Poker Princess Arrested

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Molly Bloom shot to public attention when it emerged she had been presiding over a series of secret high-stakes poker games.

Actor Tobey Maguire was the ring leader in the real-life “Molly’s Game,” according to a New York Post article. And the popular poker movie, the published article claims, inaccurately. Molly Bloom, a beautiful young Olympic-class skier, ran the world's most exclusive high-stakes poker game for a decade before being arrested in the middle of the night by 17 FBI agents wielding automatic weapons. Her players included Hollywood royalty, sports stars, business titans, and finally, unbeknownst to her, the Russian mob. Molly Bloom ran high stakes poker parties in LA and New York, which Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire visited, making up to $4m a year. She got busted by the FBI and leads a different life.

Screenwriter Benjamin Sorkin adapted the screenplay from a book written by the woman herself. But, how did Bloom become the “Poker Princess”? Is Molly Bloom married? And, what is Molly doing now?

Skiing Career

During college, she was pushing to become an Olympic skier. She declared for ESPN:

”Because of athletics, I got real comfortable with risk at a young age. I made choices that I may not have made otherwise.”

Molly went on to say:

”In sports, especially skiing, you have to be comfortable with risk. You have to have a relationship with fear, and it can’t dominate the decision-making process.”

But, Molly walked away from the sport in 2002.

In 2003, she found a job as a waitress in a club in LA. It was in this context that Bloom was introduced to the world of poker.

Poker Princess Arrested Images

After absorbing the rules for herself, Bloom started to organize poker games herself, asking a $10,000 admission fee.

Behind very private doors, Hollywood elite (like Tobey Maguire, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Ben Affleck), pro athletes, financiers, and billionaires turned up at the underground poker games Molly organized.

At some point, the stakes were so high that she witnessed a man lose $100 million in one night. She said in an interview:

”I saw someone lose $100 million in one night.”

Bloom also said:

”My regular game in NYC was a $250,000 buy-in, no limit. So people were burning through that, a lot of times in the first 30 minutes.”

On April 16, 2013, Molly was arrested as part of a money-laundering operation using illegal gambling.

In May 2014, Bloom was sentenced to 200 hours of community service, a $200,000 fine, and one year of probation.

About one month later, she released a book, named – ”Molly’s Game: The True Story of the 26-Year-Old Woman Behind the Most Exclusive, High-Stakes Underground Poker Game in the World.”

After publishing her book, she convinced screenwriter Aaron Sorkin to write a screenplay for a film adaptation of her book.

The film “Molly’s Game” was released in 2017. Some of the stars are Chris O’Dowd, Brian d’Arcy James, Michael Cera, Kevin Costner, Idris Elba, and Jessica Chastain (as Bloom).

What Is Molly Bloom Doing Now?

After completing the 200 hours of community service and the screenplay was done, Molly went to Denver, Colorado.

She said:

”I did a little soul searching to explore where I had gone wrong, why I made the decisions I did, how my definitions of success and ambition were off.”

In the present day, Bloom works to connect entrepreneurial and ambitious women with opportunities to make their mark on the world.

Moreover, she has been asked to speak for companies like SiriusXM Radio and Blackrock Financial. In addition, Molly has appeared on many media outlets and shows such as Vulture, NPR, The Los Angeles Times, Vice, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

READ MORE: What is Yayoi Kusama’s net worth?

Poker Princess Arrested Photos

In 2018, she participated at The Unibet Open Bucharest. The project has drawn attention to unconscious gender bias and gender equality in poker.

Nataly Sopacuaperu, Unibet Open’s Head of Events, stated:

”We’re absolutely thrilled to have secured Molly for our event.”

She went on to say:

Poker Princess Arrested Online

”Molly’s Game has been highly rated by poker players for bringing the poker scene to life on screen and I’m especially pleased that Molly will be opening our #QueenRules Ladies event.”

Poker Princess Arrested Games

In the same year, she kept a speech at Colorado State University.

In an interview, Molly said that she has no plans to return to the poker world despite her tendency toward high stakes.

In May 2020, Bloom launched OneWorldGroup — a podcast exploring ways to deal with adversity.

Husband

In 2018, Molly told The Carousel:

Arrested

”I don’t have kids and I’m not married but I am in a happy relationship and live in Denver, Colorado.”

Images

In 2019, Molly Bloom married neuroscientist Devin Effinger.

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Featured image source – © Guliver / Getty Images.