Molly Bloom (born April 21, 1978) is an American entrepreneur, speaker,[1] and author of the 2014 memoir Molly's Game. During the 2000s, she became known as the "Poker Princess",[2] for organizing high stakes underground poker in Los Angeles that attracted A-list actors. She was previously a competitive skier, a member of the U.S. Ski Team, and was injured while attempting to qualify for the Olympics.[3]
In April 2013, Bloom was charged with running an illegal poker game in New York.[4] In May 2014, after pleading guilty, she was sentenced to one year of probation, a $200,000 fine, 200 hours of community service, and forfeiture of $125,000.[5]
Bloom was born on April 21, 1978, and grew up in Loveland, Colorado. Her father, Larry Bloom, is a clinical psychologist and a professor at Colorado State University.[7] Her mother, Char, was a ski and snowboard instructor and a professional fly-fisher with her clothing line.[8] Bloom's father is Jewish and her mother is Christian.[9] Her brothers are Jordan Bloom, a cardiac surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital,[10] and Jeremy Bloom, a former Olympic skier and professional football player.[11] She was a competitive skier, a member of the U.S. Ski Team, at one time ranked third in women's moguls in the Nor-Am Cup season rankings; she later suffered an injury while attempting to qualify for the Olympics.[3][12] She attended the University of Colorado Boulder, where she graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.[13]
Career
In 2004, Bloom moved to Los Angeles and found work as a bartender. In 2004, Darin Feinstein, one of the co-owners of The Viper Room nightclub, was approached by actor Tobey Maguire about hosting a high-stakes poker game in the club's basement. Feinstein recruited Bloom to cater to the players and manage the game. In 2007, Bloom started her own business, registering Molly Bloom Inc. as an event and catering company to host poker tournaments.[14] By 2008, the games had graduated to private homes and hotels like the Peninsula Beverly Hills, with hands going as high as $4 million.[15] In addition to Maguire, wealthy people, celebrities, and sports figures were known to frequent the games, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Alec Gores, Macaulay Culkin, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Alex Rodriguez, Nelly, Mary-Kate Olsen, Ashley Olsen, Phil Ivey, Rick Salomon, and Andy Beal.[16] Bloom was dubbed the "Poker Princess" by the tabloids for her game-hosting reputation in Los Angeles.[2] Around 2009, she moved to New York where she began organizing games.[14]
In 2011, one of the games Bloom had been associated with in Los Angeles became part of a bankruptcy investigation into a Ponzi scheme run by Bradley Ruderman. After Ruderman's conviction, bankruptcy trustees discovered that he had been using the fraudulent hedge fund to pay gambling debts to Bloom and a number of players. The trustees sued those involved, seeking the return of at least $1.5 million. No criminal charges were pursued.[17]
Illegal gambling conviction
On April 16, 2013, Bloom was arrested and charged along with 33 others as part of a $100 million money laundering and illegal sports gambling operation.[4]Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, charged 12 people with racketeering. Others were charged with money laundering, extortion, fraud, and operating illegal poker rooms in New York City. Bloom faced a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, six years of supervised release, a fine of $1.5 million or twice the amount gained from the crimes or twice the amount lost by victims, and a $200 special assessment.[18][19]
In December 2013, Bloom pleaded guilty to charges of running illegal poker games.[2] She was sentenced the next May to one year of probation, 200 hours of community service, and forfeiture of $125,000; U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman found that she had played a minor role in the larger gambling operation that did not warrant prison time.[20] At the sentencing, Bloom's lawyer, Jim Walden, told the court that Bloom made about $1 million from tips and her cut of the poker pot, much of which was used to tip other employees, and was deeply in debt. He stated that Bloom had originally "been ordered into the gambling business" by her boss at a Los Angeles real estate company.[5]
Beginning in 2022, Bloom was an executive producer and the host of two seasons of Torched, a podcast series exploring controversial Olympic events and other sports stories. The show, produced by FilmNation, is described as a "mix of documentary-style storytelling and interviews with athletes."[25][26]
Personal life
Bloom had her first child, a daughter, on February 8, 2022. The baby was conceived through in vitro fertilisation (IVF); according to Bloom, "I did nine rounds of IVF."[27]
^Charlie Meyers (February 25, 2006). "Bloom to appear at sports show". The Denver Post. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
^Bloom, Molly (June 24, 2014). "Her House of Cards". Vanity Fair. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
^Debruge, Peter (September 9, 2017). "Film Review: 'Molly's Game'". Variety. Archived from the original on September 9, 2017. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
