Episode 179： FBI Takes Down Biggest Underground Poker Game - Molly Bloom's True Story
Episode Stats
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Summary
Molly Bloom is one of the most famous poker players in the history of the game, and she did all of this in her 20s, and eventually FBI came after her. She tells the entire story in this sit down.
Transcript
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Look, if you like the game of poker, you're going to love today's podcast because this
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could be one of the best stories ever in the game of poker and that has to do with Molly
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Molly's movie came out called Molly's Game, which she went from being a skier to a massive
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injury, to move into L.A., meeting a producer, director, and from there, she gets invited
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to a private poker game and then eventually she starts her own private poker game, East
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Coast, West Coast, and the buying ends up being quarter million to half a million dollars with
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some of the biggest Hollywood names and billionaires in the world.
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And she did all of this in her 20s and eventually FBI came after her.
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So it's January 1st, okay, we're back, we're relaxing, we go to watch a movie that night,
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January 1st, 2018, we watch this movie called Molly's Game, okay, and I leave, I am so fascinated
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by this story that I said, I've got to find out who this girl is.
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So I go on Twitter, I find her, I tweet her at 10.44 p.m., I get a message two days later,
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we go back and forth and here we are sitting down with Molly in Colorado.
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Thank you for taking the time and visiting with us.
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Biggest business, they call it a $100 million business, you ran, you had all these people
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that would come in, the biggest poker game in America, quarter million dollar buy-in.
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Were you playing poker at six years old, eight years old with daddy?
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I was a very serious student and I had just taken the LSAT and done incredibly well.
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I was in the process of applying to law schools when kind of a fluke accident happened on my
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I literally tripped on a stick, a pine bough inserted itself into my binding and my ski
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I was really injured and that was the end of my ski career and it sort of made me question
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everything that I was doing and so I wanted to take a little bit of time to really think
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that through to think if this life plan was why I wanted to do so.
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I went to LA, I got a bunch of jobs, I was a cocktail waitress, I was a personal assistant
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and my boss at the time said, you know, I'm going to need you to serve drinks to my poker
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I remember Googling what kind of music do poker players like to listen to and trying to understand
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The only time I had seen anyone playing poker was in the movies that we've all seen and
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And so when I showed up at the game, really quickly I realized this was not what I thought
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I walk in the room and some of the most famous, wealthy and powerful men are seated around this
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So your first night, you go there, you're seeing everybody there.
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In that moment I was like, light bulb moment, this is an incredible way to build a network.
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This is not an opportunity that a 22 year old girl from Loveland, Colorado generally gets.
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And then also they're speaking freely and I'm like, this is access to people, this is access
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And then at the end of the night, I made $3,000, which at that time was a, you know, a night.
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I mean, at that time, and now again, you know, I would be ecstatic right now.
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I studied the guys for, you know, six months to kind of understand what the draw was here,
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how I could turn this into a business for myself.
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So you studied the way they were playing or are you doing research about them?
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So I'm learning all the terminology so that I don't seem like an amateur.
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You know, and I'm learning how to talk shop with them.
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First of all, these guys didn't, they didn't want things anymore, right?
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And, and this gambling, it really took them outside of themselves.
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So it was this experience, this transformational experience, this, this, you know, escapism.
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And so when I ultimately took over the game, the first thing I did was I built on that.
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You know, I built on like, these guys want to feel like James Bond for a night.
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They want to be different when they walk out of this room than they were when they walked out.
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So you made them feel like James Bond for a night?
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That's so, now some of the names, the names are out.
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So, you know, one of the players, Ruderman, ends up having a Ponzi scheme from trying to
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And he came out and told them, I think Toby McGuire's on that list.
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And there's a few other guys that came out on that list.
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The one part that I watch, and I really want to get into the relationship with your father,
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that whole thing with Jeremy Jordan and all that, I mean, that's such an incredible story
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The first question I asked you when I came inside was about your dad.
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So do you think you are dealing with all these big personalities?
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Toby McGuire, which is known as being a, you know, there's a lot of words in the dictionary
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that are not in the dictionary that they use for Toby.
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You got DiCaprio, you got Affleck, you got Ben Affleck, you got Alex Roddy.
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How did you know how to lead and handle people like this?
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Because I'm sure they're trying to bully you as well to try to control everything.
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Through these games, through these experiences, I realized what I was actually good at, and
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I hadn't really known that up until this point.
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I, you know, I guess my, I have a higher EQ than probably, you know, like IQ.
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Like, I have a really well-honed EQ, and I also came at it from a place of trying to understand
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humans instead of just running a game and being procedural about it and sort of, you know,
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just trying to run it, like, in this very procedural way.
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I tried to really understand people, and what I saw so often is when all these negative manifestations
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You know, it's fear, and it's fear because they just lost a lot of money, fear because
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And so I realized that if I could try to reduce that fear in them, that I could try to make
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them feel safe or try to, you know, that that was generally the best way to deal with people,
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particularly, like, when they would lose a lot of money, you know, instead of going
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at them and being like, I need you to write that check right now, which is what a lot of
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people do, just giving people the space, you know, just to be like, you know, call me when
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you want, and you'll just come back and win as much, if not more, next time.
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What are some of the craziest things you saw happening with this, you know, personality-wise?
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Was it conversations where they fairly open with one another?
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Or somebody's throwing a comment at Ben about JLo?
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Yeah, I mean, to tell you the truth, I was really focused on trying to preemptively squash
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And so, like, I was really focused on that, but I have to give it to these guys for the
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amount of money that was being gambled and, you know, sort of the personalities, they were
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There was a lot of, sort of, getting angry and stomping out, you know, but in terms of
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people fighting with each other or physical altercations or whatever, like, they really
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Was Toby's personality, the way that it's, you know, presented in the movie?
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Was it fairly as accurate as it is in the movie?
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Well, Aaron would really want me to say that the character, Player X, is a composite character.
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And he's a character that Aaron wrote based on lots of different stories that, you know,
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He wanted to make sure he had edge in different ways, you know?
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He wanted to be the only player at the table that locked it down and that was tight.
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And he wanted everyone else to be giving action and gambling.
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And he, you know, he put a couple players in and he was doing all this stuff that, in
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Now, let me ask you, how old was he at the time?
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So it's not like he's a 40-year-old guy trying to, you know.
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He was like at the height of his sort of fame and career.
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And he also knew how to leverage that fame and that, and that position to gain power.
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So, do you think a part of why you had a very easy time, let's just say, not easy
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time, but more than an easy time than an average person would in an environment like this,
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I think having a father that was really tough and that, from a very young age, taught
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So what would, how would he shape your mind to not have any fear?
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If I was afraid of something, he would force me to do it.
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I remember he put me in the water to learn how to get up on one ski and I was in that
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It was a lot of like teaching me how to suffer constructively in the face of trying to accomplish
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It was a lot of like standing on top of a cliff on my skis being this big and being
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like, you're going to conquer your fear right now, you're going to jump off that cliff,
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My brothers and I learned we had to, from an early age, conquer our fears.
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And I'm really, you know, listen, like my dad's gotten some crap because of the character
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I mean, maybe it took me, it's taken me 39 years.
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Um, but, um, you know, he also said to me, look, I'm a psychologist.
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And I particularly know that it's harder for, for women.
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So I just thought he didn't like me as much as my brothers.
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So that, because you, you know, you know, the most emotional part of the movie is the part
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where, you know, it's at the end of the movie, you're sitting in with your dad.
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And, you know, you're going back and forth, you're talking and he asks you, he says, go
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ahead, Molly, ask me the question you've been meaning to ask me.
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You know, I know the movie was that one scene, but tell me how it was in real life when that
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When I got arrested by the FBI, my dad got mad at me.
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He's got a valid, how could you be mad at me, Dad?
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I mean, my dad, but he was mad and it's understandable.
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He wrote me five page letters, you know, and, and when I got federally indicted, he was
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And so he said, get a public defender because he was mad and I didn't have any money because
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And then he wrote me a letter and he said, I'm coming to California because whether you
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You're getting sentenced in federal court and I want to talk to you.
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So he comes and, um, you know, I, I always wanted my dad to be proud of me and I always
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felt like I felt short of my brothers and, and I don't really think I'd ever gotten real
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You know, I, I just, I wanted to be tough and I wanted to be what I thought he wanted me
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And then, you know, in my early twenties with this game, I just broke from all of that.
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And, um, so we sat down and I think for the first time in my life, we got real.
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And I, I said to him, why didn't you like me as much as my brothers?
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And I was, um, you know, I was over rebelling against the, the, the norms and the, you know,
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He was like, you like to read and argue if you should be an attorney.
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Um, so, you know, then we had that real come to Jesus and he was emotional, you know?
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I mean, the first time, it was the first time I got real with him.
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And I, I asked him point blank, like, why didn't you like me?
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You know, I know how hard the world is and I wanted you to be formidable.
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And so, from that moment moving forward, it was, you know, I mean, he's my best friend.
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Now, let me ask you, what role did Jeremy and Jordan play?
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I mean, so, so why don't you, you know, so for some people that don't know, what do
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So, Jeremy was, um, a six-time world champion, and I might get some of his stats wrong, but,
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Um, he went straight from the Turin Olympics, where he was ranked number one in the world,
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Oh, that's why you posted it when the Eagles won.
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You posted the Eagles, I said, Eagles, what does this have to do with anything?
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You said, I remember this phone call or something like that?
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Yeah, because it was, it was, uh, when Jeremy got a call from Andy Reid.
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And, and then, you know, he left the world of sports and started a charity and tech,
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and, I mean, he's just, he's in, he's extraordinary.
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And then Jordan is a Harvard-educated cardiothoracic surgeon.
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And, you know, he was, like, winning, beating my dad at chess at, like, five.
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He was, uh, you know, they were both prodigies.
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Like, I didn't know what I wanted to do, you know, and I didn't have this, these skills
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that presented and, um, but I had the competitiveness and I had the just needing approval, like I
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And so it was a really kind of bad combination.
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And, and my brothers are extraordinary human beings, they're great brothers, but what they
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did is they raised this bar so high that when I went into the world and I, and I stumbled
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into this opportunity, I was like, this is, this is my chance to be significant.
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And maybe it's not as flashy or shiny or whatever as my brothers, but like, this is a, this may
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That's what I thought, you know, cause you're in your early twenties and you think if you
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haven't figured it out by 22, you're never going to figure it out.
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Um, I mean, I, I honestly think 22 is the oldest I've ever thought.
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Did they know how hot, like, did they know what you were doing or not really?
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By the way, your mom and dad, did they only have three kids?
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Big Brown was a horse that raced in a Kentucky Derby.
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So they went and they were selling his stat fees for $400,000 per.
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Somebody should go to your mom and dad and say, listen, I will pay a hundred grand.
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Let's freeze this damn thing and put it away and let's see what we can come up with.
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You know, your brother's winning in chess at five years old.
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If you, if you, if your mom and dad see this, Hey props, you know, props, we were cheering
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But so go back to what you were doing East coast, West coast, East coast.
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It sounds like you got into the Russian community and it was good.
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So what was the biggest difference you're doing West coast audience, East coast audience?
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And people were winning and losing high six figures, a million dollars for sure.
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East coast, $250,000 and no limit PLO, no limit Omaha, no limit Texas Holden.
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People were winning and losing five to 10 million.
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You know, these are, these are wall street guys.
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And it's like, they're just so used to the fluctuation.
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I'll throw my, well, I'll throw my condo in here.
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So here's my question for you before we talk about the FBI felony, all that other stuff,
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That's the biggest challenge when that happened is when things change, right?
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And I had retained criminal attorneys from both coasts that were former federal prosecutors
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and I was paying my taxes and I was walking for a long time that gray line.
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And then I remember the exact moment where I made that choice to step over here.
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I remember, I could tell you what it smelled like in the room.
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When you did it, did you say, shit, I shouldn't have done this?
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Or did you do it saying, uh, let's roll the dice?
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I had that, uh, just like that, that scary feeling and then it was just like, whatever,
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But like, yeah, I knew it in the pit of my stomach.
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Um, you know, I was just, I was, I wanted, I wanted more.
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I wanted the games to be, uh, you know, I wanted to move it to Europe.
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Um, so I'm extending this crazy credit every week.
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You're like, I'm going to push a little bit more and a little bit more and a little bit
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So let's go back to what you were talking about the moment, you know, you crossed the
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So things started to fall apart pretty quickly.
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So I would say from the time I took a rake to the time that I was completely shut down,
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So around the same time that I started taking a rake, I had let these Russian guys start
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That said, didn't you know they are a Russian mob?
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I mean, they showed up, they were well dressed.
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They had a serious story that I had vetted out in terms of what their business was.
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Turns out they were running this hundred million dollar insurance fraud scheme, the biggest
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in New York City history, and the feds are on to them.
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So simultaneously, you got the Ponzi scheme happening.
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And, you know, through these wiretaps and through this, through the discovery, they're
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And you know how much the Southern District loves a Wall Street takedown.
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And then the west coast guys, the celebrity factor.
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And it's all connected through this poker game.
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But like, in my heart of hearts, I don't think I was ready to walk away.
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Which is a crazy moment of, all of a sudden, now you're putting this money and this greed
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Because I'm breaking the law, and now my life's in jeopardy.
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And I look at the newspaper about 10 days later.
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125 guys arrested in the biggest mob-related takedown in New York City history.
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They had to, like, rent out a gymnasium for processing.
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Like, a month or two later, I get a call from one of my dealers at one of my smaller games.
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And I'm on the phone with my travel agent, and I'm like, I need to book a flight.
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And, um, she's like, your credit card's getting deployed, or your card's getting deployed.
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And I looked at my balances, and they all read negative $9,999,999.
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So, all of my accounts were shut down and seized.
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Two years later, I kind of started to really make headway in putting my life back together.
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And 10 days after moving back to L.A., 17 FBI agents, machine guns, high beam flashlights,
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And that was when they, they federally indicted me.
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And I'm like, well, I guess it's a better story now.
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I was starting to show a Russian mob RICO indictment.
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The guy at the top of the indictment was this guy known as...
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And a VOR in Russian organized crime is the scariest, like, most dangerous human being.
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Said 90, I said I was looking at 90 years on the press release.
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And I flew to New York and I interviewed 10 attorneys that day, that next day.
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And every one of them said, you don't have any money?
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And like, I need to make sure that you're okay.
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So, I walked into that courtroom the next day with all these Russian mobsters and some gamblers.
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And, you know, it was just, it was pretty surreal.
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Once everything was finalized, what was the biggest thing that changed with you afterwards?
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The truth is, is that fundamentally nothing really changed inside.
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And so, knowing that, and knowing that that was the case, and also being decimated and publicly decimated, you know, was liberating to some degree.
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I'd faced, I was, you know, I'd faced my biggest fear.
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I was completely, um, I'd failed on a huge level.
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So, I started building myself, my self-worth, and sort of, um, from the inside, you know?
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And a lot of that was like, showing up for my family again.
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And, like, being of service, or making my life about something bigger than myself.
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Now, my drive is, is, I still, I'm still ambitious, and I still have a drive, but, like, my picture of success, and my motivation for success looks very different.
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And then, last but not least, you watched the movie.
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I mean, obviously, she did a phenomenal job representing you.
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Well, I came, I came at this from a place of, okay, I'm gonna, you know, I know that this is a long shot, but I think the best shot for coming out of this massive mess that I've created.
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Um, both financial and reputation, and, and, you know, now coming, trying to navigate life as a felon, was to tell my story.
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So, I was coming to this movie with such an overwhelming sense of gratitude.
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It wasn't like someone decided to write a movie about my life, and, like, I was gonna have to watch it, you know?
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I knew that, that Sorkin, and Jessica, and Idris Elba, and the producers had taken, you know, had, were invested.
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And that it, and it wasn't just a movie, it was a second chance.
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So, um, I was already in a bunch, in a lot of gratitude.
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And then when I saw the movie, I was just like, just blown away, you know?
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I, I can tell you, that's exactly how I felt when I watched.
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So, for me, it's, hands down, the best movie I've seen in the last, last year.
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I mean, I don't think anything comes close to it.
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I was so blown away by this story, and I'll just sit with you and hear it from you.
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Thank you so much for taking the time and visiting with us.
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And by the way, if you haven't already subscribed to Valuetainment on iTunes, please do so.
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