Althouse: "The first major turning point in Goldstein’s poker career came in 2008, when he put up the $10,000 fee to enter the World Series of Poker..."

Disyembre 28, 2025

"The first major turning point in Goldstein’s poker career came in 2008, when he put up the $10,000 fee to enter the World Series of Poker..."

"... a multiday extravaganza in Las Vegas. On the first night, after the tournament had ended for the day, Goldstein sat down at a table at the Bellagio. 'I end up playing without looking at my cards,' Goldstein said. That, to put it mildly, was an unconventional strategy. He bet wildly and recklessly, but his opponents were flummoxed by his blind aggression. Goldstein told me he ultimately played that way for 18 hours and won some $400,000...."

Writes Jeffrey Toobin in "He Was a Supreme Court Lawyer. Then His Double Life Caught Up With Him. Thomas Goldstein was a superstar in the legal world. He was also a secret high-stakes gambler, whose wild 10-year run may now land him in prison" (NYT).

24 (na) komento:

Leland ayon kay ...: Sometimes, head-to-head gambling is about reading your opponents more than reading the cards. That is, until you come across professionals that can tell the scam.; 12/28/25, 10:24 AM
Wince ayon kay ...: As with high stakes poker or anything Jeffrey Toobin, you always have to wonder what is going on underneath the table.; 12/28/25, 10:29 AM
Eva Marie ayon kay ...: Reminds me of Owning Mahowny (2003), with Philip Seymour Hoffman as Dan Mahowny, a Toronto bank manager (based on the real-life Brian Molony) who embezzles over $10 million in order to gamble. (for rent Amazon Primr); 12/28/25, 10:31 AM
Achilles ayon kay ...: Not looking at your cards is not as uncommon a strategy as people would think.

Even if you have really good cards if there are 4 people still in it is unlikely you have a better than 50% of winning.; 12/28/25, 10:40 AM
Beasts of England ayon kay ...: You got to know when to fold ‘em, apparently…; 12/28/25, 10:47 AM
Crimso ayon kay ...: Recalled he is married to Amy Howe of SCOTUSblog. Wanted to check that and discovered a weird coincidence: a different Amy Howe is CEO of FanDuel, a gambling company.; 12/28/25, 11:06 AM
boatbuilder ayon kay ...: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Petscantalk/posts/985472582300964/; 12/28/25, 11:10 AM
Eva Marie ayon kay ...: Then there’s the story behind the story. A reader comments: “As a retired attorney, I’m not sure that the publication of this man’s story, on the eve of his criminal trial, was sound legal strategy.” So Tobin writes a sympathetic article making it clear that embezzlement to cover losses is not the issue - accounting mistakes are the problem. BTW my favorite part was Goldstein proving his case by showing Tobin “a 2014 email that he sent to his office manager in response to a question about taxes: ‘We always play completely by the rules,’ it read.”; 12/28/25, 11:14 AM
FormerLawClerk ayon kay ...: TIL Jeffrey Toobin doesn't understand how money laundering works.; 12/28/25, 11:19 AM
Bob B ayon kay ...: He was an active Democrat, which makes the charges regarding his criminal activities and abuse of women more believable.; 12/28/25, 11:20 AM
Eva Marie ayon kay ...: Thank you for this story. So interesting.
There were some good comments by readers.
1. In response to a reader who criticized wealthy men who throw their money away, a commenter replied: “The paycheck to paycheck folks can turn their noses up all they like, and mostly do, but then when those types win big, say the lottery, most spent it so fast and frivolously, they end up bankrupted.”
2. “vast wealth legally games the system to extract even more wealth. Perhaps the lure of these poker games is that unlike our economy the competition can’t be rigged.”; 12/28/25, 11:20 AM
Larry J ayon kay ...: I had a boss back in the 1990s who was a great guy. He built his company from employing only himself to 600 employees, and he knew all of us by name. He also loved gambling, which may be part of what makes a successful entrepreneur. He won a million-dollar slot tournament in Vegas. He likely also lost a great deal of money. Rumor had it that he could pick up a phone and Vegas would send a corporate jet to pick him up. They probably don't do that for people who win more than they lose.

In the late 1990s, he sold the company for an undisclosed amount of money. The company was doing $60 million a year in business, so it had to be a lot of money. The word was he had to sell to cover gambling debts. He moved to Vegas (mistake #1), built his dream mansion (mistake #2), screwed around and lost his marriage (mistake #3), and proceeded to lose everything gambling. I read a news article that said he lost $13 million in a single day playing Bacharach. He reportedly didn't have the money to cover his losses. They can put you in jail for that in Nevada. The last I heard, he had died of diabetes.

I don't gamble.; 12/28/25, 11:22 AM
Eva Marie ayon kay ...: BTW, in my opinion based on zero proof, a lot of cheating goes on in these games.; 12/28/25, 11:22 AM
Martha ayon kay ...: Eva Marie said: BTW my favorite part was Goldstein proving his case by showing Tobin “a 2014 email that he sent to his office manager in response to a question about taxes: ‘We always play completely by the rules,’ it read.”

Similar to the email Susan Rice sent to herself on Inauguration Day January 20, 2017 her way out the door memorializing the January 5, 2017 Oval Office meeting when President Obama stressed handling the Trump-Russia investigation “by the book”—wink wink …smirk..; 12/28/25, 11:34 AM
narciso ayon kay ...: A gambler moving to vegas that cant go wrong; 12/28/25, 11:35 AM
tcrosse ayon kay ...: David Mamet's film, House of Games, covers this subject very well.; 12/28/25, 11:37 AM
FormerLawClerk ayon kay ...: based on zero proof, a lot of cheating goes on in these games.

TONS of cheating. Poker attracts two types of people: sheep and cheaters.

On-line Poker was so rampant with the owners of the software caught cheating that it had to be outlawed in the United States (PokerStars is probably the last one that hasn't been caught yet). Many of the original top players have been implicated in cheating in one form or another (think Howard Lederer.) It's now legal in only 3 states (last I checked).

All the top poker sites were indicted for money-laundering and bank fraud (they were claiming each player's account was separate from everyone elses, a complete falsehood that meant that most of the poker sites were pyramid schemes.)

Players in 2008 began noticing certain players ALWAYS making the perfect moves in a game that is famous for variance (even perfect moves lose in theory). It was mathematically impossible what these players were doing and it turns out they were bots created by the poker sites themselves to cheat players. Some were real live players, but had special versions of the software that allowed them to see other players cards. Of course, greed finally got them because you can't cheat for long without getting caught.

That scandal took down one of the biggest competitors to PokerStars - Ultimate Bet. A former World Series of Poker champ was found to be one of the cheaters. He took $22 million off other players.

Live poker isn't immune. Mike Postle is a name every poker player knows. He played live poker at Stones and was getting other players hole cards, so he always knew when to call and when to fold. He can't get a game now, but the Stones casino is still operating and there's no way they weren't in on it.

I could go on and on. So Eva, your instincts are entirely correct. There's no such thing as an honest poker game.; 12/28/25, 11:38 AM
Narr ayon kay ...: "said he lost $13 million in a single day playing Bacharach"

Oh come now, you can't lose that much money playing Bacharach (but you will probably draw an older crowd).; 12/28/25, 11:38 AM
NorthOfTheOneOhOne ayon kay ...: Narr said...

Oh come now, you can't lose that much money playing Bacharach (but you will probably draw an older crowd).

I don't know. A lot depends on you knowing the Way to San Jose.; 12/28/25, 11:41 AM
FormerLawClerk ayon kay ...: "Rumor had it that he could pick up a phone and Vegas would send a corporate jet to pick him up."

If you walk into a Casino and regularly take that casino for millions of dollars, they are not flying a corporate jet to pick you up to come gamble in their casino.

There's one way to tell if you are a winner or a loser: Is the casino giving you ANYTHING? A room. Food. Beverages? If so, then you are a loser.

They don't give winners anything, except a ticket to the casino across town. Beat black jack too often and they'll fucking ban your ass from the property and blacklist you at all the other casinos.

Totally legal (as they've bribed the people who make winning illegal).

Win too big a jackpot, and the casino will just claim there was a malfunction and not pay you. Tough titty. And that's legal, too.; 12/28/25, 11:46 AM
Narr ayon kay ...: My three brothers (one older, two younger) used to take gambling junkets to Atlantic City and Vegas. Then legalized gambling came to Tunica just down the road, and my mother started going.

I went there once, lost my $50.00 in about 10 minutes of Vingt-et-un, and have never been tempted to go back.

Actually, that's not entirely true--a campus colleague and I were going to hit the poker tables sooner or later (he was a regular there already) but we never got around to it and he died.; 12/28/25, 11:55 AM
Achilles ayon kay ...: FormerLawClerk said...

TIL Jeffrey Toobin doesn't understand how money laundering works.

Yes he does.

Part of laundering money is the cover up and having the media on your side. Especially when you are laundering tax money.; 12/28/25, 12:09 PM
narciso ayon kay ...: Toobin flack for lawfare lawrence walsb that toobin; 12/28/25, 12:14 PM
Dagwood ayon kay ...: Wince @10:29 for the win.; 12/28/25, 12:23 PM

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Althouse

Disyembre 28, 2025

"The first major turning point in Goldstein’s poker career came in 2008, when he put up the $10,000 fee to enter the World Series of Poker..."

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