Original subtitles

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

is 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 Woman's Moguls.

I grew up in Love/and, 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 LSAT score at Harvard Law School is 169.

My score is 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.

Somethings 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 seven-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 going to be fine.

I wouldn't let her ski anymore.

Definitely not moguls.

And obviously skiing competitively

is out of the question.

Fine. Oh, God, thank you.

I was on skis again in a year,

running moguls in 18 months,

and by my 20th birthday I 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 is 8,100 feet and the pitch is 52 degrees,

which is the same as the sides of the Great Pyramids.

The wind's 20 to 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 going to 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 have 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 startup.

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 will 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 is 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 re-mastered spinal cord,

which was being held together

by spare parts from an Erector Set.

- Back up, back up! - Move!

- Give her room! Get out of the 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 of the FBI.

We have a warrant for your arrest.

- I'm 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 towards me very slowly.

Okay? Go ahead.

Slower. Slower. Slow down.

Come on. Come on.

I'm having a hard time seeing.

- The flashlight's in my eye. - 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.

The United States of America vs. Molly Bloom.

I bet heavy on the favorite.

What do you think about the following concepts?

Just going to run them 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 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 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 a couch for a while.

My father had disapproved of postponing law school,

and so declined to help out.

But I had $1, 700 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 Borislava the Bulgarian billionaire,

who didn't drink, but he ran a $100,000 bar tab.

My job was to get people

to spend more money than they needed to.

Can we get a bottle of Skyy?

You guys look like you deserve Grey Goose.

What do guys who deserve Grey Goose look like?

To begin with, they've got a bottle

of Grey Goose in front of them.

You're quick. Very clever.

All right, yeah. Grey Goose.

They just spent an additional $300,

bringing their total to $900,

for $8.50 worth of 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% markup

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 Black Hues Investments.

He was a regular at the club, and one night he said...

People seem to take to you.

How would 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 fucking 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?

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 is moving to the Cobra Lounge.

Tomorrow night, and then every Tuesday night.

You'll help run it.

Take these names and numbers

and tell them to bring ten grand in cash

for the first buy-in.

The blinds are $50/$100.

- And, Molly... - Yeah'?

Don't fucking 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 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 within 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 of 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 bought two years earlier

at JCPenney 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.

- Your boss... - Everybody here?

- Yeah. - Hey, buddy.

Fuck off, I'm going to own your shit.

Ugly dress. Ugly shoes.

Let's play!

Diego fanned nine cards out on the table,

and the players chose for seats.

(just finished counting out $90, O00 in cash.

I was in a room with movie stars,

directors...

And the award goes to...

...rappers,

boxers,

and business titans.

They were going all in, all the time,

burning through their buy-ins over and over.

- Here you go. Good luck. - Thank you so much.

I don't know...

I googled every word I heard that I didn't know.

Flop. River.

- Fourth Street. - Fourth Street. Tilt. Cooler.

- Boat. Nuts. - He's pot-committed.

Playing the rush.

You keeping track of the buy-ins?

- Yeah. - Where? Where's the paper?

Spreadsheet.

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 fucking tell anybody.

That's usually not the beginning

of a promising law career.

See you next week.

But that was deep down.

I 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.

- You 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.

Okay.

So, first things first.

When was the last time you slept? Today's Friday.

Tuesday morning at 5:00 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 10:00 a.m. today.

In here.

Close that, will you?

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?

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 over 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 the press tour for the book,

and I moved back to Los Angeles

so I could start over.

Hmm.

You ran games in L.A. for roughly eight years?

- Yeah. - Without taking a rake?

Right.

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?

You named the names 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 is $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.

Thirty-one people were arrested in the same instant.

Something in excess 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?

"Nicholas Kozlowski. 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've 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% of the names on the indictment.

And the other 10%? I didn't know they were

connected. I had no idea who they really were.

Let me ask 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 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 10 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.

"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 every one 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 going to walk you through the arraignment this morning

'cause you shouldn't do that alone.

I'm going to put some bodies on you

and walk you through the side door

because I don't know what you've 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 got to keep your eyes up,

always got to look ahead.

If you look down, that's where you're gonna go.

If you look down, that's where you'll go.

- Ready? - Yeah.

All right.

Let's go.

My father is a therapist

and a psychology professor at Colorado State.

No! 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're 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 weeks of tips, I went to Barneys

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.

- $10,000. - Fold.

And that was this man.

The game had regulars, and the game had guests.

And four of the regulars were famous actors.

And I'm going to 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 one of the guests

into folding the winning hand.

I swear... 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 want to win more of your money this way.

I've got queens under here.

Take your time.

Fold.

- Fuck you. - No!

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.

There's an ATM in the hall, bro.

The Cobra Lounge may have belonged to 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.

If they end up playing in a game,

I'll give you $1,000 the first time they play,

$500 every time after that.

Be sure to mention

that 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 going to 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 hits .320 with 110 RBI.

They alone control the market.

They choose the artists they want to be important.

They mind spending $10 million

on a pitcher who is 8-14 this season.

It's going to be Gephardt.

They set the prices. They mark 'em up, 70, 80, 90%.

They're all very excited

about a company called Twitter.

Unregulated money. Usually all cash. Unreported.

- His days are numbered. - His days are numbered.

I don't know how much longer she's going to be in that job.

- She'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 have laughed at that 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 shoebox.

Law school could wait one more year.

Next, please. Come on through.

Step on up, please. Thank you.

Come on through.

So, here's all that's gonna happen today.

Judge is going to 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 going to ask how you plead.

You're going to answer, "Not guilty."

I'll make it clear for the record

that I'm not your counsel,

but I'm 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."

lam appearing on your behalf.

In propria persona means that

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 sit there, and you sit on the other side.

You've got a good judge. He's a good guy.

Counsel, please...

How about 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 rethink 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.

How do you plead?

- Okay. - Not guilty.

Thank you. You may be seated.

Hey. Switch back.

Defendant number two, Nicholas Segel.

Has the defendant

seen a copy of the indictment?

Yes, Your Honor.

Have you discussed it with your lawyer?

Yes.

Do you waive its public reading?

- Switch back. - Yes.

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.

- Not guilty. - Have a seat.

Defendant number four, Molly Bloom.

Good morning, Your Honor.

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?

Ah. Yes, sir. Just one moment.

Switch back.

Seriously?

You said you left 10 times that much on the street.

In my office, when I said the retainer was $250,000,

you said, "I left 10 times that much."

Yeah.

Counsel! I need to record your appearance...

If it please the court, Your Honor, just one moment.

You were extending credit, you're destitute,

and you leave $2.5 million 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 going to collect.

I was afraid you were gonna say that.

Counsel!

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.

I'm gonna have to keep reading your book.

There was a track star of the 1930s

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 are 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 AP 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 functions.

So you're really getting to the nuts and bolts

of why middle-class suburban white girls

have been oppressed for centuries?

No, Mrs. Linwood was just...

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...

Yeah, you did, and don't do it again.

And don't ever use language like that again.

All right.

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'd been running the game for three years

and saved $58, 000.

I was recruiting and vetting players,

keeping the books,

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.

I thought he had trips too.

He was slow-playing into the river,

and he hid the pocket 8s pretty well.

It's a tough beat, man.

- You owe the game... - I know what I owe the game.

I want to talk to you a minute.

- Okay. - In the hall.

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 is going on?

Come on.

I'm going to stop paying you.

- What do you mean? - As my assistant.

- Are you firing me? - I'm not firing you.

I'm just going to stop paying you.

You get paid once a week from the game,

it doesn't seem fair.

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!

Twenty-four hours a day, every day.

You're going to 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%, which is crazy.

20% is barely survivable if it's a bridge loan, but,

like, for instance, it's taken you 10 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.

Well, you don't have bargaining power here.

You can refuse the pay cut, but you lose the game.

Cash me out, please.

I wasn't going to 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,

Rémy Martin, and an '88 Lafite Rothschild

served by a bartender

who already memorized your drink.

Cohibas and Montecristos were 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 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.

Do 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. 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.

Hey, how you doin'?

- Drink? - Thank you very much.

- I'd love t0. - Yeah?

So, this guy's producing it. You should come down.

- Amazing. - Yeah, it'll be fun.

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'd 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 have 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.

But 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.

I don't do anything like that,

but you just said I wasn't breaking the law.

You want to 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 emails 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 email like that to,

it's not going to be me. It's going to 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 give your wife and kids a break

and run 'em 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% hike. - Yeah.

I don't think it's a good idea.

Could you guys give me the room for a second?

Sure.

The players that are losing $100,000 a week

are going to be losing half a million.

And the players 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 fucking 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.

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.

You know, I don't like playing poker.

Why do you play?

I like destroying lives.

Give him a chair.

The next recruit was Brad Marion.

Good evening, gentlemen.

Who everyone called "Bad Brad,"

because he was uniquely terrible at this game.

If there was a worse 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 Brad.

All in. Calling it.

Sorry.

I just wanted to introduce you to Brad Marion.

He wants to play.

Give me his information. I'll check him out.

Derek is going to vouch for him.

"Derek's going to vouch for him"

meant Derek would cover any losses if Brad didn't pay-

- Up to any amount. - Yeah.

- 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 already invested so much,

you might as well see it through to the end.

Bad Brad had raised $700 million

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.

He wasn't getting any better.

And the guys were feasting on him.

Can I get another 50?

- Sure. - Can we talk for a second?

Brad, this game might not be for you.

I know I'm no card shark.

No, you're not.

Here are your losses after 10 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 get you some books?

Or even a pro to give you lessons?

Yeah. 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 $4 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 card 64% 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 two 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.

Hmm?

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. Couple.

- Five. - Really?

- Yeah. - And?

I passed.

You're destitute, and you passed on five offers

to turn your book into a movie?

You will be paid, Charlie.

I'm just curious as to why you passed

on what would appear to be the only way out you have.

- Creative differences. - Okay.

Shall 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 Ragnyada-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 raked 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 a 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 liked the book. A 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 emails.

My laptop has a record of all text messages

and emails received years ago

on phones that have been smashed with an aluminum bat?

I wanna run a forensic imaging on your hard drives.

Oh, no, thanks anyway.

But I'll be destroying those hard drives.

You can't do that, they're evidence.

Well, I'm going to blow them up.

I'm literally going to 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,

and I now 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 embarrassing...

I don't care about embarrassing

text messages from boyfriends

as there is not left

the smallest 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 the 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'm 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 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 didn't you just say,

"Hey, those names are already public record."

I don't know. Because I wasn't on The View under subpoena.

Can we please get back to the emails and texts?

Is that why you have creative differences

with the Hollywood offers?

Because they want information you won't give them?

- I don't know you. - Hmm.

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 email

I've sent in the last year

as well as a variety of incriminating evidence

about my clients.

Now if anything of yours get 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 going to 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.

I rented out the whole courtyard of The Buffalo Club.

It'll 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 liked 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.

- $5,000 to call. - No.

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. Nines full.

Brad's got nothing.

But his pre-flop betting made it look,

entirely accidently,

like there was a chance he had pocket kings.

$20,000.

Which, if true,

would give him the better full house.

Brad's counting off $20,000,

which means he's going to call.

And Harlan knows that

if Brad is going to 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 $72,000 into the pot.

I'm all in.

Harlan looks at Brad.

Every tell Harlan knows about,

carotid artery pumping, stiff hands,

Brad's doing the opposite.

Brad's betting 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 was 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 100, please.

Sign here for $100,000.

By 5:00 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 100, please.

- Hey, bud... - Molly, please. Let's go.

Sign here for 100.

6:00 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 yourself 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.

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.

But 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.

Call.

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 a turn.

A king.

Otto von Bismarck now has two pair,

kings and sevens.

But two pair is 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 bluffed two pair

and rivered into kings full.

Motherfucker!

Motherfucker!

Fuck you, you fucking mechanic!

Hey!

Fuck you, you bottom-dealing party magician!

Hey, get out onto the terrace.

You've been pulling this shit on me for two days!

- Come on! Come on! - Party magician!

- You good? - I'm okay, thanks.

What the hell?

I'll apologize to Diego.

Yeah.

And you're going to 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 got to tell Sheila the truth, okay?

Tell her the truth. Tell her what happened.

And 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 $1, 200, 000.

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 interest in another player winning...

You think I'm going to 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 J.T., 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 want to 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 the second-biggest winner is?

- Look... - It's you.

What are you taking home, $10,000 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 is... - 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 returns 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."

- In the book on page 152, - Hmm?

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 emailed you "verticality"

from the Merriam-Webster's dictionary.

What's an advance on a book like this?

The advance?

It depends.

If you guarantee the publisher certain elements,

then I can get you a million and a half.

Which you'd 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 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 1,000% 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 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

must 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 going to argue to the prosecutor

that you're an employee

that was hired and fired by the players.

Not a chance.

I think we've got a good chance.

No. Not a chance I'm letting you 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?

The moment you changed the Russians' money for chips...

I would have had to 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 the 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 /'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 A venue.

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.

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 email addresses

of half the Saudi royal family.

Who's the biggest game in Manhattan?

On any given night

it's either Teddy Chin or Tutti Toscano.

- 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 is going to 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, 50...

Mol? 50k buy-in?

No. 250.

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 $10,000-per-person fundraiser

to pay for major renovations

at the East Hampton Yacht Club.

Molly's around here somewhere.

I could introduce you, but I wouldn't get my hopes up.

That's for real.

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.

Do your friends come to the games?

Mmm-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 $4,773,000,

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 betters.

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 7:00, the dealers came,

and the table was set up and polished,

and 10 chairs were placed around it,

exactly 12 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'd been working with a new dealer named "B."

Not like Beatrice, just the initial.

She'd been working in 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 had 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?

Actually, I'm in 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 you've got cameras on them,

they're gonna go nuts.

Yeah. That's you in the seventh chair.

Look at your stack of chips.

I've got a cab downstairs. Can we just...

Look at the time stamp.

1:06 a.m.

Let's fast-forward to 1:07.

1:07 you lose a hand to Boosty.

- What is this? - 1:08...

Our sheets say you didn't buy in again

between 1:06 and 1:08.

But look at that. Your stack's bigger.

I can explain. It's just...

Okay, let's rewind.

This screen's got the dealer changeover

while at the same time on this screen, and...

There we are.

This is why I can't reconcile $57,000

from Tuesday's game.

A 7-Eleven's got security cameras

on their slushie 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... 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...

First of all,

the guys that are making the counterfeit chips,

they're 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 5%.

- I'll see you out there. - See you out there.

Two weeks later, around 2:00 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.

$3 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 2% of the pot and took it off the table.

That was it.

I had 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 player.

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'll 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, can I have the room, please?

Sure.

- I'll see you tomorrow. - Hmm.

You won $190,000 last week.

Lowe Teddy Chin and Tutti...

- 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, 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 is paid down.

Loser is what I was gonna say.

Winner trapped inside the body of a...

- I know. Got it. - ...loser.

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 Davidoff.

Mike owned a chain of medical clinics

and had already posted with a wire transfer.

Next were the Gershen brothers,

Illya and Alexei.

They were in the business of exporting steel to China.

Alexei brought a quarter of a million dollars

in cash 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 would remember.

And then Shelly Habib.

The Habib family owns the largest collection

of classical art in the world,

valued at $3 billion,

and Shelly runs the Hallie 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 had 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.

$7 million painting out of here right now.

- And you're, I assume, armed? - Sure.

Security can't stand in front of the door.

Fix this up, come on back,

and I'll extend you credit tonight up to one and a half.

You're a very beautiful woman.

Please be careful with the painting.

Always.

Mike, Hiya, Alexei, 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 were 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. - Aww!

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. - Aww.

Is 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% of federal cases

never make it to trial?

Even though the chances of being convicted at trial

is a little more than one in 100?

If you want to go to trial, that's fine.

But it's gonna cost you in the area of $3.5 million.

Which the Justice Department knows I don't have,

because they took all 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, 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're 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,

because 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 kidding...

All right. None of that matters.

Taking my money wasn't a tax.

I also need to give them my money,

- or they will 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 poetry?

Hang on... And, yes.

Anytime you want to run away from home,

you can come live with me.

Then you'll discover she doesn't have a home,

and you'll come back to me.

This is good. Great.

Why don't you grab a snack

and 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 the 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.

Are 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?

Mmm...

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...

I'll tell them everything they want to know about me.

About me.

That's it.

Remember Bad Brad Marion?

Remember Bad Brad Marion?

It turns out, his $700 million 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 at the game,

he bought several Malibu beach houses,

an airplane hangar full of cars,

another one with an airplane, and a 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 lost $5.2 million

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.

She was the person 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, trazodone.

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-

Gunshot on the river.

- I want to say something. - Okay.

I want to say something.

Okay.

- I'm just gonna say... - Cool.

'Cause there's a poem, a famous...

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 car...

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... - 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?

Urn...

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.

Hey, Molly, can I ask you something?

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 5:00 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 The 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 '0 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 Tutti, Will...

Teddy Chin.

Teddy Chin.

We did a little work with them too.

We can make your life easier.

Nobody will fuck with you.

Nobody will stiff you.

I appreciate the offer, but really, I'm fine.

I don't carry a big debt sheet.

I feel safe.

Ah, 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 got to 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 ever 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 walked into my building.

Just that my doorman, Reggie, said he had packages for me.

Ms. Bloom. I think I 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.

I'm sorry, you're in the wrong...

Wait! Okay, hold on a second. I have...

Not a sound.

You hear 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.

Open your mouth.

It wasn't an offer they made.

It wasn't a suggestion.

This will be your only reminder.

Your mother lives alone in Telluride, Colorado. Right?

Right?

Right, Molly?

She doesn't live there anymore.

Yes, she does.

I couldn't call a doctor

or go to an ER.

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 10 days,

I opened my front door for the first time.

People were coming back into town

after New Year's in Cabo

and St. Barth'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 makeup would cover 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 from Moscow.

Jesse and Shelby had already started the game at the Plaza

and were reporting heavy early action.

I was on my way when the phone rang.

It was Douglas Downey.

I'm on my way, Doug.

Nous; Wait, Molly.

Wait.

I'm hiding in the bathroom. I just...

I need you to believe me, okay? I just...

Whose bathroom?

I need you to 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."

Okay, 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 have never give them anything against you-

I'd commit perjury before I did that.

It was such bullshit. It was 2006...

If you'd had an arrest, I would 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 love...

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...

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. - Mmm-hmm.

In the cab on the way to the airport,

I checked my bank account balance.

There should've been a little over $4 million,

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. We're off the record.

We're not off the record.

Do you see a stenographer in here?

We're off the record in as much 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.

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's 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?

No, I've never traded sex for money.

I'm still not sure if there's a record,

but if there is,

I want it to be certain that was in it.

It appears to me throughout your career as a game runner,

you were 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

- on the other hand... - Help us.

I don't know anything that can help you.

- Yes. - And 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 laying.

So, now you're saying you knew

they were making and taking sports bets?

No. 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 Davidoff's phone intercepts alone,

just Davidoff, your name comes up 19 times.

"We need Molly..." "Get Molly..." "Bring Molly."

It strongly suggests you were 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..." It's...

They're talking about the drug ecstasy.

Shit. My office is next to yours for two years,

and I've seen you make some boneheaded 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's no physical evidence of that exchange.

- Hey, look... - No, you look...

What, are you going to 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, emails,

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 that 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 that texted her

that a particular movie star

was too black for his liking.

I mean, J. Edgar Hoover didn't have this much shit on Bobby.

You know, she could have 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 does not belong in a RICO indictment,

she belongs on a box of Wheaties.

So, yes, Harrison,

lam imploring you to do the right thing.

She knows nothing about the three Petes.

Nothing about Ragnyada.

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 recommendation.

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 at the office?

Huh? I'm sorry?

Did you want a hot dog?

I'll have a pretzel, please.

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.

Hey! Slow down!

Hey, miss! Slow down!

Catch me.

Come on, catch me!

Watch it!

Hey, slow down!

Bend your knees!

Dad?

You all right?

- Sorry about that. - I got ya.

Sorry.

I'm taking you off the ice right now.

You guys all right?

How's it going?

What are you doing in New York?

And how did you know I was at the skating rink?

I'm a doctor of the mind.

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 we're in a cocktail lounge right now?

Are 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 email.

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 workhouses 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 100 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 owned a law firm by 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 cardiothoracic surgeon

at Mass General, and the third

managed to build a multimillion 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." What?

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...

You drove it into a McDonald's.

And kids get punished for that, but they don't...

Did you not see the McDonald's?

Did you misunderstand what drive-thru meant?

You turn into a different person,

your voice, your face...

It was 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 think about the following concepts?

Just going to run them 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 until I was 20.

- People? - I don't trust people.

No, you've 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.

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 a... - 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'd gotten beaten up until I read it in your book.

It was a helluva 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 going to suffer.

- Dad, I'm fine. - No, they're gonna suffer.

Dad...

- I'm all right. - No. They're gonna suffer.

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?

It 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.

Why do you know these things?

To stay busy during games, I surf the internet.

Then I started taking online courses.

I'm twelve 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 good with 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 emails and texts in exchange for...

In exchange? What could they possibly offer me to do that?

I wrote it all down. It's...

Your money back.

They'll give you all your money back, plus interest.

It's over $5 million.

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 than voluntarily handing it over.

Sure. But it's not really voluntary anymore

when the alternative is prison.

And that's what they're going to recommend, 42 months.

Why do you keep breaking eye contact with me?

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. Yeah.

It's a lot more than a little color.

Yeah, but complete immunity. All right?

You get all your money back.

You'd 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 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 fathers' 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, 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 $5 million 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.

Molly, stop.

He lost $6 million on my table,

moved to Florida, got a job as a substitute teacher,

then hanged himself in his shower!

Oh, and that's your fault?

- That's not your fault! - Donnie Silverman's dead!

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 is my name.

We will stay here all night until you understand...

Until you understand nobody gives a shit

about your good name!

- Why? - I do!

- 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 that 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

for the Southern District of New York.

The docket was called...

Docket number 10095-13CR268.

...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?

Eighty-seven 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?

Will 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 200 hours of community service,

one year of supervised probation,

drug testing, and a $200,000 fine.

This case is adjourned.

And that was that.

Let's go.

There was crying and hugging...

Proud of you.

Jokes from my brothers,

tough talk about how no one messes with the Blooms,

and levelheaded 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've got a racer down!

We need a toboggan and a back board!

I'm a felon.

I'm 35 years old, unemployed,

and pled guilty in a mob indictment.

Make way, people! Make way! Make way, people!

Patrol here, move away! Move away!

I owe the government close to $2 million in taxes

assessed on the civil forfeiture,

plus a $200, 000 fine.

And you better believe they're going to come get it.

Clear a path!

Move back, please! Back!

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.

I'm going to need a set of vitals!

And for some reason,

I'm not allowed to go to Canada.

Molly, can you hear us?

Hips are stable.

Pelvis is stable.

- Her dad's here. - What's her LOA?

She's coming around now.

Open your eyes if you can hear us.

- Okay, she's conscious. - Molly, what day is it?

You need to stay clown, okay?

You need to go to a hospital.

What day?

Dad, I'm fine.

- Try not to move, Molly. - Let go of my arm.

You 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!

- 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 longtime 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 one of those people.

We may not see her ski competitively again,

but I think we're going to 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 at the gate is Whitney Summerhill,

who's currently in 12th place after...