'Surreal' — TV's Matt Salsberg pens WSOP Circuit win at Commerce

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The World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event played out its final day at Commerce over nearly nine hours and an old-school name in the poker world emerged as the winner with Matt Salsberg capturing his first Circuit ring and the $286,134 grand prize.

"This is very surreal. It's been kind of a crazy few years for me, so this is wild" Salsberg told PokerOrg after the win. "I have played a lot of Circuit events over the years and have never won a ring, so it's nice to get one."

Commerce regular breaks through

A WSOP circuit ring was one of the only things lacking in Salsberg's poker resume as he is a long-time Commerce regular and plays many tournaments here. The WPT champion also plays all over the LA area and has results dating back to 2004. 

Salsberg is most known as an award-winning writer and Executive Producer on the mid-2000s Showtime TV hit Weeds. He says the local Commerce is a place that he has played well at over the years with a few big scores. The champ is a popular figure among the Commerce regulars, and many players congratulated him as he walked through the poker room after he had collected his payout.

In total, Salsberg now has $3.4 million in total earnings, with this win being the second largest of his career eclipsed only by the WPT win in Paris for $478,000 in 2012.

Salsberg gave a succinct explanation of his strategy and his win. "It's a poker tournament, it's not that hard. Just have to sit here and win hands."

Another deep run for Michael Liang ended in third place.

Salsberg battles back

The final day of the Main Event began with 13 players, down from 1,209 total entries, and Salsberg started out as the third largest stack. However, it would not be a day of smooth sailing for him as he dropped down to one of the shorter stacks and was at risk of going out early in the day. 

There were four quick eliminations to set up the final livestream of nine players after about two hours of play. Entering the final table of nine, Salsberg was the sixth largest stack with Samvell Gspoyan leading the way. 

Phongthep Thiptinnakon was the first victim of the final table while Aram Mhkitaryan quickly followed. At that point, Davis Khoyber and Anthony Marquez would start to take control as the chip leaders.

Richard Ham was the next to go in seventh place and Gspoyan was unable to keep his big stack momentum going as he lost a big flip and never recovered from there to bow out in sixth place. Luis Yepez followed in fifth as his bid to win back-to-back WSOP circuit Main Events came up just short. 

The four remaining players would trade chips and stacks for a while before Khobyer was eliminated in fourth place. Michael Liang looked as though he was going to take control with a large lead at a few different stages of the final table, but his fortunes changed against Salsberg during three-handed play as Salsberg got the better of him a few times to eventually send Liang away in third.

Heads-up play was very short as Marquez was at a significant chip disadvantage and could not cut into Salsberg's lead before the match ended after just a few hands. 

Salsberg shakes hands with runner-up Anthony Marquez after the final card.

WSOP Circuit Commerce final table results