The countdown to the 2026 WSOP starts here. 100 bracelets. The world's best players. And PokerOrg will be on the floor from start to finish.
Matt Salsberg is a former WPT Player of the Year and a regular on the poker circuit. He recently finished second at the 2026 WPT NLH Championship event at Rolling Thunder.
What are you doing to prep for the WSOP?
I've been working really hard all year on my Mystery Bounty pulls. I've been throwing a lot of envelopes into a bin and working on grabbing a million dollars, but it's hard because there's only one in a thousand. That's been a big part of my theory study routine for the last six months.
Can you share some of your secrets behind a $1,000,000 pull?
Nope. This is top-level shit. This is ninja stuff. I cannot divulge that information. I've been working with last year’s million-dollar mystery winner, Tom Zanot. He’s coaching me on how to pull million-dollar bounties. I tried to get Matt Glantz, but he won’t help.
You’ve been playing some events at Texas Card House. How is Texas poker different from your usual stomping grounds in Los Angeles?
This is the first time I've played here, and it was an interesting experience. I would say Texas poker is almost like a little microcosm for Texas itself. I played for three days here, and they like to play big ball style. There are a lot of big dudes around you. It’s loud, in a big hall, and it's not intimate or cozy.
The WSOP Main Event is the 'perfect tournament'
How do you balance your career in Hollywood as a writer and your passion for poker?
They're very similar. They have a lot of parallels, Hollywood and poker tournaments. Poker tournaments are sort of microcosms of everything, including TV development.
How so?
When you're trying to write a television pilot and get it on the air, there are all sorts of levels that you have to ascend to. First, you've got to make the money. Once you're in the money, you've got to win the thing.
With poker tournaments, your fate is decided in three days. Whereas in Hollywood it could take three months, six months, or two years to find out your fate.
But Hollywood is still more satisfying than poker because you're trying to create something that's going to touch people's lives, whether it's funny or dramatic. That's more rewarding, because poker is just a card game. But the time factor is what makes poker a more tolerable life.
What’s your favorite event each summer?
The WSOP Main Event is always the best. The Main is the glory. It's the money, it's the structure, it's the grind. It's just the most perfect tournament.
How do you spend your rest days?
It depends on how things are going. If I'm winning, it's very different than if I'm not. You tend to relax a lot more when you're winning than when you're losing. When you’re losing, it feels like you're frustrated and trying to change the mojo somehow. I don't have a set plan.
What’s your take on ESPN being back on board as a partner with the WSOP?
Hopefully, it brings back much of the excitement it had in the early days of poker. I liked their original documentary-style production. That narrative was almost like watching Hoop Dreams for poker.
I loved that too.
It was great. Actually, I think it's going to generate a lot of buzz this year. It introduces many people who don’t really follow poker to the game.
Matt Salsberg: The quickfire round
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The 2026 WSOP starts on May 26 and runs through August 5, when the Main Event champion will be crowned.
