Running Head: THE POKER PRINCESS

Becoming the Poker Princess: How Molly Bloom

Came to Run the Most Exclusive Underground Poker Ring

Morganne P. Grutsch

CRCJ 4780

University of Nebraska at Omaha

THE POKER PRINCESS 2

Abstract

Greed was the one thing that brought the elusive high stakes poker game run by

the infamous Molly Bloom to the ground. Bloom created the perfect environment for big

businessmen and celebrities to relax and gamble their funds away in New York. She

catered to her players every need all while acting in self proclaimed “gray area” of the

law. During her biggest games from 2008 to 2011, at only 26 years old, she had some of

the richest men in New York playing at her table, sharing company news and tips of the

trade. She was on top of the world, and on the edge white-collar crime with her ties to the

Russian mob. Until the FBI arrested Bloom in 2011 for a number of charges including

her illegal gambling business and interstate commerce with the intent to distribute

proceeds of the unlawful activity.

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Becoming the Poker Princess: How Molly Bloom

Came to Run the Most Exclusive Underground Poker Ring

Molly Bloom is an intelligent, passionate, driven, motivated, headstrong young

woman who would stop at nothing to reach the top. Always competing with her brothers’

success in life, Molly eventually looked to unconventional ways to prove her success and

skills to the world, and her father. This is how one very determined young woman who

had never played a poker game in her life, fearlessly dominated the poker world.

Background of Molly Bloom

In a family where everyone is extremely successful at everything they do, it is

hard to gain the attention from parents. Molly Bloom felt this from a very young age as

her esteemed Psychology Professor of a father would push his two sons and daughter to

the top of their academic class, to excel in sports, and in anything they did. And boy, did

they excel- Jordan Bloom was ahead of everyone in his class, and Jeremy Bloom had

broke through athletic records like it was nothing. This constant push for excellence and

comparison to her two gifted older brothers took a toll,

“As we got older, I watched my father invest himself more and more in my

brothers’ goals and dreams. I became tired of always being on the outside, I

wanted the attention and the approval too… I had grand ambitions that fell far

outside of my father’s pragmatism. But I still desperately craved his approval”

(Bloom 10).

The overwhelming fear of living in her brothers’ shadows consumed Molly. Despite the

fact she made it to the United States Ski team for Moguls, and although she graduated in
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the top of her class at University of Colorado studying Political Science with the

opportunity to study Law at almost any school she wanted, she still felt a void in her life

(Bloom). So after her undergrad, Molly decided to get up and take a gap year in Los

Angeles.

As mentioned, Molly is intelligent, resourceful, and a determined young woman,

finding a job in L.A. and making friends with the “right” crowd was never a problem.

Her beauty, charisma, and ability to make others like her gave her power in the

waitressing game, until one day one of her regulars, Reardon, offered her a full time

position as his assistant. Which is the true beginning to Bloom’s game.

Introduction to Poker

As Reardon’s assistant Molly was his pawn to use from everything from fetching

bagels to filing investment deals. Eventually Reardon trusted Molly fully and needed her

help running a poker game with him and some “friends.” She googled term after term,

each play trying to figure out how the game worked, and why these men found it so

enjoyable to gamble all this money away on 5 cards. She brought drinks, ordered food,

kept the players happy and kept to herself for the most part. As the night ended, Reardon

had the players tip Molly before they left, and after taking thousands of dollars in tips

from players like Tobey McGuire, Leonardo DiCaprio, and some Silicon Valley titans,

Molly was hooked, in her book saying, “after tonight, I knew I could never go back.”

From that point on, the focus in life shifted from her goals of becoming an

attorney, to poker aspirations. Just the same as Scott London’s story in Why They Do It,

Molly felt the same impulse to poker, that “once it all happened, and it worked… it all

became easier” (Soltes). After months of working under Reardon, Molly took the game
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from under him, starting her own poker game. For the first time in her life Molly was

powerful, respected, and most importantly in control.

Shift into Criminality

After ruling the game world in L.A. Molly strived for bigger and better

challenges, taking her players on trips to Vegas, throwing private house games, all while

legally earning her tips, and paying taxes. She was so careful in L.A. before she started

up her own games to hire a defense attorney to ask if what she was doing was in fact

legal,

“What you’re doing is in what we call a ‘gray area.’ It does not violate state or

federal statutes, but it’s a bit undefined. You need to keep your nose clean. No

drugs, no hookers, no booking sports bets or hiring muscle to collect debts, and

Molly, pay your taxes” (Bloom 110).

And she did keep her nose clean. The Poker Princess was ruling L.A., and when times got

rough and she had to get out of town, she moved to New York, where the bets got bigger,

the players were richer, and the stakes got higher.

While running a multi-million dollar enterprise, Molly’s personality and

characteristics were built for power. As described in Soltes, Molly avoided failure at all

costs, and in order to do that she had to prove her worth to the men she was recruiting for

her game. Because these men were some of the most powerful men in Hollywood and on

Wall Street, Molly had to prove her worth to be there, especially being a woman

(Bloom). One article about how Molly Bloom is actually an amazing feminist role model,

despite her criminal acts, explains, “Bloom isn’t just strong; she gets to be the smartest

person in the room, no matter how many powerful men are present.” (Sahagian). But as
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the stakes grew higher and the pot got bigger, that “gray area” of legality slowly shifted

into crime.

Molly began to spread herself too thin as she was running upwards of 4 games

each week on top of private parties and keeping books. Molly’s need to succeed pushed

her out of her physical abilities and she turned to drugs to keep her body going to stay on

top of the game, this was Molly’s first vital mistake to expose her weakness, and losing

some of her wit and brainpower that got her to this powerful position. There was a lot of

vulnerability as Molly ran the games, she was regularly having games start with a

$250,000 buy in, and there is a lot of risk extending that much credit (Udell). That risk

getting especially large when extending it to other possible white-collar criminals running

wall-street, hedge funds, and trading secrets all while playing at Molly’s table.

Involvement with the Russian Mob

More crime besides drugs started to take place surrounding the games in New York.

Although Molly kept her books and paid her taxes, she could never be sure if the money

she was getting paid with (and then paying other players with) was legit, and legally

acquired. After a while Molly not only had a few regular players as members of the

Russian Mob, but also her boyfriend (Bloom). This constant exchange of large sums of

money continually transferred easily could become a form of laundering dirty money for

the Mob. One of her other players caught in a Ponzi scheme, and all the while Molly

would turn a blind eye to insider trading, drug deals, prostitution, and talk of organized

crime (specifically involving the Russians). Molly herself, also would unlawfully travel

with the money across state lines to keep her books straight, collecting and delivering

funds.
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Eventually, the crimes caught up with Molly, and the Poker Princess’s reign had

to come to a devastating end. Molly’s risk became to great during a high stakes game,

and she crossed one line that she vowed she never would, she took a rake in the game.

This small percentage allowed Molly the financial security she needed in order to keep

the game going. Taking money from the pot was the last lethal blow to Molly’s game.

Indictment

One early morning the FBI came knocking on Ms. Bloom’s door arresting her for

her involvement in numerous crimes. Including aggravated gambling, which is banned by

legislation at the federal and state levels, violating interstate commerce laws, and working

in an illegal poker business. Directly from the federal indictment of UNITED STATES

DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK V, MOLLY BLOOM:

“the defendants, knowingly and willfully did conduct, finance, manage, supervise,

direct, and own all and part of an illegal gambling business… involved five or

more persons who conducted, financed, managed, supervised, directed, and

owned all or part of such business, and had been and remained in substantially

continuous operation for a period in excess of thirty days and had a gross revenue

of $2,000 in any single day…intentionally and knowingly did travel in interstate

and foreign commerce and use the mail and a facility in interstate and foreign

commerce, with intent to distribute the proceeds of an unlawful activity…” (U.S.

Department of Justice).

Molly’s wit, charm, and drive could not talk her way out of this one. After turning down

a deal with the prosecution, where she could have given up the names of everyone

involved in exchange for her dismissal- she declined. Honesty and trust had long been
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important to Molly, and she was not going to lose that value even if her self-built poker

empire was crumbling around her. And after forfeiting all of her money from the game to

the United States Government, “U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman sentenced her to a

year of probation, fined her $1,000 and ordered her to perform 200 hours of community

service” (“Poker Princess”).

Was Justice Served?

Molly was convicted of public order crimes, meaning they are prohibited, but not

necessarily morally wrong. Now did she contribute to the crimes of others, insider

trading, drugs, prostitution, money laundering, etc.? Most likely yes, but does she deserve

to be punished for that, or should we be more impressed by all she was able to

accomplish, the empire and power she built for herself?

One thing research says assuredly about white-collar criminals is that they are

primarily men. Because of this most research does not even touch on the difference

between male and female white-collar offenders. “We are used to watching flawed men

with more insidious criminal connections… by contrast, the women we look up to are

supposed to be unblemished” but Molly Bloom’s story combats that “double standard”

(Sahagian). Yes, Molly Bloom does take on many of same characteristics as her male

counterparts, being educated, Caucasian middle to upper class upbringing, characteristics

relating to psychopathy, low self control leading to drug and alcohol use, high

achievement and likeableness, but how does she differ (Ragatz, L. L., Fremouw, W., &

Baker, E.)? That respect did not come easy; she had to work harder to prove her power

and dominance, because she is female.

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In conclusion, I believe that although Molly Bloom’s characteristics and

behaviors do account into being a white-collar criminal, I think she should be admired in

some ways. Friedrichs describes a white-collar criminals personality to have “a tendency

toward risk taking and recklessness, ambitiousness and drive… and a hunger for power”

(Friedrichs 223). Those traits can also be attributed to a great leader, and I fully believe

Molly Bloom is just that, a leader. Yes, maybe she led the wrong sorts of people and

activities, but a great leader nonetheless. Because that is the trouble with white-collar

crime, we all admire and respect these individuals with the success they have made for

themselves, until they cross that small line past the “gray area” of legality. I respect

Molly Bloom and her integrity greatly for not sharing names of her players, for sharing

how she made her poker empire, and how she lost it all. At the end of the day, I see a lot

of traits and characteristics of Molly in myself- the drive to succeed, high standards and

goals, the passion to learn and grow, motivation and determination, and of course- the

love of the game.

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References:

Bloom, M. (2017). Mollys game: The true story of the 26-year-old woman behind the

most exclusive, high-stakes underground poker game in the world. New York,

NY: Dey Street, an imprint of William Morrow.

Dunphy, K. (2014). Following Suit with the Second Circuit. Brooklyn Law

Review, 79(3), 1295-1331.

Friedrichs, D. O. (2010). Trusted criminals: White collar crime in contemporary

society;. Belmont: Wadsworth.

Poker Princess gets probation after guilty plea. (2014, May 03). Retrieved from

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/02/poker-princess-molly-

bloom/8641117/

Ragatz, L. L., Fremouw, W., & Baker, E. (2012). The Psychological Profile of White-

collar Offenders. Criminal Justice and Behavior,39(7), 978-997.

doi:10.1177/0093854812437846

Sahagian, Sarah. (2018, January 06). Molly's Game: Why Molly Bloom Is The Feminist

Hero You Never Knew You Needed. Retrieved April 2, 2018, from

http://www.shedoesthecity.com/mollys-game-molly-bloom-feminist-hero-never-

knew-needed

Soltes, E. (2016). Why they do it: Inside the mind of the white-collar criminal. New York:

PublicAffairs.

Udell, E. (2018, January 08). From Loveland to Hollywood: The true story behind

'Molly's Game'. Retrieved April 18, 2018, from

https://www.coloradoan.com/story/entertainment/2018/01/05/loveland-
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hollywood-true-story-behind-mollys-game/792412001/

U.S. Department of Justice. (n.d.). Retrieved February 13, 2018, from d.

https://www.Justice.gov/sites/default/files/usaodny/legacy/2015/03/25/Tokhtakho

unov%2C20Alimzhan%20et%20al.%20Indictment_6.pdf