Molly's Game is a memoir of a woman behind one of the underground high-stakes poker game in Hollywood, detailing how she came to the game and the tactics she used to become almost indispensable in that world.

WHO WOULD ENJOY READING IT?
Contrarians of all shades.

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT IT
The contents of this book were more outrageous that you would read in gossip magazines. If you already think a Hollywood is a crazy place and runs on different rules than most places in the world, this book would confirm your suspicion. The author did not hold back (she dropped some pretty heavy names too) on some of the excess going on in some celebrity circles. More importantly, she tries to explain the rationale behind some of these weird behaviours and how she dealt with them.

MEMORABLE PASSAGE

"Eventually Reardon started bringing me to the meetings instead of making me wait outside. I observed him closely. Reardon was a master negotiator. He was able to convince really smart people to make really stupid decisions. He would walk into a meeting, and by the time he walked out, he was carrying signed agreements that met all of his insane demands: he would assume none of the risk and had the final say in all decisions. It didn’t matter who his opponent was, he outplayed them every time. I came to recognize the checkmate moment in which the Ivy League guy with his custom suit and air of arrogance would suddenly realize the guy wearing army fatigues and a skull T-shirt, who had partied his way through a state university, had just crushed him. I had to hide my smile as Mr. Pedigree’s elitist expression deflated into withering defeat.

"There was no university on the planet that could have prepared me for the education I got from Reardon. It was baptism by fire. It was frustrating, and it was challenging, but I loved every class. I loved the show. I loved watching him succeed. In order to survive in his world, I had to learn how to operate well under pressure, and so he tightened the screws in order to teach me. Reardon was like a more extreme version of my father, always pushing me, never allowing me to take it easy, wanting to make me tough. He gave me a Wall Street–style education, the kind that guys give guys down on the floor or at the trading desk, the kind that women rarely get. I started to see the world for what it was, or at least his world. I also saw that there were more than just the traditional, safe routes to success.

"Reardon became my grad school and I studied how he operated. Law school wasn’t even on my radar anymore. Reardon was a master strategist. He knew how to analyze a deal, and if he recognized opportunity, he would capitalize on it. It didn’t matter if it was something he had no experience in, he would learn. Study it day and night, until he figured it out. The lessons I got from Reardon on how to actually conduct business were, however, ludicrously short on detail."

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Molly's Game: From Hollywood's Elite to Wall Street's Billionaire Boys Club by Molly Bloom is available to buy from on all major online bookstores.

Many thanks to HarperCollins UK for review copy.

An insight in the world of big game poker.
The book itself is very boring and at times hard work.

Molly Bloom has made headlines in 2013 when it came out that the Poker Princess has been running illegal poker games for celebrities like Ben Affleck and Tobey Maguire in Los Angeles and New York City, making thousands of dollars every night. The story only came to my attention when it was made into a movie.

The story is one of those American Dream ones: Colorado-born Molly moves to Los Angeles and starts working as a cocktail waitress before a chain of events gives her the opportunity to host a poker game - the players including people like Leonardo DiCaprio and Todd Phillips (the director of Hangover). After making $3.000 from tips that night, she realises that she's onto something.

The first few pages irritated me slightly - Bloom isn't the most eloquent writer and when she briefly covered her upbringing I had that suspicion she would put herself in the role of the victim, trying to make the public like her after all people knew about her upon release was how she had to spend a year in prison. But it didn't take long for me to be drawn into the story. Bloom was smart, she knew how to play the game and she did it well.

I think what intrigued me most was the look into celebrity culture it allows. And it's an uncomfortable, business and money driven world. While she changed some names, others she talks about freely. The only one coming off as a proper dick, however, was Tobey Maguire. He's described as a bad tipper and worse loser as well as a manipulative control freak who on one occasion tried to make Molly bark for a $1.000 tip. Ew.

So Molly's Game turned out to be a real page-turner that I read within a day, because I couldn't put it down. If the story itself interests you, it definitely won't disappoint you as a read.