A survey was taken a few years ago
that asked 300 professionals one question:
"What's the worst thing that can happen in sports?"
Some people answered losing a Game 7.
He scores! Bruins win in seven games!
And other people said getting swept in four.
Some people said it was missing the World Cup.
Guatemala is eliminated!
And some Brazilians said it was losing to Argentina.
Not just in the World Cup-- anytime, ever, in any contest.
But one person answered that the worst thing
that can happen in sports
was fourth place at the Olympics.
This is a true story, but except for my own,
I've changed all the names
and I've done my best to obscure identities
for reasons that'll become clear.
I'm Molly Bloom
and right now, I'm ranked third in North America in Women's Moguls.
I grew up in Loveland, Colorado about two hours north of Denver.
I have a BA in Political Science from the University of Colorado
where I graduated Summa Cum Laude with a 3.9 GPA.
The median L-SAT score at Harvard Law School is 169.
My score: 173.
Number 87 up. 56 on deck.
I've spent 16 years chasing winter
and being coached by the best in the world.
Sundays were for working out with my father.
Something's really wrong.
When I was 12 years old, for no particular reason,
my back exploded.
Tough it out.
Good advice.
And lose the attitude.
Less than ten minutes later, I was in the back of an ambulance.
I had what's called rapid onset scoliosis.
My spine was curved at 63 degrees
and I'd need a 7-hour surgical procedure that involved
straightening my spine, extracting bone from my hip,
fusing 11 vertebrae together
and fastening steel rods to the fused segments.
She's gonna be fine.
I wouldn't let her ski anymore. Definitely not moguls.
And obviously, skiing competitively is out of the question.
Oh, I know.
I was on skis again in a year,
running moguls in 18 months
and by my 20th birthday, I'd made the U.S. Ski Team.
It's the last round of qualifying for the Salt Lake City Olympics.
This is the Champion Run at Deer Valley.
The altitude's 8,100 feet and the pitch is 52 degrees
which is the same as the sides of the Great Pyramids.
The wind's 20-25 miles an hour blowing left to right.
It's three-below zero at the top of the slope
and with 17 skiers in front of me,
it's gonna be like trying to stick a landing on a frozen infinity pool.
Kiki blew out of her line.
Shannon was off-balance on her second landing.
He's talking about Kiki Bandy and Shannon Keebler,
my two toughest competitors
who had significant point deductions on their final runs.
I can make the Olympic team right now.
Go get it.
And if I had three perfect runs in Salt Lake...
the best runs of my life...
I can beat the Austrians and the Swiss
and have a realistic shot at the podium.
Then law school and then a start-up.
A foundation that seeds entrepreneurial women.
My father's at the bottom of the slope
telepathically telling me to check my line.
Check your line.
I check my line.
Competitor ready.
Good snow contact, calm upper-body,
legs together, good shape, no line deviation,
set up for the D-Spin, and...
stick the landing.
Now two things you need to know
before the second trick which'll be a 720.
The first is that when visibility is bad the way it is now,
race officials toss pine boughs on the course
so the skiers have some foreground depth reference.
The second is that the tightness of your bindings
is determined by what's called a DIN setting.
If you're a beginner, your DIN setting is probably a two or three.
If you're an experienced weekend skier, it's probably seven or eight.
Mine's 15.
My boots are basically welded to my skis.
Right...so how does this happen?
It happened because I hit a pine bough
that had become frozen in the snow.
And I hit it so precisely
that it simply snapped the release of my bindings.
Right in that moment, I didn't have time
to calculate the odds of that happening
because I was about to land pretty hard
on my digitally remastered spinal cord
which is being held together by spare parts from an Erector Set.
Back up! Back up! Move!
-Watch out! -Give her room!
That way, move!
None of this has anything to do with poker.
I'm only mentioning it because I wanted to say to whoever
answered that the worst thing that could happen in sports
was fourth place at the Olympics...
seriously, fuck you.
-Hello? -Molly Bloom?
-Is this Molly Bloom? -Yes.
This is Special Agent Tomasino at the FBI.
We have a warrant for your arrest.
-Sorry? -We're outside your door,
we want you to come out here, okay?
Listen to me now.
-Make sure we can see your hands. -Who is this?
This is Special Agent Tomasino of the FBI, Miss Bloom.
You've got 30 seconds to open your door
or we're breaking it down.
Do you understand what I just said?
Hands in the air.
Put your hands in the air.
-There's been a mistake. -Are you Molly Bloom?
Yes, but there's--
I want you to walk toward me very slowly.
Okay. Go ahead.
-I'm... -Slower.
Slower. Slow down.
Come on. Come on.
-I'm having a hard time seeing-- -Walk slower.
-the flashlights in my eyes-- -Walk slower.
Yes, sir.
Hands on the wall.
Spread your arms and legs.
Is there anyone in your apartment right now?
Uh, no, sir.
Are there any firearms in your apartment right now?
No, sir.
Go.
You're under arrest for running an illegal gambling operation.
Do you understand?
Uh...yes.
Say you understand.
I understand.
There's been--a mistake because I haven't run a game in two years.
I want you to take a look at this piece of paper right here.
Can you see what it says at the top?
Yes.
Read to me what it says at the top.
United States of America vs. Molly Bloom.
I'd bet heavy on the favorite.
What do you um, think about the following concepts?
Just gonna run 'em by you.
Marriage.
It is a trap.
Society.
It is a joke.
People.
I...think there's good and bad.
But I don't trust them.
I don't trust people.
Every year on our birthdays,
my father would interview my younger brothers and me.
Who are the heroes or heroines in your life?
Who uh, who do you really respect?
I don't have any heroes.
You don't have any heroes.
How's this for hubris?
I don't.
Because if I reach the goals I'd set out for myself,
then the person I become,
that'll be my hero.
Even by teenage girl standards,
I would appear to be irrationally angry at nothing in particular.
It would be another 22 years before I'd find out why.
After my colossal wipeout at Deer Valley,
I decided to take a year off before law school.
I needed to go away,
sever myself from reality and come up with a new plan.
So, I chose Los Angeles.
A friend of mine from the ski team
had agreed to let me crash on her couch for a while.
My father had disapproved of postponing law school
and so declined to help out.
But I had $1700 I'd saved from babysitting money and
that would support me until I found a waitressing job.
I'd already had a career and retired from it.
I wanted to be young for a while in warm weather.
I think that's what I wanted at first.
It's hard to remember.
I got a job working bottle service
at a club in Hollywood called Nacional Nightclub.
It was Cuban-themed.
So my uniform was camouflage short-shorts and a wife-beater.
The promoter would go over
which record producer was sitting where...
which hot designers, which Lakers,
and Boris Lava, the Bulgarian billionaire,
who didn't drink but who ran $100,000 bar tab.
My job was to get people to spend more money than they needed to.
Could we get a bottle of Sky?
You guys look like you deserve Grey Goose.
What do guys who deserve Grey Goose look like?
To begin with, they got a bottle of Grey Goose in front of 'em.
You're quick. Very clever.
Uh, all right, yeah. Grey Goose.
They just spent an additional $300,
bringing their total to $900
for $8.50 worth or vodka.
But the club doesn't need you to buy a bottle.
They need you to buy five bottles.
So these girls over here,
they let you buy them shots for a living.
It would be like waiting in a long line to get into the Gap
so you can pay a 1,000 percent mark-up
to buy all the employees a pair of pants.
I only had one shift a week.
I didn't want to tell my parents I was a cocktail waitress.
And back then, I never turned down
an opportunity to make more money.
So I found a second job as an office assistant
and that's how I ended up working for Dean Keith.
Dean was a partner in Blackhues Investments.
He was a regular at the club and one night, he said,
People seem to take to you.
Hey, how'd you like to get paid to go to grad school
and get an MBA in how life works?
What makes you think you know and I don't?
I'm a regular here and you're a waitress here.
Look at the fuckin' scoreboard.
Dean explained what my job was by saying,
Me. I'm your job.
I answered the phone, made coffee runs, set appointments,
-made spreadsheets. -What is that?
and showed Dean what a spreadsheet was.
Spreadsheet.
But I made $450 a week on top of
the $300 I was making at the club,
which would be enough to get off my friend's couch.
I remember the day started by being about bagels.
-This is Molly. -Get to the office. Pick up bagels.
Do you mean now?
Dean was a Hollywood staple.
Over-leveraged, going broke, trying to prove he wasn't broke
and making a true effort to be as vulgar as possible.
Honestly making an effort.
I hadn't told anyone I was a skier
and it was hard not to laugh when Dean said...
Anyone ever teach you how to fuckin' hurry?
No.
-What are those? -Bagels.
-Are these from Bluebell? -Yeah.
-It's on the way from my house. -Seriously?
You might as well have stopped at a fuckin' homeless shelter.
You might as well have walked into
a motherfucking homeless shelter and said,
"I'd like a dozen bagels from this homeless shelter, please!"
I do not eat bagels from Blue fucking bell, Molly,
because these are poor people bagels!
From where would you like me to get your bagels in the future?
Forget about the fuckin' bagels.
-Done. -Except smarten up.
-Got it. -Hang on.
Like I said, the day started by being about bagels.
But that would abruptly change.
My weekly poker game's moved to the Cobra Lounge.
Tomorrow night and then every Tuesday night.
You'll help run it.
Take these names and numbers.
Tell 'em to bring 10 grand in cash for the first buy-in,
the blinds are 50-100.
-And Molly. -Yeah?
Don't fuckin' tell anybody.
I'd regarded Dean as a nitwit when I regarded him at all.
But on that pad were nine names along with phone numbers
of some of the most wealthiest and most famous people in the world.
I put the numbers in my phone and composed a simple message.
There'd be a game tomorrow night at the Cobra Lounge,
there was a $10,000 buy-in.
All nine players confirmed that they'd be there.
All withing 90 seconds of my sending the text.
The Cobra Lounge sits on the edge of the Sunset Strip.
And in its heyday was famous for introducing unknown bands
like The Doors and The Beach Boys.
All I knew was schoolwork and skiing.
I'd always figured sophistication
would be easy to learn if I ever needed it.
My cheese platter had a sticker that read,
"Cheese: From the Great State of Michigan."
Diego, a professional dealer,
was setting up the table when I got there.
I Googled,
"What type of music do poker players like to listen to?"
And then tried to figure out how to make a playlist
out one Kenny Rogers song.
I set up the bar,
put out my cheese platter
and positioned myself at the door
where I'd been instructed to only let in the names on the list.
I was wearing my best dress,
which I'd bought two years earlier at JC Penney for $88.
The players started to arrive.
I introduced myself as Molly,
-Dean's assistant. -For you.
Asked if I could get them a drink,
and took from each of them $10,000 in cash.
-Hi. -Hi.
I'm...
I know.
-Everybody here? -Yeah.
Hey, buddy.
Fuck off. I'm gonna own your shit.
Ugly dress. Ugly shoes.
Let's play!
Diego fanned nine cards out on the table
and the players chose for seats.
-11 and 11. -22.
I'd just finished counting out $90,000 in cash.
I was in a room with movie stars,
directors,
And the award goes to...
rappers,
-boxers, -Oh! he's in trouble!
and business titans.
They were going all-in all the time,
burning through their buy-ins over and over.
-There you go, good luck. -Thank you so much.
I Googled every word I heard that I didn't know.
Flop, river, fourth street,
tilt, cooler, boat, nuts,
-Yeah, he's pot committed. -playing the rush...
You keeping track of the buy-ins?
-Yeah. -Where? Where's the paper?
Spreadsheet.
Ray's all in.
Get him, motherfucker!
All in.
The game ended at 3:30.
And when it did, that's when Dean shouted out--
Hey! Tip Molly if you want to get invited back next week.
"Tip Molly."
Deep down I didn't like the sound of that.
Thank you so much.
Deep down I knew that when your boss says,
-And Molly. -Yeah.
Don't fuckin' tell anybody.
that's usually not the beginning of a promising law career.
See you next week.
But that was deep down.
I'd just made $3,000.
What are you reading?
The Crucible.
For school?
My father assigned it.
Do you know how many witches were burned in Salem?
-How many? -None.
They didn't burn witches, it's a myth. They hanged them.
Or drowned them or crushed them with heavy rocks.
Wait, aren't-- You're Molly Bloom, right?
Yeah.
You don't look the same as in your photos.
None of us do.
-Molly? -Yes.
Charlie Jaffey.
Thank you again for seeing me so early.
-This is my daughter, Stella. -We met.
Isabel will be here in 45 minutes to take you to school.
-Finish your math? -Yeah.
Civ?
-Yeah. -Do you know it?
Could you teach it in class today?
If I asked you to teach me Roman law, could you do it?
Yes.
'Kay.
So, first things first,
when was the last time you slept? Today's Friday.
Tuesday morning at 5 a.m. I was arrested by the FBI,
I spent Tuesday in L.A. County Jail.
I was assessed to be a minimal flight risk
and bail was set at $100,000.
My mother signed over her house.
I was released on Wednesday and ordered to appear in Federal Court
in New York's Southern District
at 10 a.m. today.
In here.
Close that will you?
I flew here Wednesday and met with five attorneys yesterday.
Have a seat.
You didn't hire any of them?
Three of them had already been taken.
Yeah, 31 people were named in your indictment.
It's Black Friday for criminal lawyers.
What about the other two?
One told me money was his second favorite form of payment.
I know him.
The fifth was also taken but he recommended I call you.
Why?
I told him I wanted someone who'd worked in the prosecutor’s office
and wasn't even a little bit shady.
Do you know about me?
Um, I've been briefed a little by my daughter
who knows a lot about your story because her mother's a moron.
Her mother reads the tabloids.
Yeah, and I read them too.
I read your indictment after I got your call last night
and I bought your book.
I'm only on page 112, but Molly,
did you commit a felony and then write a book about it?
I haven't run a game in two years.
Not to spoil the ending, but that's when the government
raided my game and took all of my money,
assuming all of it was made illegally which it wasn't.
I've been living in my mother's house in Telluride and...
I wrote the book so I could start paying off debts.
I just finished a press tour for the book
and I moved back to Los Angeles so I could start over.
Hm.
You ran games in L.A. for roughly eight years?
-Yeah. -Without taking a rake?
Right.
And then you ran games in New York for roughly two?
I took a rake the last six months.
In the first 112 pages you name a bunch of names.
Sorry?
Uh, you named the name of some movie stars
that played in your game.
Yeah.
That not against some sort of poker code?
Am I supposed to be sitting all the way over here?
Can you hear me from there?
Yeah.
Are you taking me on as a client?
My retainer's $250,000. Do you have $250,000?
No, I don't have anything.
What about the sales from your book?
The book isn't jumping off the shelves
but I will find a way to pay you, Charlie.
Ask around about me.
Unfortunately, the people I'd ask are going away for a while.
What happened on Tuesday morning
was called a GPS Takedown.
31 people were arrested in the same instance.
Something in excess of 600 agents were dispatched to locations in
New York, and L.A. in coordinated strikes
with automatic weapons and you're
trying to tell me you're in my office
because you raked a game of Texas Hold 'Em?
Yes.
Have you seen the other names in your indictment?
Nicolas Koslovsky, Peter Druzhinsky,
Peter Antonovich, the Gershen brothers,
I mean, come on, Molly, just how deep into
the Russian mob were you? Because your book doesn't say.
Why are you making your daughter read The Crucible?
So she can see what happens to a group
of bored teenage girls when they gossip.
I never read the play.
Many consider it to be the best play of the 20th Century.
Is that what many consider it to be?
I don't defend violent criminals.
I've never hurt anyone in my life.
-Your friends have. -I've never heard of 90 percent
-of the names in the indictment. -And the other 10 percent?
I didn't know they were connected.
I had no idea who they really were.
Let me ask you a question.
The character in the book you call Dean Keith,
he didn't say "Poor people bagels," did he?
I think I know who he is,
I think I know a real estate lawyer that worked with him and quit.
He said,
"nigger bagels," right?
I'm not telling you his real name, he's not involved in this.
But you were willing to name some names.
Why is the FBI arresting me
two years after I've stopped running games?
Were you paid extra in your book deal to name the movie stars?
I'm not your guy, Molly.
I wish you good luck but this just isn't for me.
I didn't know who the Russians were.
I can get you the 250,000,
I left ten times that on the street, it'll just take some time.
We regularly lend out our best litigators like me to the ACLU,
Southern Poverty Law Center, veterans groups,
but I don't think I can convince my partners
to take a flyer on the Poker Princess.
I didn't name myself the Poker Princess.
Uh, "Molly Bloom, the self-proclaimed Poker Princess..."
Is that Us Weekly?
I would agree it would be unusual for them
to print something that wasn't true
but it's not true and if you think a princess
can do what I did, you're incorrect.
I'm getting you don't think much of me
but what if everyone of your ill-informed,
unsophisticated opinions about me were wrong?
I'd be amazed.
Yeah, you know what, bud? You would.
You don't need me, you need a publicist.
No, I need a fucking lawyer!
You didn't answer my question.
When was the last time you slept?
It was a while ago.
All right.
I'm gonna walk you through the arraignment this morning
'cause you shouldn't do that alone.
I'm gonna put some bodies on you, walk you through the side door.
'Cause I don't know what you got on the Russians
but neither do they
and the Russians take care of shit.
Do you understand what I'm saying?
Yes.
Almost. You gotta keep your eyes up, okay?
Always gotta look ahead.
If you look down, that's where you're gonna go.
If you look down, that's where you'll go.
You ready?
Let's go.
My father's a therapist
and a psychology professor at Colorado State.
No!
The second rule of his house was that academic excellence
and athletic excellence weren't optional.
You can't be afraid of it. All right?
Don't play defense.
And the first rule
-was that he made all the rules. -Again!
Dad, I'm pretty tired.
Hon, she's tired.
We've been out here since 6:00.
Her lips are blue.
-You tired? -Yeah.
What's another word for tired?
Name a synonym for tired, and we'll get in the car.
Weak.
That's right.
Let's go home.
Again.
I decided to postpone law school another year.
After six week of tips,
I went to Barney's and asked for a dress
that made me look nothing like myself.
I'd overheard stories about games that folded after one bad night
and I needed this one to keep going
and I needed to bring value to it.
Good night, Molly. Thanks very much.
I knew if I wanted to cement my place,
there was one guy I needed to team up with.
-Ten thousand. -Fold.
And that was this man.
The game had regulars and the game had guests.
Check or bet?
And four of the regulars were famous actors.
And I'm gonna call one of them Player X.
I'm all in.
Player X subscribed to the belief
that money won was twice as good as money earned.
He lived to beat people and take their money.
Here's Player X talking to one of the guests.
into folding the winning hand.
I swear on--look at me.
I swear on my mother's life I have you.
Player X was the best player at the table and tonight
this guy was the worst.
He's staring at his cards.
Even a reasonably good amateur would know it was
mathematically the best hand
which in poker is called the nuts.
There was $47,000 in the pot
and the guest was holding the nuts
but he was starting to get confused
because a movie star was talking to him.
My mother's life, man, I'm not messing with you.
Why would you be telling me?
Either I am messing with you or you're new to the game,
you've had bad cards all night,
you should've folded after the flop
and I don't wanna win more of your money this way.
I got queens under here.
Take your time.
Fold.
Fuck you.
No!
Oh!
A fish is a particular kind of player.
A fish has money.
A fish plays loose and doesn't fold a lot.
A fish is good but not too good.
Good night, see you up in the hall, bro.
The Cobra Lounge may have belonged do Dean Keith
but the game belonged to Player X.
People wanted to say they played with him
the same way they wanted to say they rode on Air Force One.
My job security was gonna depend on bringing him his fish.
But where would I find people with a lot of money
who didn't know how to spend it
and liked to be around celebrities?
If they say they're interested in poker you give them my number.
I vet them. They end up playing in the game
I'll give you $1,000 the first time they play,
$500 every time after that.
Be sure to mention... these guys are all regulars.
Is this true? These guys play?
The Commerce Casino is off the 5 freeway in East L.A.
and no one's ever gonna confuse it with Monte Carlo.
I'd watch the tables for a while
before I approached a friendly-looking pit boss.
Third chair at Table 8 can't lose.
Unless there are players at his table who can win.
You know about the game at the Cobra Lounge, right?
Sure.
$1,000 for every player you send me.
You get a piece of what they lose.
No pros.
I'm Molly.
Poker was my Trojan horse into the highest level of finance,
technology, politics, entertainment, art.
All I had to do was listen.
The art world is controlled by a few major dealers.
China's telecom companies want to partner with other providers.
The owners don't mind spending 30 million on an outfielder
who hits 320 with 110 RBI's.
They alone control the market.
They choose the artists they want to be important.
They mind spending ten million on a pitcher
who is 8 and 14 this season.
It's gonna be Gephardt.
They set the prices,
they mark 'em up 70, 80, 90 percent.
They're all very excited about a company called Twitter.
Unregulated money, usually all cash...
-His days are numbered. -His days are numbered.
I don't know how much longer she's gonna be in the job.
-He's done. -She's gone.
All in.
People have asked me what my goal was at that point,
what was my endgame.
Back then, I would've laughed at the question.
I was raised to be a champion.
My goal was to win.
At what and against whom?
Those were just details.
I'm all in.
I had my own apartment now.
I'll take it.
A new car.
And $17,000 in a shoe box.
Law school could wait one more year.
Next please. Come on through.
Come on up please.
Thank you. Come on through.
So, here's all that's gonna happen today.
The judge is gonna ask each defendant
if they've read the indictment
or if they'd like the court to read it to them.
Then the judge is gonna ask how you plead
and you're gonna answer, "Not Guilty."
I'll make it clear for the record that I'm not your counsel
but I am appearing on your behalf at the arraignment.
In propria persona.
"In propria persona" means on your behalf.
Yeah.
No, I'm saying it means on your behalf.
I am appearing on your behalf.
"In propria persona" means you're appearing on your behalf,
not my behalf.
I'll check that out but the point is
I'm not your lawyer and I'll make that clear for the record.
That's us over there.
You've got a good judge. He's a good guy.
How 'bout the prosecutor?
Good morning, Your Honor, Harrison Wellstone,
Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District,
joined at counsel table by Assistant U.S. Attorney
Eric Brennan,
and FBI Special Agent Deborah D'Angelo.
Thank you.
Are there any oral motions at this time?
Switch with me.
Just in case your lawyer doesn't mention it,
next time you appear in front of the judge,
you might wanna re-think your clothes.
Okay? You look like the Cinemax version of yourself.
I sold my clothes when the government seized
all of my money two years ago
which incidentally was the last time I ran a game.
But I think I already mentioned that.
Okay.
Hey, switch back.
Nicholas Siegel.
Has the defendant seen a copy of the indictment?
Yes, Your Honor.
Have you discussed it with your lawyer?
Yes.
Switch back.
-And how do you plead? -Not guilty.
Thank you, you may have a seat.
Your old boss,
the one in the book you call Dean Keith,
he was terrible to you.
Why cover up for him by changing it to "poor people bagels"?
I promise you, it couldn't matter less.
Has the defendant seen a copy of the indictment?
Just making conversation.
Hey, switch back.
And what do you plead?
Not guilty.
Have a seat.
Defendant number four, Molly Bloom.
Good morning, Your Honor. Uh, Charles Jaffey
for the defendant just for the purposes--
Well, it's good to see you, Mr. Jaffey.
Are you with us this morning?
Mr. Jaffey?
Uh, yes, sir. Just uh, one moment.
-Switch back. -Seriously?
You said you got ten times that much on the street
in my office when I said
my retainer was $250,000, you said,
"I have ten times that much."
Yeah.
Counsel! I need to record your appearance.
Please the court, Your Honor, just one moment.
You extended credit. You're destitute
and you leave two and a half million dollars on the street?
I had to.
Didn't anyone try to buy your debt sheet?
Everyone tried to buy my debt sheet, is this the right time...?
Why didn't you sell it like you sold your clothes?
I couldn't.
Why?
I couldn't be sure how they were gonna collect.
I was afraid you were gonna say that.
Counsel!
Mhmm.
Yes, Your Honor, uh, Charles Jaffey for the defendant.
For the purposes of this hearing only?
No, sir, I am Molly Bloom's attorney.
Uh, she's read the indictment, discussed it with her lawyer,
waives the right to have it read to her and pleads
"Not Guilty".
Thank you, you may be seated.
Defendant number five. Gilyard Kirshman.
Gonna have to keep reading your book.
There was a track star in the 1930's named Matthew Robinson.
Matthew Robinson shattered the Olympic record
in the 200 at the Berlin Games in 1936.
Absolutely shattered the Olympic record...
and came in second.
The man who came in first was Jesse Owens.
Jesse Owens went on to be a legend.
Matthew Robinson went on to be a janitor
at a whites-only middle school in Pasadena.
The difference was four-tenths of a second.
As if that wasn't enough, Matthew Robinson
had a little brother who was also an athlete.
His name was Jackie.
I have two younger brothers who were overachievers as well.
While I was ranked third in North America,
my brother Jeremy was number one in the world.
And while I was placing into A.P. Chemistry as a sophomore,
My brother Jordan was doing it when he was
12 years old or something, I don't know.
I was a hotshot student and a hotshot skier
everywhere but my own house.
As I got older, I began to bait my father into fights.
without really knowing why I was doing it.
What did everyone learn in school today?
Uh,
I learned that Sigmund Freud was both a misogynist and an idiot
and anyone who relies on his theories
of human psychology is a quack.
I don't know why you'd say that.
You asked me what I learned in school today.
-Is this Mrs. Linwood? -Yep.
Did she happen to mention anything about
his work on the unconscious mind?
His dream analysis has the credibility of a horoscope, but
what got my attention was that he opposed
the women's emancipation movement.
He believed that a woman's life is about her reproductive function.
So you're really getting to the nuts and bolts
of why middle-class suburban white girls
have been oppressed for centuries.
Mrs. Linwood was just teaching us--
Barbara Linwood doesn't like men, Molly.
She doesn't like dicks, Dad, there's a difference.
Molly.
Don't disrespect me like that at the table.
I wasn't disrespecting you, I was disrespecting Freud.
And it's the kitchen table, not the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
And I'm a professional psychologist, not a quack.
-I never said you were a quack. -Yeah, you did and don't do it again.
And don't ever use language like that again.
Okay.
Ignore my teachers, watch my language
and respect the kitchen table.
What else do I need to do before I'm allowed
to disagree with you?
Make your own money
so you can live in your own house
and eat your own food.
I've been running the game for three years
and saved $58,000.
I was recruiting and vetting players,
-keeping the books, -Call.
collecting and delivering checks,
meeting the needs of all the players throughout the week
and still working full-time for Dean Keith,
who made it clear that if I quit the office job,
-I'd lose the game. -Call.
Eights full of nines.
Again.
-That's how it is. -Every time.
I thought he had trips too.
He was slow-playing into the river and
he hid the pocket eights pretty well.
Tough beat, man.
-You owe the game-- -I know what I owe the game.
I wanna talk to you a minute.
-Okay. -In the hall.
♪ He came from an island ♪
♪ And he died from the streets ♪
Is he cheating?
No.
How would you know?
I'd know.
He and Diego aren't in bed together?
No.
What about him and you?
A 52 card deck produces hundreds of millions of random patterns
but every time one of you loses two weeks in a row,
you're sure something fishy's going on? Come on.
I'm gonna stop paying you.
-What do you mean? -As my assistant.
-You firing me? -I'm not firing you
I'm just gonna stop paying you.
You get paid once a week from the game, it doesn't seem fair.
But I also have a job working for you
-24 hours a day. -And if you didn't have that job
you wouldn't have the game.
You understand what I'm saying?
I understand each of the words that you're saying,
-but I don't understand-- -Look.
24 hours a day every day.
You're gonna stop paying me to do that job
because I'm making too much money
doing my second job and if I say no
I'll lose both jobs because "it doesn't seem fair"?
Business is bad right now.
Welcome to the real world.
All right, here it is.
Banks are loaning you money and they shouldn't.
You're a bad risk, they know it.
So the debt service on your loans is close to 20 percent
which is crazy.
20 percent is barely survivable if it's a bridge loan
but like, for instance, it's taken you ten years
to build seven houses,
all of which are worth less than they were before you built them
because the housing market is on a downward trajectory
for the first time in the history of houses
and that's why business is doing bad,
not because you're paying me $450 a week.
You're a business savant?
I've read every piece of paper in your office.
You're making thousands in tips every week,
Why do you care about
-$450 a week? -Because I don't want to
pick up your dry cleaning for free.
You don't have bargaining power here.
You can refuse the pay cut but you'll lose the game.
Cash me out, please.
I wasn't gonna wait for Dean to take the game away from me
before I put a plan in place.
The next morning, I made appointments at the Four Seasons,
the Peninsula and the Beverly Hills Hotel.
The suite was $5,200 a night.
I spent $17,000 on a Shuffle Master
that was installed in the table.
Faster, more reliable shuffles, less downtime between hands.
Food was brought in from Mr. Chow
and available to eat on the side tables.
There was Macallan 18, Belvedere, 1942,
Remy Martin, and an '88 Lafite Rothschild
served by a bartender who'd already memorized your drink.
Cohibas, Monte Cristo in the humidor
A professional stylist turned me into what my defense attorney
would later call the Cinemax version of myself.
I spent almost everything I had
in preparation for the phone call I knew was coming.
Hello?
I want you to listen to me. 'Cause you need to hear this.
Where are you?
I need to tell you something in plain English
and I need to know that you understood it.
Dean.
You are unimportant, did you hear me?
And you are fired.
The job, the game, you're fired.
Can I ask why?
How many of my friends are you sleeping with?
I'm not sleeping with any of them.
That's not what I heard.
Listen to me,
with a Hazmat suit, I wouldn't--
Can I give you some advice?
Lose the bitchy air. Lose the superior air.
And go to the office and get your stuff
and be out of there before I show up.
Hey, are you Molly?
Yeah.
I'm Leah. Uh, Dean asked me to pack your personals.
I appreciate it.
He also asked me to get the numbers of tonight's players
so I can confirm the list.
I'm really sorry.
Don't be.
My phone's in my car. Uh,
I'll text you all the numbers you need when I get downstairs.
I texted my replacement a bunch of random numbers
with 310 area codes.
Then I sent a text to the players for tonight
and told them the game had been moved
to the Four Seasons Hotel, Suite 1401.
♪ C'est si bon ♪ -Hey, how you doing?
Mike?
♪ De partir n'importe où ♪ -Thank you very much.
♪ Bras dessus, bras dessous ♪ -Scotch, please, yeah?
♪ En chantant des chansons ♪
♪ C'est si bon ♪
♪ De se dire des mots doux ♪
♪ De petits riens du tout ♪
♪ Mais qui en disent long ♪
Fellas, can I have your attention for a moment?
Where's Dean?
I'll be hosting a game in this suite every Tuesday night.
If you play tonight, you'll be guaranteed a chair for a year.
If you prefer to play at the Cobra Lounge,
there'll be no hard feelings.
Let's play.
The game was mine now.
I incorporated and Molly Bloom Event Planning was born.
I paid taxes and 1099'd my employees.
I never became romantically or sexually involved
with any of the players.
The game would've fallen apart.
This was back when I was still making good decisions.
And I went to a lawyer to make absolutely sure all this was legal.
Are you taking a rake?
No.
Then you're not breaking the law.
-Can I give you some advice? -Please.
There's a saying in my business.
Don't break the law when you're breaking the law.
What do you mean?
No drugs, no prostitutes, no muscle to collect debts.
Oh, I don't do anything like that.
But you just said I wasn't breaking the law.
Keep it that way, because you don't want to break the law
when you're breaking the law.
Am I breaking the law?
Not really.
We're able to find out for sure, aren't we?
Laws are written down.
You're not taking a percentage of the pot?
No.
You're running a square game.
My game had a tricky ecosystem.
These guys could buy anything
but here in this room you couldn't buy your win.
You couldn't buy me, you couldn't buy the girls
and you couldn't buy a seat at the table.
There's nothing as sweet as a win you have to work for.
And the wins and losses were compelling and they were real.
Of course it helped that the players were gambling addicts.
Can I see you for a second?
Jay, you're famous.
You are an international rock star.
Oh, I wasn't sure you'd noticed.
You can't send e-mails like that.
Well, it's not a federal production, okay? I just...
invited you to Cabo for the weekend.
The next woman you send an e-mail like that to,
it's not gonna be me. It's gonna be someone else.
You're playing with fire.
I'm telling you that I'm in love with you
and you are worried about me getting blackmailed.
Oh, my--that just makes me more into you.
Lemon head, they won't need to blackmail you.
They can get just as much money from TMZ.
And TMZ will give them what they really want--
Tell me the truth, was mine the first
love letter you've gotten from a player?
It was the seventh.
All digitally transmitted.
You are begging for your life
to be turned into a very public hell.
So that's a no on Cabo?
Why don't you just give your wife and kids a break
and run them over with a limo?
I love the way that you talk to me.
Oh, God.
I've had a thought.
-Yeah? -Raise the stakes.
To what?
50K buy-in. Blinds are 250-500.
-That's a 500 percent hike. -Yeah.
I don't think it's a good idea.
You guys give me the room for a second?
Sure.
The players that are losing 100,000 a week
are gonna be losing half a million.
And the players are winning 100,000 a week--
Will have no one left to play with.
Players are gonna get hurt, others are gonna get killed and
some will drop out.
It's not sustainable. We'll lose the game.
Find new players.
He meant find new fish.
I went recruiting again.
First up was Donnie Silverman.
Donnie won the World Series of Poker last year
and got in touch with me through one of the players.
Are you fuckin' nuts?
Donnie Silverman won the World Series of Poker.
You can watch it online.
He took 11 hands at the final table.
But he had the nuts on eight of them.
And three of those...
three were two-outers with four players still in the hand.
He ran hot. He doesn't lock his chips down,
he's reckless, he gives tons of action,
and he's got 12 million dollars.
You know, I don't like playing poker.
Why do you play?
I like destroying lives.
Give him a chair.
-The next recruit... -Good evening, gentlemen.
was Brad Marion, who everyone called Bad Brad
because he was uniquely terrible at this game.
If there was a worst player in the world,
Brad would still find a way to lose to him.
Sorry, I don't have a chair, but you're welcome to a drink.
No, I just came to introduce you to uh, Brad.
All in.
Sorry?
I just wanted to introduce you to Brad Marion, he wants to play.
Give me his information, I'll check him out.
No, Derrick's gonna vouch for him.
"Derrick's gonna vouch for him" meant Derrick would cover
any losses if Brad didn't pay. Up to any amount.
-Hi, I'm Molly Bloom. -Brad Marion.
-Nice to meet you. -You too.
But he could pay, and had to
because he embraced the fallacy of being pot-committed.
I'm all in.
You've invested so much,
you might as well see it through to the end.
Move it up, $2,000 to call.
Bad Brad had raised 700 million dollars
for a fund that traded oil futures.
And every week, he came to the game.
Lost $100,000 and tipped me $5,000
so he could play the next week.
Thank you.
He wasn't getting any better.
And the guys were feasting on him.
Can I get another fifty?
-Can we talk for a second? -Sure.
Brad, this game might not be for you.
I know I'm no card shark.
No, you're not.
Here are your losses after ten weeks.
And you've won...
never.
It's actually a statistical anomaly.
Yeah, I know.
I like playing with the guys. I don't have that many friends.
Don't take my seat away.
-I can tip you more. -No.
Your tips are very generous.
How about I-I give you some books?
Or even a pro to give you some lessons.
Yeah, uh, maybe.
Let me think about it.
Okay.
Turned out Bad Brad knew what he was doing.
He was getting customers.
He'd drop his 100K at the game
and pick up four million for his hedge fund.
-Tell 'em what's smart this week. -Not me.
More on that later, but first...
Harlan Eustice.
Player X said he met Harlan at the Commerce Casino
and that he'd be good for the game
but I wasn't seeing what he was seeing.
He played tight, folding after the hole cards
64 percent of the time.
It wasn't clear where his money came from.
He produced backyard wrestling videos
and other low-rent productions.
But worst of all, Harlan Eustice was a good card player.
Why would Player X want someone at the game who could beat him?
I'd learn the answer to that one the hard way.
-How was your flight? -Just fine.
How are you paying for tickets between L.A. and New York?
I had 2 million points left on my Amex.
They took the card but let me keep the points
which I thought was nice of them.
You had meetings.
Hm?
You had meetings in L.A. about your book and life rights?
-I did. -Was there any interest?
A company that owns 4,000 video poker machines
wants to put my face on 'em.
Anything else?
Treat Magazine made a generous offer.
Treat?
It's a new magazine for the high-end photography enthusiast.
-They want you to pose naked? -I'd be the April treat.
I meant interest in your book.
Uh, yeah.
Any offers?
A few I guess. A couple.
-Five. -Really?
-Yeah. -And...?
I passed.
You're destitute and you passed on five offers
-to turn you book into a movie? -You will be paid, Charlie.
I'm just curious as to why you passed
on what appear to be the only way out you have.
-Creative differences. -Okay.
Should we start?
You know, I am gonna figure you out.
Well, let me know what you find.
You see this?
This is discovery. Let's see what we discovered.
Over here, we have Peter Druzhinsky,
Peter Antonovich and Peter Slobo. The three Petes.
Now the three Petes run a chain of corrupt medical clinics
and have been committing insurance fraud,
wire fraud and mail fraud on an epic scale.
Now over here, we have the Rachniana-Gershen Organization.
They're a worldwide bookmaking operation
handling hundreds of millions of dollars a year
in illegal sports betting.
And over here, we have the Alexander Habib organization.
This is also an illegal sports betting organization
but this one, financed by an art gallery owned by Shillel Habib
-who everyone calls-- -Shelly.
This is the Russian mafia.
And the three are tied together in the indictment through...
A poker game.
Were they tapping my phones?
-No. -Thank God.
They were tapping the phones of everyone you talked to.
Okay.
They've got you confirming that you ran rake games
at the Plaza Hotel and various locations in New York.
They've also got a confidential informant confirming
that you ran raked games at the Plaza Hotel
and various locations in New York.
You were in violation of 1955, which is the part of the U.S. Code
that makes it illegal to run an illegal gambling business.
You know what you did?
You finished writing a book before the good part happened.
You really get a kick out of yourself, don't you?
You know,
-I don't like this picture. -Thank you.
You look like the cat that ate the canary
and then told the canary's parents about it.
It's the picture the publisher wanted and I didn't get a vote.
I like the book. Good story, well told.
-Thank you. -I need you to tell it again, though.
From the beginning and this time
without skipping over the Russians.
-Would you like a glass of water? -I'd like a glass of bourbon.
-One more thing. -Yeah.
I need your hard drives.
-Going back how far? -What do you mean?
Well, I kept my hard drives when I'd buy a new laptop.
You're kidding.
No, it had a record of who owed what
and spreadsheets on the players.
It has more than that.
Every time you charge your phone by plugging it
into the computer, the computer takes a record
of all your text messages and e-mails.
My laptop has a record of all text messages
and e-mails received years ago on phones
that have been smashed with an aluminum bat?
I want to run forensic imaging on your hard drives.
Oh, no, thanks anyway, but I'll be destroying those hard drives.
Well, you can't do that, they're evidence.
Well, I'm gonna blow 'em up, I am literally gonna use explosives
and scatter the remains in the sea.
Except you told me they exist.
You're gonna have to pretend I didn't tell you.
-Can't do that. -Yes, you can.
You were the one who wanted a lawyer
that wasn't even a little bit shady.
New information has come to light,
now I see that that was stupid.
-Molly. -There are no hard drives.
If you destroy evidence and obstruct justice
on top of the charges already brought against you in this case,
you will be, I promise, incarcerated.
You don't understand what's in those text messages.
I understand you've had boyfriends
and there'll be some exchanges
that are a little bit, you know, embarrassing.
I don't care about embarrassing text messages from boyfriends
as there's not left a small corner of my private life
that isn't available for public scrutiny.
There are messages that would destroy other lives.
There are messages that would end careers
and obliterate families.
If those text messages were to be made public,
-They won't be. -If they were,
-They won't be. -it would be catastrophic
-for many people. -I'm a lawyer. I'm legally--
-No. -Listen to me,
I am legally prohibited from disclosing anything--
Someone leaked my last deposition to the National Enquirer, Charlie.
Butterball?
My last lawyer's name was Butterman
and he was one of five people in the room besides me.
But the information in that deposition
would be nothing compared to the consequences
of those text messages--
Ah! I just got it.
showing up everywhere.
I couldn't figure out why you named some people but not others.
I thought that maybe some people paid you.
You were wrong but it doesn't matter.
No, the only people you named in that book
were the ones that were already named
in the Bad Brad Marion deposition
-which you think -I know.
-somebody leaked it -Sold it.
-to the tabloids, -Yes.
-maybe even Butterbean. -Butterman, but...
I don't know who it was.
I watched Jenny McCarthy beat you up for naming the players.
Why don't you just say,
"Hey, those names are already public record."
I don't know.
'Cause it wasn't on The View under subpoena.
Can we please get back to the e-mails and texts?
Is that why you have creative differences
with the Hollywood office?
Because they want information you won't give them?
I don't owe you.
If what happened last time were to happen this time,
it would make what happened last time--
What is this for?
It's got every text message and e-mail I sent in the last year
as well as a variety of incriminating evidence
about my clients.
Now, if anything of yours gets leaked,
you can sell my phone to the highest bidder
and I'll lose my job and get disbarred.
So, in order to demonstrate the sanctity of your attorney/client
confidentiality,
you're betraying the confidentiality
of all your other clients.
I know you're not gonna look at it.
How do you know?
I don't know.
I'll fly home to Colorado
and be back the next day with the hard drives.
Harlan Eustice was excited about the surprise 40th birthday party
he was throwing for his wife in 24 hours.
Rented out the whole courtyard at the Buffalo Club.
Gonna be about a hundred people.
Kumamoto oysters, snow crab, lobsters,
He wasn't ticking off menu items to show off.
He was genuinely excited about the party he was giving his wife.
She doesn't know anything about it.
She thinks we're having dinner with her brother and his wife.
I liked Harlan.
But nobody else like him except Player X.
He played tight, didn't give a lot of action
and always got his money in good
which means he was running the odds.
-Five thousand to call. -Nope.
In other words, he was playing poker
and the others were gambling.
And he won.
By midnight, Harlan had tripled his original $50,000 buy-in
but everything came off the rails with one hand.
And that's how it happens.
That's how you go full tilt.
Harlan, the best player at the table,
the best player at most tables,
was about to get bluffed off the win by, of all people,
Bad Brad.
How?
Because Harlan had never played with Brad before
and didn't know yet that Brad was bad.
Harlan's got a boat, nine's full.
Brad's got nothing
but his pre-flop betting made it look,
entirely accidentally,
like there was a chance he had pocket kings,
20 thousand.
which, if true, would give him the better full house.
Brad's counting off 20 thousand which means he's gonna call
and Harlan knows that if Brad's gonna call and not raise
it means he didn't have the boat
and he's betting a high two-pair, probably kings and queens.
But then instead of calling the bet,
Brad pushes 72 thousand dollars into the pot.
I'm all in.
Harlan looks a Brad.
Every tell Harlan knows about,
carotid artery pumping, stiff hands,
Brad's doing the opposite.
Brad's betting had represented a huge hand
by calling on the flop,
check-raising the turn and bombing the river.
Of course, Harlan didn't know that Brad didn't know
what any of that meant.
So Harlan, always a good sport, said,
Nice bet. I'm laying this down.
as he tossed in what he didn't realize
was the winning hand.
Brad tosses in his cards too
and one of them flips over and Harlan sees...
You didn't have pocket kings?
I didn't have any kings. Except the one in the middle.
You had two pair?
I had one pair,
the nines in the middle.
Harlan, what are you thinking, man?
Thank you.
It wasn't even that it that much money.
Harlan only lost about $40,000 on the hand.
But a circuit breaker blew and Harlan was out for blood now.
Everyone's.
You have 112,000 on the table, you want another 50?
Give me another hundred, please.
Sign here for 100,000.
By 5 a.m. Harlan was down half a million.
He'd abandoned everything he knew about poker
and was playing like a frat kid,
swinging for a home run on every hand.
Another hundred, please.
-Hey, bud-- -Molly.
Please. Let's go.
Sign here for a hundred.
Six a.m.
Text messages were going out
letting everyone know Harlan was bleeding.
Guys were coming by to play for a couple of hours before work.
They'd been losing to him for months.
Everyone wanted a check from Harlan Eustice.
If you go home now, you can have
a few hours of sleep before Sheila's party.
Soon.
Come talk to me.
Hi, guys, help yourselves to some coffee.
You're on tilt.
Everybody knows it.
You're playing without the weapons you need to win.
You're right.
All right, thank you.
Just give me 500,000.
I just gotta get back to even.
That should be the second line of every gambler's obit.
"Mr. Feldstein died while trying to get back to even."
Harlan never did.
And he never got to his wife's birthday party.
She filed for divorce two days later.
There was one last punch coming
that would put Harlan on the floor for good.
Harlan was heads-up against a guy named Frederick
who was Austrian royalty.
Go.
Harlan had pocket queens.
His Excellency had ace-king.
They were both in 65K pre-flop.
Flop's queen-seven-seven.
Harlan has a full-house again,
queens full of sevens,
with three rounds of betting in front of him.
The Count has nothing.
All in.
And the Count goes all in.
He wants Harlan to think he's got two more sevens under there.
Call.
Nope, says Harlan, he's not falling for this again
and he snap calls all in.
There's $750,000 on the table.
Diego burns a card and deals the turn.
A king.
Otto von Bismarck now has two pair,
kings and sevens,
but two-pair's nothing next to a full house.
And at this point,
the only hand left that can beat a queen full house,
is a king full house.
Captain Von Trapp -All right.
bluffed two pair
and rivered into kings full.
Motherfucker!
Fuck you, you fucking mechanic!
Hey!
Fuck you! You bottom-dealing party magician!
Hey!
Get out on the terrace.
You've been pullin' this shit on me for two days!
Come on! Come on!
Party magician.
-You good? -I'm good, thanks.
What the hell?
I'll apologize to Diego.
Yeah.
And you're gonna go home. I'm making a floor call, that's it.
Did you hear me?
I don't have it.
A million two.
I don't have it.
I'm sorry.
Go home.
I'm very sorry.
You gotta tell Sheila the truth, okay?
Tell her the truth. Tell her what happened.
I'm gonna help you, I'm gonna get you to a meeting.
We'll meet tomorrow and
figure out what to do about the money.
Harlan and I didn't meet the next day.
He just called me and said everything was okay
and showed up the next week with a bank check
for a million two hundred thousand dollars.
Where'd he get the money from?
I loaned it to him.
Loaned it?
I get 50% of his wins until the debt's paid off
and then 50% for the next two years with no exposure.
You're getting 50% of the wins and no exposure on the losses?
Yeah.
First of all, he'll never climb out of that,
that's sharecropper math.
It's also usury, it's racketeering.
Second, you can't stake a player
and play in a game at the same time.
I've been doing it for two years.
-You've been staking Harlan? -Yeah.
-Jesus Christ. -It's not cheating.
It creates the opportunity for it.
Tell me how.
-Are you kidding me? -Tell me how.
If you have an interest in another player winning?
You think I'm gonna take a dive?
And if I did, who would care?
You fold your hole cards, five of clubs, jack of hearts,
he's still in the game.
It would benefit him to know
-that the five of clubs-- -You think I'm signaling him?
I'm saying it can't fucking happen again.
You disapprove of me.
It's not personal.
It feels personal when you chat up
every other guy at the game except me.
When you stay late for a drink with JT but never--
Have you visited his Oscar?
I think it's bolted on the hood of his car.
It's noticeable
when you go out of your way to demonstrate
that you have no interest in me.
You did the same thing to Dean.
These guys wanna play cards with me, not you.
Be that as it may--
You know who the biggest winner in this game is?
It's you.
You know who he second biggest winner is?
-Look-- -It's you.
What are you taking home, ten thousand a night now?
That is my business, literally.
Between you, the dealers, and the servers,
you're taking a lot of money out of this game.
Not as much as I'm bringing to it.
That 10,000 is 10,000 that doesn't go in my pocket.
Again, my money--
Your money is my money.
Is it?
I think we should talk about capping your tips.
You want to get together with the other players,
who on my tax return are called clients,
and discuss putting a ceiling on my wages?
That's right.
It'll be America's most closely-watched anti-trust case.
Right there, right then, that fast,
I lost the game.
It was the next Tuesday, game night.
He waited until he knew I'd be on the way to the hotel
and then sent me a text.
It said, "We're playing at Dave's tonight."
"No need to show up."
And I knew the truth even before
I answered the call that came next.
You are so fucked.
There's no such word as verticality.
Hmm?
In the book, on page 152, when you lose the game in L.A.
and you come to New York, you admire the city's verticality.
It's a word.
Once you're in New York,
you talk about games lasting all night, two nights,
being up for days, but you don't mention drugs.
There were drugs. I'm two years clean.
You left the drugs out of the book.
You know what, I'm not paying you $250,000
for your Amazon customer review.
So far, you're not paying me for anything.
I just e-mailed you verticality from Merriam-Webster's Dictionary.
What's an advance on a book like this?
The advance?
It depends.
If you guarantee the publishers certain elements,
then I can get you a million and a half
which you'll probably double in sales plus ancillary rights.
What kind of elements?
You have to use real names.
Eli.
There's a guy who sits outside my Starbucks with a uh
with a cardboard sign that says, "Vietnam Vet"
and every morning I give him a quarter
and right now the only difference between you and him
is that you have a story.
I'm one thousand percent sure
that the homeless Vietnam vet has a better one.
You have one asset.
Write your story and I can get you
a million and a half and-and that's the floor.
Go big or go home and live with your mother.
For the rest of your life.
What if I...
What if I told the publishers that I would...
name the players who are already named
in the Brad Marion deposition?
All four?
I'll use the real names of the players who are already named
by Bad Brad, what if I told them that?
You spent eight years in Hollywood
and two years in New York running the world's
most exclusive, glamorous, and decadent man-cave.
So what do the publishers get from you
about people with real names?
My advance was $35,000.
Well, the first thing I'm gonna do is get you a minor role reduction,
get the 12 points knocked down to 10.
What's a minor role reduction?
I'm gonna argue to the prosecutor that you were uh,
an employee that was hired and fired by the players.
Not a chance.
I think we got a good chance.
No, not a chance I'm letting make that argument.
-Why not? -It's not true.
Let me explain how the point system works.
I know how it works.
Points correspond with the prosecutor's
sentencing recommendation.
You try to get a point reduction based on a variety of factors
including, say, prior criminal history
which I don't have,
or whether the defendant played a minor role
which I certainly did not.
You really think this is a good time to hog credit?
I built it from scratch.
No, there was already a game at the Cobra Lounge
when you came along.
The New York game is what I'm talking about, I built from scratch.
I wasn't fireable, I made sure of that. So no.
I wasn't really listening.
I'm refusing you permission
to seek a minor role reduction.
I'm refusing you permission to invalidate my entire career.
And I'm not caring.
I built a successful--
Hey, do you want kids?
You interested in having a family?
Very much.
I don't get you some point reductions
and the sentencing recommendation guidelines
say 8 to 12 years and that's before
they try to jam you up more for money laundering.
-Money laundering? Are you-- -The moment you changed...
the Russians' money for chips.
I would've had to have been aware
-where the money was-- -Find me 12 men and women
who'll believe that you weren't aware of exactly
who was sitting at your table and where their money came from.
So, that's it.
You were a cocktail waitress.
When I lost the L.A. game, I told myself it was no big deal.
It was just supposed to be an adventure
and a way to meet influential people.
And I'd saved over $200,000.
But that was just a weak firewall I'd hastily built
to keep out the humiliation and depression
I knew was coming.
It had to end sometime.
I just thought it would be on my time.
The game had given me an identity,
respect,
and a defined place
in a world that was inaccessible
and in one irrational heartbeat it was taken away.
I was irrelevant
and forgotten overnight.
It'd been two weeks since I lost the game
and I made an appointment to see someone
because now the humiliation and depression
had given way to blinding anger at my powerlessness
over the unfair whims of men.
It was that there weren't any rules.
These power moves weren't framed by right and wrong,
just ego and vanity.
Selfish whims with no regard for consequence.
No fairness, no justice.
And that giggling, cackling call from Player X.
You are so fucked.
I couldn't lose to that green-screened little shit
and I didn't want a therapist to make me feel okay about it.
You know what makes me feel okay about losing?
Winning.
I got on a plane to New York.
Wall Street, Madison Avenue,
Fifth Avenue, the Dakota, the San Remo...
the players were here, I just had to bait the hook.
This time, I didn't have movie stars.
This time, I used Playboy Playmates.
These weren't just any Playmates.
Jesse was a Puerto Rican knockout
who grew up working in card rooms
and was a good player herself.
I could stake her, infiltrate other games
and poach their big-ticket players.
You ready to make some money?
Shelby could write code
and run more thorough background checks than the TSA.
Here's your account at Citibank.
Winston was the daughter of an American diplomat.
She's lived in nine different countries
and had the e-mail addresses of half the Saudi royal family.
Who's the biggest game in Manhattan?
On any given night, it's either Teddy Chin or Tooty Tiscano.
-But that's Manhattan. -What do you mean?
The biggest game in New York is in Brooklyn.
Russian Jews. Buy-in's 100K.
No one runs the game, they just play and pay.
We couldn't promise anyone they'd rub elbows with movie stars.
But New York has one thing Hollywood doesn't.
The Yankees.
And there was one Yankee in particular
that every man in America would line up to lose to.
Don't say his name out loud.
Write it on a cocktail napkin, crumple the napkin up,
put it in a glass of water so they can see the ink dissolve.
-That's really necessary? -No, it's not at all necessary.
When do we tell them the game's gonna start?
Tell them it's been happening once a week for
about six months at a location you won't disclose right now.
There's a pretty long waiting list for a chair but
Molly's... here somewhere and
I'll introduce you to her.
50K buy-in, blinds are five and one?
Yeah, fifty...
Mol?
50K buy-in?
No.
Two hundred and fifty.
That's gonna make noise.
Enough to be heard on Rodeo Drive.
The Gold Coast of Long Island has been home to the Vanderbilts,
Roosevelts, Whitneys, J.P. Morgan, and F.W. Woolworth.
It's an impossible ticket to get,
but I can talk to Molly.
Tonight was a ten-thousand per person fundraiser
to pay for major renovations at the East Hampton Yacht Club.
Molly's around here somewhere.
I can introduce you but I wouldn't get my hopes up.
That's for real.
If there was a charity event for residents of the Hamptons
who own yachts,
in my business, that's called a target rich environment.
I have to tell you the initial buy-in is 250,000.
250,000, that's almost as much as my second car.
Your friends come to the games?
Mm-hmm.
It took only seven weeks of recruiting
to get ten players and seven on a waiting list.
And in these circles,
that was more than enough to start the mythology.
By morning, gamblers would be telling and hearing
stories about this game in London,
Tokyo, and Dubai.
All in.
At the end of that year, I reported an income of
four million, seven hundred and seventy-three thousand dollars.
Every square inch of it legal and on the books.
I was the biggest game runner in the world
All tips.
I still hadn't taken a rake.
And I still hadn't accidentally recruited
members of a Russian crime syndicate.
In the beginning, I was using drugs to stay awake.
First Adderall.
Then Adderall crushed up to defeat the time release.
Then coke, Valium, Vicodin, Percocet, and more Adderall.
I rented a penthouse apartment
and installed plasma screens for the sports bettors.
I had the lower-stakes games on Wednesdays,
Thursdays and Sundays at my place,
with Tuesday night at The Plaza being the big game.
At seven, the dealers came, the table was set up and polished
and ten chairs were placed around it exactly twelve inches apart.
I used custom chips and two dealers who worked an hour on,
an hour off, with a new crew coming in after 12 hours.
Casinos had discovered that certain scents make people
more likely to place big bets.
The casinos pump those scents in through the ventilation.
I had custom candles made.
I had been working with a new dealer named B.
Not like Beatrice, just the initial.
She'd been working on trashy card rooms on the East Side
and we became friends.
Tone it down.
The big players don't like fast hands.
Sarcastic dealing. Cool.
You've gotta do it. Not doing it is insanity.
You must be able to see that.
You've been stiffed four or five times.
You've got hundreds of thousands on the street,
That's money you're never gonna see again.
B have been suggesting it for a long time.
She was suggesting it again
because of an incident the week before.
-Hey, Cole. -Hey.
-Come on in. -Thanks. You got my check?
I do.
-It's right here. -Thank you.
Hey, can I show you something on TV?
Uh, actually I'm... kind of a hurry.
It'll just take a second, have a seat.
This is last Tuesday's game.
Shit, Molly, if the guys find out that
you've got cameras on 'em, they're gonna go nuts.
Yeah. That's you in the seventh chair.
Look at your stack of chips.
I got a cab downstairs, just--
Look at the time stamp. 1:06 a.m.
Let's fast forward to 1:07.
1:07 you lose the hand to Boosty.
-What is this? -1:08.
Our sheets say that you didn't buy in again between 1:06 and 1:08
but look at that... your stack's bigger.
-I can explain, this is just a-- -Okay, let's rewind.
This screen's got the dealer changeover
while the same time on this screen...
aaaand...
there we are.
This is why I can't reconcile $57,000 from Tuesday's game.
A 7-11's got security cameras on their Slushy machine,
I've got a million dollars changing hands every two minutes, imbecile,
you don't think I've got eyes on the table?
Relax.
-I, uh, I owe people money. -I know.
Why isn't it coming from the trust fund?
I need my parents' permission to get that much.
And they'd kill me. You don't even understand what it's like.
People just don't realize trust fund kids are
suffering in this economy too.
I realize what I did was wrong.
Did it take a lot of soul searching to get you there?
-I meant that-- -Okay, first of all,
the guys that are making the counterfeit chips
are taking you for a ride.
They know that there are signatures built in the chips,
exact weight, infrared markings--
Breathe. Second,
don't try this at anyone else's game
because if you do, they're gonna express their anger
in a much different way than I am.
You owe me $57,000, when I get it
you get the tape, but until then
you don't play in anyone's game.
So when Tuesday night came, B was at it again.
Your exposure's crazy. It's not if, it's when.
You're gonna get blown up.
Your risk is nuts.
If I took a rake, this game would no longer be legal.
And if you can't cover, this game will no longer exist.
You're the bank now.
You're guaranteeing the game.
If you see a hand you don't want to carry,
just look at me,
flash me a number,
and I'll take it off the table.
Most runners cap it at five percent.
-I'll see you out there. -See you out there.
Two weeks later around 2 a.m.
there was a pot that was up to 1.3 million pre-flop
Call.
with five players still in.
My hope was that the flop would chase four of them off
200,000.
Raise 100,000.
300,000 to you, sir.
Call.
There was now 2.1 million on the table.
300,000 to you, sir.
Plus 200.
2.6 million.
Three million.
She was right,
I was extending credit, big numbers.
And it's not like Harlan Eustice hadn't already put the fear of God into me.
If I couldn't pay, one time, that'd be the end of the game.
I was the house.
That's how quickly I made the decision.
And just as quickly, B calculated two percent of the pot
and took it off the table.
That was it.
I'd just taken a rake, in violation of U.S. Criminal Code
1955.
It's time to introduce Douglas Downey
'cause Downey's gonna take us all the way home.
Downey was a drunk and he'd stay after the game and hang out
while I did the books.
He was hard to understand when he was drunk
and his conversation openers would always sound
like the title of a detective novel.
Victim of circumstance.
Yeah.
Story of, you know...
story of my proverbial... you know...
-Life? -life.
He'd talk about his marriage.
I married young, Mol.
I married young and I married dull.
If I'd been born in Greenwich
instead of Flushing?
He talked about wanting a better life.
New Canaan?
Gone to...
Rye Country Day, Princeton.
The life I'd have.
The wife I'd have.
-I'd be a playuuuh. -Hm.
Victim of circumstance.
Mol, these are things I only say to you.
Good call.
And he'd talk about another game he played in.
It was the Brooklyn game.
The Brighton Beach game where they played all night and all day.
The game that was populated by Russians.
I'm the only Irish guy they let play.
Mol, these are the nicest guys I've ever met.
Then one night, Douglas Downey lost 80,000 at my game
and didn't have it.
Winston, could I have the room, please?
Sure.
-I'll see you tomorrow. -Mm.
You won 190,000 last week.
I owe Teddy Chin and Tooty.
All right.
And some sports bets. I'm a winner.
Trapped inside the body of a--
-Stop. -Yeah.
The Brooklyn game.
Is everything I've heard true?
What have you heard?
The Russians have deep pockets,
bad at poker, give action and pay instantly
and wear a coat and tie.
That's all true
Bring me some of those players and I'll give you
a piece of the game until your 80K's paid down.
Loser, is what I was gonna say
Winner trapped inside
-the body of a -I know.
-loser. -Got it.
Can you bring me some players?
I'm the only Irish guy they let play.
Do you understand the deal I'm offering you?
No, I'm saying this because you're Irish
and they may not want to play in your game.
I'm the only Irish guy they let play.
I'm not Irish.
-You're not? -No.
Molly Bloom?
You're thinking of the James Joyce character.
I always thought you were Irish.
I'm not.
Can you bring me some players?
-Isn't there a famous book? -Okay, Douglas.
Focus up. Yes, there's a book by James Joyce
called Ulysses and there's a character named Molly Bloom
and that is why you think I'm Irish
but now it's time to move past that.
Can you bring me some Brighton Beach players?
If you're not Irish, what are you?
I'm a Russian Jew.
The next week, I had some new players.
Mike was the first one to arrive.
Good evening. I'm Jesse.
I'm Mike Davidov.
Mike owned a chain of medical clinics
and had already posted with a wire transfer.
Next were the Gershen brothers.
Illya and Alexey.
They were in the business of exporting steel to China.
Alexey brought a quarter of a million dollars in a backpack.
Mr. Habib, good evening. I'm Shelby.
I'm Shelly, only one letter's different.
Also, I'm a billionaire, I think I may have seen you naked.
No.
You'd remember.
And then Shelly Habib.
The Habib family owns the largest collection
of classical art in the world,
valued at three billion dollars,
and Shelly runs the Helly Gallery on Madison Avenue.
As for tonight, I was not able to put my hands on cash today
because I woke up this morning after the banks have closed.
So, I'm hoping you'll accept this as temporary collateral.
That is... an authentic Monet.
Grabbed it right off the wall.
You came over here carrying a Monet.
I was driven. And I have security outside the door.
Okay.
Shelly, here's what I need you to do.
I need you to get this, what, four--?
Seven.
Seven million dollar painting out of here right now.
And your, I assume,
-armed security-- -Sure.
can't stand in front of the door.
Fix this up, come on back
and I'll extend your credit tonight up one and a half.
You're a very beautiful woman.
Pleas be careful with the painting.
Always.
Mike, Illya, Alexey and Shelly.
Those were the players Doug Downey brought me.
As advertised, they played loose,
gave action, lost to the regulars,
and settled right away.
People have asked,
"Wasn't there any way to tell that some of the players
"at your game are connected to one of the darkest, deadliest,
and far-reaching organized crime syndicates in the world?"
No.
There wasn't.
-I'm gonna go all in. -Ah!
I wish I had better news.
Harrison Wellstone didn't go for the minor role reduction?
No.
He didn't buy that I was a cocktail waitress?
-No. -Aw.
Was it because I wasn't?
Hey, I tried, which is what you're not paying me to do.
So what now?
The government is expressing an interest in you
being a cooperating witness.
-You don't say. -Molly.
Who could have possibly seen that coming?
Let's have the conversation.
It'll be short because I don't know anything
-at all that can help them. -You don't know anything
that can help them convict the Russians
but you know things that can help them.
Did you know that 97 percent
of federal cases never make it to trial?
Even though the chances of being convicted
at trial is a little more than one in a hundred.
If you want to go to trial, that's fine
but it's gonna cost you in the area of
three and a half million dollars.
Which the Justice Department knows I don't have
because they took all of my money in a civil forfeiture
which they can do without a warrant
because my property doesn't have a presumption of innocence.
Then after I'm arrested by 17 agents
holding automatic weapons, totally necessary
and not at all meant to intimidate me,
I'm given two days to hire a lawyer
and appear in a courtroom on the other side of the country.
If you are saying that everything that happens
from the moment you are arrested is designed
to persuade you to plead guilty, you are correct.
So tell me all the ways I can help
'cause I really feel I owe it to them.
Oh, speaking of owing,
the IRS put a tax lien on the money they took from me.
Are you ki--
All right. None of that matters.
Taking my money wasn't a tax,
I also need to give them my money
Or they'll take it again.
-None of that matters. -It needed to be said.
Not really.
So, to be clear, you're not interested in entering
a cooperation agreement with the prosecutors.
If I had testimony that would lead to the conviction of a bad guy,
no one would have to coerce me into cooperating.
But I don't. I have dirt.
I have dish. I have gossip.
So my value to the prosecution is exactly the same
as it is to Hollywood.
I'm here to ensure the New York Post covers the trial.
I'm here to sell tickets.
Which is nonetheless value to the prosecution
so what we do is leverage it
to get you a favorable sentencing recommendation
or, better yet, complete immunity.
What?!
Oh, hey, honey.
-Hey, Stella. -Hey.
What does he have you doing now?
An essay on three poems with what he believes are a common theme.
Not an essay. Two paragraphs.
Which three poems?
"Close", "Rush" and "Walls".
Oh, I know those. What's the common theme?
Things with one-word titles.
Are you sure you’re qualified to be teaching her poetry?
Hang on. And yes.
Anytime you want to run away form home,
you can come live with me.
Then you discover she doesn't have a home
and you come back to me.
This is good. Great.
Why don't you grab a snack,
start your homework in one of the conference rooms.
Okay, see ya.
There's no law that says you can't just hit him in the head.
There is a law that says that,
it's the first thing I taught her to read.
Go.
My father used to give us extra work.
Can I ask you a question?
You think I'm too hard on her?
I met a girl when I first moved to L.A. she was 22.
Someone arranged through a third party
to spend a weekend with her in London.
You know what she got?
For the weekend? Five grand.
A bag.
A Chanel bag she wanted.
Whatever you're doing with Stella,
double it.
Where's your father in all this?
You mean physically?
He's in... Colorado.
Your parents still together?
No.
You and your father close?
No.
Was he tough on you?
You know how many girls at the Olympics have demanding fathers?
All of them?
That's right.
I was tough on him.
What do you mean?
Mmmmmm...
I was a brat.
Fathers don't care.
I'd start fights with him.
Why?
You were lying!
Why would I start fights with him?
Yeah.
I put you through grad school.
I raised the kids.
I did every God--everything.
No.
No, you listen to me.
All you do is cheat on me.
And lie to me. And lie to the kids.
You lie to your wife and you lie to your kids.
I don't know.
For the record,
the law, 1955, that I'm accused of breaking,
it defines gambling as betting on games of chance.
-Yes. -Poker isn't a game of chance.
Roulette's a game of chance.
Poker's a game of skill.
Still, if I were you--
I'll tell them anything they want to know about me.
About me.
That's it.
Remember Bad Brad Marion?
It turns out his 700 million dollar hedge fund
wasn't what you would call... real.
It was a Ponzi scheme.
He'd been falsely reporting profits for years.
He wasn't even registered with the SEC.
With the money given to him by friends and family
and players of the game,
he bought several Malibu beach houses,
an airplane hangar full of cars,
another one with an airplane,
and the life he wanted.
When he was arrested, he had $740 in the bank.
Brad cooperated with the FBI and gave them hours of testimony
on a range of subjects,
including how three years earlier, he'd lost 5.2 million dollars
in an underground celebrity poker game
that was run by a girl named Molly Bloom.
His story was that I'd induced him to play in a high-stakes game.
I just wanted to introduce you to Brad Marion.
And that due to my enabling, he'd become a gambling addict.
who made me become a gambling addict.
Brad, this game might not be for you.
Federal bankruptcy lawyers were brought in to recover
as much of the boosted money as they could.
I was sent a subpoena and flew out to L.A. to be deposed.
Can you confirm the names on the list
all played poker with Brad Marion?
This list was provided to you by Brad Marion?
I just need you to confirm for the record
that your game included but was not limited to the players on this list.
I understand. What I'm trying to get on the record
is that I'm not the one who provided the list.
These names were provided by Brad Marion.
So under oath--
Yes.
I can confirm the list is accurate.
The L.A. players and I were given a choice.
Testify against each other in open court
or help make restitution to the victims of Brad's Ponzi scheme.
I wrote the government a check for $500,000.
And somewhere in an FBI field office in New York,
someone was pinning my picture to a wall.
I was running six games a week,
sometimes at two different locations in a night.
And by this point, I was addicted to drugs.
Adderall, Ambien, Xanax, coke,
alcohol, Valium, Ativan, Trazadone--
anything that could keep me up for a few days
and knock me out for a few hours.
But I wasn't just taking them to stay awake anymore.
It was dark and friendless where I was.
I felt like I was in a hole so deep, I could go fracking.
It didn't feel like depression, it felt more violent.
I was tired of living in the frat house I'd built for degenerates.
I was tired of the greed--
mine, not theirs.
Everybody's.
I was sick of being high all the time.
I was sick of living in the gray area.
I couldn't recognize myself and what I recognized,
I couldn't stand.
After a game one night,
Douglas Downey surprised me with a confession
after opening with another detective story title.
Gut shot on the river.
I want to say something.
Okay.
I want to say um... something.
Okay.
I'm just gonna say it.
Cool.
'Cause there's a poem... a famous uh...
a poem about...
thoughts left unexpressed.
Two roads emerged from the woods.
Do they explode?
I don't know.
You like poetry?
I did until a second ago. I'm gonna call you a--
I'm in love with you.
This isn't happening.
Plain and simple.
You're the woman I've always dreamed of
and I've been dreaming--
Shhh stop it.
Listen to me, Douglas?
I'm the woman all of you have always dreamed of.
I'm the anti-wife.
I encourage your gambling.
I have drinks served to you by models
who simultaneously create the impression
that you're the kind of guy who can
score a dime piece anytime you want.
It's nice for you in here.
Do you know who Circe was?
Um...
Circe.
Used to play in Teddy Chin's game?
Nope.
Circe did not play in Teddy's game.
She was the Greek goddess of magic
and she gave men feasts with wine and honey
and then turned them into swine.
Why?
Fantastic question.
I would never do that to you.
Missed the point by miles, but that's okay.
Oh.
Um, Molly...
Shelby and Winston will close up.
I'll see you next week.
Here you go.
-Thanks a lot, Randy. -Thanks, Molly.
-Good morning. -Morning, Pat.
Pat was my driver and security.
Straight home?
Yeah.
We didn't know much more about each other
than we needed to know but I liked him.
We were friends.
I used to be a competitive athlete.
-I didn't know if you knew that. -What sport?
Skiing.
Freestyle.
Were you good?
I don't know.
Pat asked me a favor.
He said there were a couple of hedge fund guys
in New Jersey who wanted to play and
he could score points with them
if he was able to get them a meeting with me.
I said sure and set the meeting for 5 p.m. on a Thursday
at the Four Seasons bar, knowing that if they were legit,
they'd recognize someone in the crowd at Happy Hour
at the Four Seasons right after the closing bell.
It turns out I didn't need to be that clever.
These weren't finance guys,
they were from the cast of Jersey Boys.
They looked around the bar self-consciously,
they were out of their element.
And tough guys try to look tougher when they're insecure.
I had a good hunch what they wanted
and I was gonna have to shut down this meeting quickly
but without being rude to Joey Bag-a-Donuts
and Secaucus Sal.
I'm Molly Bloom, nice to meet you.
John G.
-And you are? -Paul.
How do we get a drink?
I don't remember what the other guy ordered
but I'll never forget what John G. had.
He looked at the waiter as if to say that he could handle himself
just fine among the Manhattan elite and said,
I'll have an appletini.
Okay.
So, how was your week?
My week? Uh, it was fine, thank you.
Pat said you guys might be interested in a game.
We want to partner with you.
-We've talked to Tooty, Will-- -Teddy Chin.
Teddy Chin.
We do a little work with them too.
We can make your life easier.
Nobody'll fuck with you.
Nobody'll stiff you.
I appreciate...
the offer but really...
I'm fine. I don't carry a
big debt sheet. I feel safe--
Ahh.
You lied just then.
When you said you don't carry a big debt sheet.
You've got 2.8 million on the street right now,
right as we're sitting here, we do our research.
That money should be in your hands
'cause it's yours.
It's yours.
And if you don't have it,
you gotta go into your pocket to pay the wins.
Fellas, I'm sorry,
it's just a friendly game with higher stakes.
It was really nice to meet you though.
Let me know if there's anything I can do for you.
I like to do favors.
They'll put your drinks on my card.
There are some gaps in my memory,
which they say is common when you've had what's called an event.
For instance, I don't remember where I was coming from
when I calked into my building.
Just that my doorman, Reggie, said he had packages for me.
I think I've got some things for you in the package room,
-I'll bring them on up. -Thanks.
It was the first night of two weeks off
for Christmas and New Year's.
And my plan was to take a bath
and try not to take drugs.
Reggie came up with my packages.
Uh, sorry, you're in the wrong--
Wait! Okay, hold on a second, I have--
Not a sound.
Do you get me?
I have money.
It's all cash.
Where?
Safe.
Where is it?
It's in the closet.
Show me.
Put the money and jewelry in a bag.
Gold bars too.
Come on.
Open your mouth.
It wasn't an offer they made.
It wasn't a suggestion.
This'll be your only reminder.
Your mother lives alone in Telluride, Colorado.
Right?
Right, Molly?
She doesn't live there anymore.
Yes, she does.
I couldn't call a doctor
or go to an E.R.
They'd take one look at me and call the police.
My eyes were swollen and black.
my lips were cut and bloody.
I couldn't feel my face.
Pat had set up the meeting.
And he was how they knew where I lived.
I stayed in my apartment for two weeks
waiting for my face to heal.
and waiting for the phone call I knew was coming.
But the call didn't come.
Where was the call from John G.
"So maybe you've had a change of heart?"
After ten days I opened my front door for the first time.
People were coming back into town
after New Year's in Cabo and St. Bart's and South Beach.
My phone was blowing up with "When's the next game?"
But nothing from John G.
And then right there on the front page
of the New York Times from eight days ago--
"Nearly 125 Arrested in Sweeping Mob Roundup."
Those guys were either laying low
or they were in custody.
Sometimes God happens fast.
My face had healed enough so that a little make-up
would hide the bruises that were left.
I put together a week of games.
One week of games
to get the 2.8 million I was owed
and then I was out, I was done.
One week of epic games.
I had some of my London players in town
and the Russians had visiting friends form Moscow.
Jesse and Shelby had already started the game at the Plaza
and reporting heavy early action.
I was on my way when the phone rang.
It was Douglas Downey.
I'm on my way, Doug.
Wait. Molly, wait. I'm hiding in the bathroom.
I just, I-I need you to believe me, okay?
Who's bathroom?
believe me because-- at the suite, at the Plaza.
Why are you hiding in the bathroom?
I would never tell them anything about you.
I said, "Guys, you want me to go further,
"you want me to go other places, I'll do it.
"But nothing about Molly, she can't be touched.
"Just the Russians."
'Kay, you're drunk and a little difficult to understand
so I'll see you in a few minutes when I get there.
I was, uh, I was...
uh...
I was cited for securities fraud.
It was scrubbed from my record, that's why you don't know.
Did you say securities fraud?
I would never help them build a case against you.
I would never give them anything against you.
I'd commit perjury before I did that.
It was such bullshit, it was 2006.
If you had an arrest, I'd have known.
-It was bullshit. -Doug.
I told them, I'll go further, I'll go other places.
But not you. I love you.
I-- I love you--
Doug, listen, I need you to pull it together for a second.
Did they scrub your record because you've been informing?
Should I... should I have told you?
That's a question that'll- that'll haunt me for all my days--
Why are you hiding in the bathroom?
for my days, Molly.
Always know that I was trying to protect you.
Five blocks away, the FBI had raided my game.
I fully expected the lobby to be filled with guys
wearing windbreakers, but it wasn't.
Ms. Bloom. Haven't seen you for a while.
Yeah.
You need a cab?
I guess you never made it upstairs with the packages.
Maybe I didn't tip you enough before Christmas.
Then you got into a cab, took the cab to JFK
and flew to your mother's house in Denver.
Telluride.
My mother lives in Telluride.
That was two years ago.
Mm-hmm.
In the cab on the way to the airport,
I checked my bank account balance.
There should have been a little over 4 million dollars, but instead
it said the balance was zero and there was a note
telling me to contact the Justice Department.
I just want to mention that she also voluntarily
checked herself into 28-day rehab
and has been sober and clean for two years.
I don't care. Were the women that worked for you call girls?
No, sir.
They never exchanged sex for money?
No.
Have you ever exchanged sex for money?
No.
I think he was talking to me.
I meant, no, she's not answering that question.
-The purpose of this meeting-- -I know.
-The purpose of this meeting-- -We're off the record.
We're not off the record.
Do you see a stenographer in here?
We're off the record inasmuch as
there is no record, but you're free to use
the information you're given
and we're not giving the information for free.
I've been sitting at this table for five hours,
waiting for the opportunity to implore you to do the right thing
while begging my client for the last three weeks
to act in her own best interest.
And neither of those things should be hard.
The purpose of this meeting is for you to meet Molly Bloom
and discover, as I have, that she is not the person
the press has invented.
She's not under federal indictment for getting bad press, Charlie.
And the purpose of the meeting, for me,
is to discover if your client is willing to cooperate
with the government in putting away some bad people.
No.
You're not willing to cooperate?
Uh, no, I never traded sex for money.
I'm still not sure if there's a record but if there is
I wanted to be certain that was in it.
It appears to me throughout your career as a game runner
you're extremely diligent about vetting players?
I was.
But you let four guys play in the game
without knowing they were connected?
Yeah, plus an FBI informant, it's embarrassing.
I was high at the end and...
doing my job badly.
I'll also add that in my limited experience
with the Russian mob, they don't immediately
present themselves as mobsters.
My experience with the Italian mob--
Help us.
I don't know anything that can help you.
Yes.
-If I did, -Yes, you do.
You can provide color. You can paint a picture.
You can tell us Druzhinsky wore a $100,000 Patek Philippe
and drove a Phantom.
You can tell us Illya Gershen showed up
with a quarter million dollars cash in a backpack
and you can tell us how much action
Shelly was taking on a sports bet.
No one was allowed to place sports bets inside the room.
They would have to go outside.
So I had no idea how much anyone was taking or--
So now you're saying you knew
they were making and taking sports bets?
That's the point of them going outside
they could have been calling their mother for all I knew.
-Molly? -Yes, sir.
I don't believe you.
In Mike Davidov's phone intercepts alone,
just Davidov, your name comes up 19 times.
"We need Molly," "Get Molly," "Bring Molly"
It strongly suggests you're important to his business
so it's hard for me to believe that
someone with your savvy and obvious intellect--
They're talking about the drug.
"Get molly", "Bring molly", "We need molly", its...
They're talking about the drug, ecstasy.
Shit, my office was next to yours for two years and
I've seen you make some bone-headed moves
but I've never seen any prosecutor step in it
the way you just did.
You should thank all of the gods that there is no physical evidence
-of that exchange. -Hey, look--
No, you look, Harry--
What, are you gonna implore me to do the right thing?
This woman does not belong in a RICO indictment.
Are you out of your minds?!
She does not belong in a mob indictment,
she raked a game, that's it, for seven months two years ago!
And why? Because she was giving credit in the millions
and she didn't want to use muscle to collect.
She has had opportunity after opportunity
to greatly benefit herself
by just telling the real stories that she knows.
Okay? I have the forensic imaging going back to 2007.
And I'm talking about text messages,
e-mails, movie stars, rock stars, athletes,
billionaires, all explicit, some married with kids,
and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
What about the guy who comes this close
to being the U.S. Ambassador to Monaco?
He's withdrawn from consideration at the last minute.
No one knows why.
She does.
CEOs with college-age mistresses,
an SVP of an investment bank who wanted Molly to put
a marked deck in a game,
the head of a movie studio who texted her
that a particular star was too black for his liking,
I mean, J. Edgar Hoover didn't have this much shit on Bobby!
You know, she could've written a bestseller and been set for life,
easy, she's got the-she's got the winning lottery ticket
and she won't cash it.
Your office took every dollar she has
in a constitutionally fucked up seizure
and then put the IRS on her to tax what you seized?
I mean,
I've been in those strategy meetings.
You broke her back so she couldn't possibly afford to defend herself.
And now she has an opportunity to guarantee her freedom
by "providing color" and she still won't do it.
This woman doesn't belong in a RICO indictment,
she belongs in a box of Wheaties.
So, yes, Harrison,
I am imploring you to do the right thing.
She knows nothing about the three Petes.
Nothing about Rachniana.
Nothing about RGO or insurance fraud.
Between the two of us, we've appeared in front of this judge
28 times as prosecutors and not once
has he deviated from our sentencing recommendations,
he's not gonna start now.
I know you've been putting this bust together for three years
and there's no one who doesn't want to see mobsters go to jail
including and especially the one person in the room
who's had one of them put a gun in her mouth.
Probation. Community service.
Or better yet, just consider that all she did is run a poker game
exactly the same way every casino in America does
and drop the goddamn charges.
Anything else you'd like to add?
No.
There's nothing else she'd like to add.
Uh, I'd like to talk to Charlie in private
if that'd be okay with you.
Yeah.
Why don't you just grab some dinner for an hour
and meet me back in the office?
Huh? I'm sorry?
Did you want a hotdog?
I'll have a pretzel, please.
♪ All it's got to take is some warmth to make it ♪
♪ Blow Away, Blow Away, Blow Away ♪
♪ All I got to do is to to love you ♪
♪ All I got to be is be happy ♪
Here you go.
Hi.
I would like to rent a pair of skates, size seven.
But I don't have any money.
These are $800 leather Chanel gloves.
I'll trade you.
$800 gloves?
And they keep your hands just as warm as the $10 kind.
Miss, are you all right?
I'm fine.
I'm divesting.
♪ These dreams go on when I close my eyes ♪
♪ Every second of the night ♪
♪ I live another life ♪
♪ These dreams ♪
Careful.
Hey! Slow down!
Hey, miss, slow down!
Catch me.
Come on, catch me.
Hey, slow down!
Bend your knees.
Dad?
You all right?
Sorry about that.
Sorry.
Taking you off the ice right now.
How's it going?
What are you doing in New York?
How'd you know I was at the skating rink?
I'm a doctor of the mind.
Oh, Dad.
I'm here in New York because that's where you are.
I called your mom at the hotel and she said you were here.
Listen, it's not a big deal, but from what I saw out there,
I think you're having a small breakdown.
That's weird. I can't think of why.
Probably because of the arrest
and not knowing what's going to happen next.
Old man, do you really not recognize sarcasm?
Do you?
Here, drink this.
I'm an alcoholic, I can't drink but thanks for remembering.
It's hot chocolate.
Okay.
And for diagnostic purposes,
do you think that we're on a cocktail lounge right now?
You seeing waiters with trays of champagne?
I want to check your pulse.
Have you found a pulse?
Yeah, just admiring my watch.
I can see you're getting warmed up
but I really don't have the emotional bandwidth
to defend my "as usual irresponsible behavior."
I know, I got your e-mail.
I get that I'm not welcome in your life right now as your father
though you should know I could give a shit if I'm welcome or not.
But I'm not here in my capacity as your father.
I'm indifferent to whether your father lives or dies.
I'm a very expensive therapist
and I'm here to give you one free session.
You think what I need right now is a therapist?
Yeah.
I have to be back at my lawyer's office soon.
Do you like your lawyer?
I wasn't asking for money when I called you, Dad.
I just needed my dad.
God forbid you part with a nickel.
Yeah, Tiny Tim, you grew up on a lake
and you've skied all over the world,
were those work houses tough?
I gotta go.
-Molly. -I gotta go.
Molly, sit the fuck down!
All right, we're gonna do three years of therapy in three minutes.
How?
I'm gonna do what patients have been begging
therapists to do for a hundred years,
I'm just gonna give you the answers.
To what?
Well, let's start with this Why does a young woman who,
at 22, has a gold-plated resume,
why does she run poker games?
Why did I choose to make a ton of money?
That's a head scratcher.
You were gonna be a success at anything you wanted,
you know it.
If you'd gone to law school you'd have
you'd have owned the law firm right now.
Why did you do... the other thing instead?
I don't know.
Drugs.
You didn't start with the drugs until the end.
They weren't the problem, they were the medicine.
It was so you could control powerful men.
Your addiction
was having power over powerful men.
Is that what you really think?
No.
I know it for sure.
You've now completed your first year of therapy.
I saw an opportunity, it wasn't about you.
Nah, it wasn't just about me.
-It wasn't at all about you. -It was.
Second year, second question.
Do you think you were a good husband?
What do you care?
I care because you were married to my mother.
I care because my father's an asshole.
Congratulations, you've completed Year Two.
And for the record, your father raised
three kids on a college professor's salary.
One of them is a two-time Olympian,
a sixth round draft pick of the Philadelphia Eagles
and a leading philanthropist.
The other is a cardiothorasic surgeon at Mass General
and the third
managed to build a multi-million dollar business
using not much more than her wits.
I'm about to plead guilty in federal court.
Well, nobody's perfect.
The point is I did a few things right.
Last question.
No, I have to go.
Last question, Mol. I'll answer it
but you have to ask it.
You have... to ask it.
Why didn't you like me as much as my brothers?
There it is.
I did.
It only from time to time appeared that I didn't.
It only appeared that you didn't?
Yeah.
That is some Schedule 1 bullshit.
Why would--it only appeared-- Why would--
Okay, I had an attitude problem.
I talked back.
I broke some normal adolescent rules.
I snuck phone time after curfew,
I took your car when I wasn't allowed to--
And drove it into a McDonald's.
And kids get punished for that, but they don't--
Did I not say the McDonald's?
I mean, did you misunderstand what drive-thru meant?
You turned into a different person,
-your voice, your face. -It's because I knew you knew.
I didn't hear what you said.
I said
I knew you knew.
You knew I knew what?
What do you uh, think about the following concepts?
Just gonna run 'em by you. Marriage.
It is a trap.
That I was cheating on Mom.
I knew you knew.
-Society. -It is a joke.
No, I didn't know unt-- until I was 20.
-People. -I don't trust people.
No, you'd known since you were five.
You saw me in my car
and you really didn't know what you saw.
I don't have any heroes.
You knew, honey.
And I knew you knew, and that's...
That's how I reacted to the shame.
And you reacted by showing
seething contempt for me,
by driving my car into a McDonald's
And wanting to have power over powerful men?
No.
That was a red herring just to make you mad.
-You're such an-- -You tripped over a stick.
Okay?
Twelve years ago you tripped over a stick.
It was a one-in-a-million thing. You tripped over a stick.
That's what you did wrong.
There's your session.
It's funny how much faster you can go
when you're not charging by the hour.
I'm your father.
Trying to comprehend
how much I love you would be like
trying to visualize the size of the universe.
I didn't know
you got beaten up until I read it in your book.
It was a hell of a way to learn about it.
You should know
that I'm hiring someone to find the guy who did it
then I'm hiring someone to kill him.
Don't even joke about that.
I'm not.
It wasn't a purse snatcher, Dad, it was the mafia.
I don't care if it's the leader of Hamas.
Someone put their hands on you. They're gonna suffer.
-Dad, I'm fine. -No, they're gonna suffer.
Dad, I'm all right.
No. They're gonna suf--
Really, I'm fine.
-Did you know-- -Oh!
I didn't see you.
Did you know that we know
what the center of our galaxy smells like?
Smells like rum and raspberries.
The center of the galaxy is ethyl formate,
which is the same gas that gives rum its smell
and raspberries their taste.
How do you know these things?
To stay busy during games, I surfed the internet.
Then I started taking online courses.
I'm 12 credits away from a degree in astronomy,
I didn't even know I was enrolled.
Hey.
I want to thank you for what you said tonight.
It was Stella
who asked me to be your lawyer.
She read the book,
I accused her of reading trash but she
defended the book impressively.
And then defended you.
You're her role model.
I'm gonna give her that.
There's a new offer on the table.
What is it?
We hand over the hard drives.
I don't get it.
We hand over the forensic imaging of the e-mails and texts
in exchange for uh--
Exchange--What could they possibly offer for me to do that?
I wrote it all down, it's um...
Your money back.
They'll give you all your money back plus interest.
It's over 5 million dollars.
Is that why they took it in the first place?
So they could offer it back to me?
Yeah.
For what it's worth, if we went to trial
you'd have to hand over the forensic imaging in discovery.
But that's different from voluntarily handing it over.
Sure, but it's not really voluntary anymore
when the alternative is prison.
And that's what they're gonna recommend, 42 months.
Why do you keep breaking eye contact with me?
I-I'm looking right at you.
You think I should do it.
You gotta let me keep you out of prison.
You've seen what's on those hard drives.
Yeah.
It's a lot more than a little color.
Yeah, but complete immunity.
All right? You get all your money back.
You'll be the first defendant to walk out of a courtroom
better off than when you walked in.
Careers will be ruined.
Families.
Wives, lives on both coasts--
Hey, when a rich guy goes to jail
he spreads his money around.
His-his lawyer knows how to take care of that.
He spreads his money around.
You don't have any!
The composition of female inmates in federal prison--
they did not commit financial crimes.
They're drug dealers.
They get raped by prison guards.
You...you will not be anonymous, Molly.
You will be a target!
Children will read their father's text messages
saying he wished he'd never had kids.
These guys--
These guys, where are they?
Why are you in this alone? Where are your friends?
Where is the one guy saying,
"Hey, you know, Molly, I know you're doing everything to save my life,
what can I do for you? Let me buy you a sandwich.
Where are they, Molly?
You kept their secrets.
Where are the people you're protecting
by not telling the whole story in the book,
by settling the Brad Marion suit,
by not taking five million dollars of your own money,
by going to jail?
Where did everybody go?!
It's not their names I'm protecting, Charlie, it's mine.
Oh, that's great. Well, we don't have the luxury
of integrity. You have to take the deal.
No.
You stay out of jail, you get your money back,
you pay your debts, you start a new life.
No.
Is this self-imposed punishment for naming four guys in a book?
It's not.
You didn't do anything wrong.
I threw four people under the bus for $35,000, Charlie.
I noticed you kept that out of your speech to the prosecutor.
-No, don't do that to me. -I took advantage
of gambling addicts.
Donnie Silverman, my brilliant find, he lost
-six million dollars on my table, -Molly, stop, stop.
-moved to Florida, -Uh-huh.
got a job as a substitute teacher,
-and the hanged himself -Oh!
-in the shower. -and that's your fault?
-Donnie Silverman's dead. -That's not your fault!
Harlan Eustice is in jail in Nevada wishing he was.
But that's not why I'm saying no.
You're not saying no.
I was named after my great-grandmother.
I don't care.
-Molly Dubin Bloom -We will stay here all night
-is my name. -until you understand--
until you understand
nobody gives a shit about your good name.
I do.
Why?
-Because! -Why?
-Because! -Tell me why!
Because it's all I have left.
Because it's my name.
"And I'll never have another."
Now you read The Crucible?
Yeah, everyone's right, it's great.
It is great.
I want to go into the courtroom
and plead guilty.
No deals.
No trades.
And you're very sure?
Yes.
All rise.
The business of the court began.
We stood for the Honorable Judge Dustin Foxman
and counsel entered their names for the record.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Harrison Wellstone
The docket was called
and some pro forma instructions were given to counsel.
And I was asked a series of questions from a script
the judge had in front of him. -What is your full name?
Molly Dubin Bloom.
How old are you?
Have you taken any drugs, medicine or pills
or had any alcoholic beverages in the past 48 hours?
Sudafed.
Is there anything about the reasons for you taking Sudafed
that would interfere with what's going on here today?
87 questions he was required to ask
before he'd permit me to plead guilty.
Is your mind clear today, Ms. Bloom?
It is.
Do you understand what's going on here today?
I do.
Under the Constitution and laws of the United States
you have a right to plead to the charges in the indictment,
do you understand that?
Yes, Your Honor.
-And do you understand that? -Yes, sir.
At that trial you would be presumed to be innocent
and would not have to prove that you were innocent,
-do you understand that? -Yes, sir.
Yes, Your Honor. Yes, sir.
If you plead guilty and I accept your plea,
you will give up your right to appeal
along with all other rights I've enumerated,
do you understand?
Yes, sir.
Do you understand that you are charged in count 20
with operating an illegal gambling business
in violation of Title 18 United States
Code Sections 1955 and 2?
Yes, I understand.
Understanding everything you've been told,
do you now wish to enter a plea?
Yes, sir.
How do you plead to the charge?
Guilty, Your Honor.
Your plea has been so recorded
and you may take your seat.
Before we move to the sentencing phase,
I would like a word with counsel, please.
And then something happened.
Pardon me, Mr. Jaffey, just government counsel.
Yes, sir.
What's going on?
What are they doing?
Wait for it.
What?
Would the defendant please rise for sentencing.
Based on all available information,
this court manifestly disagrees
with the government's sentencing recommendation.
This courthouse is located
within spitting distance of Wall Street.
I know this from my personal experience
trying to spit at it.
The men and women who work there will commit
more serious crimes by lunchtime today
than the defendant has committed in this indictment.
I simply don't see how either the people
or the cause of justice are served
by locking Molly Bloom in prison.
It was as casual as if he was ordering lunch off a menu.
Ms. Bloom,
this court sentences you
to two hundred hours of community service,
one year of supervised probation, drug testing
and a two hundred thousand dollar fine.
This case is adjourned.
And that was that.
It was crying and hugging,
jokes from my brothers.
Tough talk about how no one messes with the Blooms
and level-headed talk about Christmas miracles.
Steaks and beer bought by my father
and full reenactments.
And in the middle of it all, as grateful as you are,
the reality starts creeping toward you like the tide.
And that's the first time you have the thought...
"What do I do now?"
We're gonna race her down.
We need a tobogan or a backboard.
I'm a felon.
I'm 35 years old, unemployed,
and pled guilty in a mob indictment.
People, make way!
Move away, move away!
I owe the government close to two million dollars
in taxes assessed on the civil forfeiture
plus the two hundred thousand dollar fine.
And you better believe they're gonna come get it.
Is there a pass?
Come on back, please.
I have a quarter of a million dollars in legal bills.
I don't know what I'd say in a job interview,
or if I'll ever be given a job interview.
I'll never be allowed to vote again.
Gonna need a set of vitals.
And for some reason,
I'm not allowed to go to Canada.
Molly, can you hear us?
Pelvis is stable.
Her dad's here.
What's her LOA?
Uh, she's comin' around now.
Open your eyes if you can hear us.
She's conscious.
Molly, what day is it?
You need to stay down, okay? You need to go to a hospital.
What day?
Dad, I'm fine.
Caution you not to move, Molly.
Let go of my arm.
-Trying to get up, hon? -Yeah.
She wants to get up.
Our cameras can't get in there, so we don't know--
I wonder if Tracy's got an update for us on the ground?
-She's moving, guys. -She's moving!
-You sure you're good? -Yeah.
Okay, here we go.
We can see that she's being helped to her feet now.
Molly Bloom is of course the sister of Jeremy Bloom
who holds the world's number one ranking.
That's her long-time coach there, Ted Keene
and her father.
She came back from an injury when she was just 13.
You know, you have to wonder about the psychological toll
coming that close only to lose it like that.
Did anything good come of this?
Not really.
But I learned something encouraging.
I'm very hard to kill.
You and I both know people who have never gotten over it.
I don't know if the young woman
we've just seen is- is one of those people.
We may not see her ski competitively again
but I think we're gonna see her.
Winston Churchill defined success as
The ability to move from failure to failure
with no loss of enthusiasm.
So,
I guess I'm pot-committed.
She'll be back.
All right, up next to the gate is Whitney Summerhill
who's currently in 12th place after--
Subs by enwansix