Poker Princess on the Big Screen: Molly Bloom's Story to Be Made Into a Movie

At the age of 21, Molly Bloom was a promising skier. She was the no. 3 ranked skier in North America, but she failed to become an Olympic skier. Afterwards, she moved to California where she took a job as a waitress in Los Angeles. Then she started to host poker games at the famous Viper Room club. Molly got in trouble with the law when she demanded a share of the pot (rake) rather than accept tips.

Molly organized high stakes poker that attracted many Hollywood celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. Molly Bloom, dubbed the “Princess of Poker,” was sentenced to one year probation and a fine of $1,000 following an FBI investigation. Bloom was indicted by the federal government for her role in a gambling ring that allegedly had links to the Russian mob.

Earlier this year, Molly published her memoirs entitled "Molly’s Game: High Stakes, Hollywood’s Elite, Hotshot Bankers, My Life in the World of Underground Poker," which details her eight years running what was supposedly the most exclusive high stakes poker game in the world.

Bloom's life story is to be adapted for the big screen by the Oscar-winning writer of "The Social Network,"Aaron Sorkin.

Sorkin has a relaxed attitude toward the negative portrayal of real life characters on the big screen, so DiCaprio and Affleck might find themselves in the film version of 'Molly’s Game,' but it is still unclear if any of the actors mentioned will appear in the yet-to-be-titled film.

Molly gave rather positive appraisals of all the characters she describes in her book, although her attitude toward famous "Spider-Man" actor Tobey Maguire is rather reserved. In her book, the Poker Princess describes certain situations that do not portray the actor in the best light.

Despite Maguire’s possible character flaws, he is said to be the one who used to bring the "whales" to the tables. He would pay the buy-in for DiCaprio and use him as bait to lure rich guys whose poker skills were lacking, to say the least. Some of the names mentioned are those of Andy Beal and Alec Gores.

There is clearly a lot of material to work with and it could make for a great movie, depending on what approach the screenwriters and directors take. Poker-themed movies often find a way to turn into barely watchable semi-SciFi stories, so we are rooting for this one to be better!