hollywood types, the name Matt Salsberg is synonymous with intellectual blends of comedy and drama like the hit show Weeds, as the producer and writer has built a solid resume with his work on the small screen.
Poker fans have discovered Salsberg to be a Renaissance man of sorts, as the successful TV man has taken to the felt with ease. After turning his hobby and passion into a part-time job of sorts - travelling the tournament circuit and accumulating an increasingly impressive record of results. Last year Salsberg joined the upper echelon of poker by breaking into the Global Poker Index Top 10, an accomplishment which demonstrates how seriously he takes the game.
Salsberg is here today for Day 1a of this WPT Main Event Championship, and with his record both here at the Borgata and on the World Poker Tour, we'll be sure to track his progress as the day continues.
Cliff Josephy on Day 1a of the 2014 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Main Event
Cliff Josephy is better known in the poker world as "JohnnyBax" - but after a recent hand we may as well call him "JohnnyJax."
Josephy tangled with an all-in player who held , and the two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner had the better pair with . The final board ran out to keep the fishhooks out in front and Josephy knocked a player out early on Day 1a to build a big stack to wield during these first few levels.
Jeremy Schultz on Day 1a of the 2014 Borgata Winter Poker Open WPT Main Event
With the starting stack for this WPT Main Event a generous 30,000, and blinds still set at 50-100 to give everybody a deep, 300-big blind arsenal to work with, players rarely find a reason to get it all in before the flop.
The sight of in the hole just might be one of those reasons, however, and for Jeremy Schultz it certainly was.
Schultz watched a string of callers try to get in the pot for a 300 open, but he popped it to 1,100 holding a premium pocket pair. When a lone opponent showed resistance and four-bet to 4,600, Schultz decided to run with the cowboys and he five-bet jammed for his last 25,200. The other player snap-called and showed down though, and it appeared Schultz would be on the wrong end of a classic cooler.
Flop: Turn: River:
The flop came clean for the man with pocket rockets, but the turn was a disaster and gave Schultz the lead with a set of kings. A non-ace river sent the pot his way, and while the losing player lamented his terrible luck, Schultz just shook his head and happily collected a pot containing nearly double the stack he sat down with.
Cards are back in the air here at the Borgata Winter Poker Open WPT Main Event.
With the late registration period for this $3,500 buy-in event still running, we are seeing a steady stream of notable names make their way into the room for the first time, so stay tuned for an updated list of the top players in this Day 1a field.
According to Hawkins, he played the and connected perfectly with the board by the turn. After making his straight, Hawkins snapped off the shorty's 4,000 all-in wager (the man held ), and a decent pot was pushed his way.
![[user253757]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
to keep the fishhooks out in front and Josephy knocked a player out early on Day 1a to build a big stack to wield during these first few levels.
though, and it appeared Schultz would be on the wrong end of a classic cooler.
and connected perfectly with the 
board by the turn. After making his straight, Hawkins snapped off the shorty's 4,000 all-in wager (the man held 