Molly’s Game is the memoir following what she calls “The True Story of the 26-Year-Old Woman Behind the Most Exclusive, High Stakes Underground Poker Game in the World.” It is exactly what it sounds like. Molly Bloom goes from being somewhat of a nobody in her hometown of Loveland, Colorado in both her social life as well as her familial life. She skied competitively, but when competing for a spot in the Olympics, she was injured thus ending her career in the sport her family so loved. She had always felt as though she came up short in comparison to her two older brothers, one being an American Olympic skier and NFL player and the other becoming a surgeon. To Molly, her father expected the least from her, but she wanted so badly to prove him wrong. She wanted to prove to him that his expectations for her should be much higher, and she was willing to do whatever it took to achieve that.
Bloom took a gap year before pursuing law school. In an impulsive decision which would eventually rule the rest of her life, she moved to Los Angeles with the support from neither of her parents. She somehow found two decent jobs outside the city and would have to learn fast and work tirelessly if she wanted to stay in the city. Eventually she would meet a man at her job at the club who hired her as his office manager. The office manager’s job quickly turned into the running of an underground poker game. This is where Bloom found her place.
Here, Bloom inserted herself into the lives of all the big, important names who sat at the poker table (among them Leonardo Dicaprio!). She would complete small tasks to make herself important, and when her employer dropped her, she became the runner of the poker game. The next years would be chaotic but profitable. The stakes her high in more way than one. She lost the game she took over in LA but moved to New York to build another, here is where the game would become illegal. She took a percentage out of the larger pots in an effort to save her own skin if anything were to go wrong.
At this point everything goes wrong, an old player from LA is accused of running a Ponzi scheme and Bloom is questioned. Bloom becomes addicted to drugs. Bloom is approached by members of the Italian mafia who are insulted once she refuses to take their help and who express this through an attack and a threat on the life of her mother. Bloom’s assets are seized as a result of an ongoing investigation of the underground poker game. Bloom goes back to live with her mother.
Despite everything, Bloom genuinely believes that, if presented the opportunity, she would do it all again. I can see why. Her stories are exciting and the people she meets are world-renown. To be around all that money, sometimes bids upwards of one million dollars (not including the net worth of everyone she meets), in one room and to have all the winnings be decided by 8 cards in the deck, I can only imagine the suspense and excitement. My initial interest in the story was based on the game of poker, a common form of bonding among my dad’s side of the family. I stayed for the riveting narration and perspective Bloom takes on the events of her life, seeing everything that has happened as the glass being half full and working hard no matting the shortcomings.