Poker and the Elite
The story of Molly Bloom is, without a doubt, fascinating ; and the attractions of the poker tables we're not going to find them out now. How many stories, books and movies have not dealt with the subject? Henry Fonda, Robert Redford, Steve McQueen, Mel Gibson... everyone has ever played poker in front of movie cameras.
The classic image is that of a poorly lit, smoky basement in which around a bottle of whiskey a few tough guys and the odd adventurer are playing it. Today, movie and sports stars dare to sit at some table, although, most of all, for advertising reasons and for some good causes .
Molly Bloom had been preparing to be part of the American Olympic ski team until an untimely injury took her away from the games during the qualifying events. In 2004 she moved to Los Angeles, where she worked as a waitress. The owners of The Viper Room, an Angel nightclub, hired Molly to taking charge of high-stakes poker games which took place in the basement of the club.
Molly greeted customers in the back room. For sitting at the table the players, including the famous actors Maguire and DiCaprio, they had to put about $6,000 . But that was just the beginning. In 2007 Molly founded her own business having registered the company Molly Bloom Inc. The history of high-end poker games had only just begun.
Bloom tells it all in her book Molly's Game: From Hollywood's Elite to Wall Street's Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker . She conquered Hollywood, was nicknamed the "poker princess" and ended up losing everything. She became famous by organizing millionaire matches for the Hollywood elite , in hotel rooms, private apartments... all very elegant, classy. And this is where the business is.
Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Tobey Maguire... were some of your famous clients . But all that glitters is not gold. In her book, Molly Bloom tells how Toby Maguire earned millions, but gave very few tips. He once offered her a thousand dollars tip, but instead she had to bark like a seal.
A risky business
Having fallen out of favor with elite angelina, Bloom moved to New York in 2009. His reputation had grown, although in Manhattan things would begin to go awry. Since he did not have a legal license, he did not have the right to take part of the profits in the timbas he organized. The activity was clearly illegal. In New York, it was no longer the celebrities who happily left their money behind. The clients went on to be rich kids, Wall Street billionaires and Russian oligarchs .
In one night I saw someone lose $100 million, Molly confesses. Somehow, here he began to lose control of the game. The risks started to get too high . Besides, she had the FBI behind her. The games could last up to 3 days, and the use of drugs to stay awake was the order of the day. Serious problems began when the Russian mafia offered him protection in exchange for money, it was 2010. She refused the offer, but gangsters broke into her house, beat her and stole her jewelry by threatening her with a gun.
In 2011 one of the games was the subject of a raid by the FBI. A couple of years later, in 2013, she was arrested in a wide-ranging operation against illegal gambling and money laundering . He faced 10 years in prison, although he was lucky. After an agreement with the authorities, she was only sentenced to pay a fine of about $ 200,000 in addition to 200 hours of community service.
Although things could have ended really badly for her. She got parole and wrote her autobiography recounting her life and experiences as the high-stakes poker grande dame, between celebrity and illegality. In short, in this case Molly Bloom's real life far surpasses fiction .
