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The world of poker that normal people like you and I are acquainted with is only a facet of it. There is another side of it that requires exclusive access. We are, of course, talking about the invite-only closed poker games that are frequented by A-list celebrities, your favorite football stars, and wealthy poker legends.
Here, stakes and tensions run high, and the stories are wild. Let us go on a virtual tour to the underground world of 5 such exclusive poker games that have wild celebrity stories to boot.
1. Molly Bloom’s Multimillion-Dollar Poker Ring
Molly Bloom might be a former competitive skier, but she is better known by the moniker “Poker Princess” for hosting some of the most exclusive high-stakes underground poker games known for being frequented by celebrities.
It all began when she found herself working as the assistant to a man named Reardon Green who had her organize the poker games he hosted for celebrities at the Viper Room. Here, she met A-listers like Tobey McGuire, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Todd Phillips, the writer and director of “The Hangover.”
Soon, Bloom learned the ropes – everything from how to keep the celebrity players happy, to how to vet new players, stole Reardon Green’s players, and started hosting her own upgraded version of these games in the back rooms and hotel suites of LA and New York.
When she began hosting her own games, other celebrities like Ben Affleck, Rick Salomon, and Alex Rodriguez began joining in. After her first game, Bloom set the buy-in at $50,000. Soon, she began taking a cut from the multimillion-dollar pots, sliding her gambling ring into illegal territory. In 2011, one of her players was arrested for running a Ponzi scheme and using Bloom’s games to recruit investors. When she realized that the Feds were looking to arrest her for running an illegal gambling ring, Bloom fled for two years. However, she was eventually arrested in 2013.
Bloom eventually wrote a memoir called “Molly’s Game” about her poker adventure, which was made into a film in 2017 by Aaron Sorkin. As if her own story weren’t crazy enough, in the book, she recounts some wild celebrity stories. Tobey McGuire, she says, was the best player and the worst loser. He never played a game without his beloved $17,000 Shuffle Master, and even charged other players $200 each for a turn with it! He also once humiliated her in front of everyone by asking her to “bark like a seal,” something you definitely won’t have a chance to witness on online poker gaming platforms like the one recently launched by the FatFruit online casino, once again marking the importance of these in person games when it comes to entertainment factor, especially when we have these types of high-stake, public known players.
Another rumor about Bloom’s games is that Jamie Gold, the 2006 WSOP champion, once lost his entire pot here. Crazy stuff.
2. Larry Flynt’s Poker Games
Larry Flynt, the founder of the Hustler Magazine, also ran his own poker games. After developing a love for the Seven-Card Stud game, Flynt went on to host the biggest Stud game in the world in the 1970s. The games were managed by Eric Drache, the professional poker player turned right-hand guy of Flynt. Some other poker pros who frequented his games were Thor Hansen and the legendary Stu Ungar.
When Flynt opened his Hustler Casino in 2000, his poker games shifted there. These games had a minimum buy-in of $200,000, and the stakes would often reach the highs of $4,000/ $8,000. Some famous poker pros who took part in these games included names like Phil Ivey, Ted Forrest, Phil Helmuth, and Barry Greenstein.
Flynt once ran for President in 1984 and got himself banned from the WSOP games for paying other players to chip dump to him. When it came to his poker games, though, Flynn was very diligent. Anyone who turned up late had to pay a fine of $500. This money would then be used to pay for the players’ food. Another notable thing about his games is that, following a shooting injury, Flynt liked to keep temperatures super low. This meant the players often had to wear thermal undergarments and wrap themselves in warm clothes. It is said that David Oppenheim, the American pro poker player, once lost a whopping $1.8 million during one of Flynt’s games!
3. Dan Bilzerian’s Billionaire Home Poker Games
Not only is Dan Bilzerian one of America’s professional poker players, he is also ultra-wealthy, and well-known on Instagram with a massive 32 million followers. Though nothing is confirmed about Bilzerian’s poker games, the stories that surround them make his billionaire games very intriguing.
Some of the most interesting stories are about the $10 million buy-ins and the player who only bet cars. If Bilzerian’s words are to be believed, the opponent used to bet a Mercedes in lieu of a $100k bet, a Ferrari for a $300k bet, and a Bugatti for a $1 M bet. Some of the A-list celebrities who have played in his games include Tobey McGuire, Mark Wahlberg, and Nick Cassavetes. Bilzerian has also let it slip that even many celebrities like Ben Affleck cannot afford the stakes in his games.
Rumor also has it that Bilzerian once won $50 million over a period of 12 months just by playing in private poker games. That is certainly something!
4. The Silicon Valley Poker Home Game with Phil Helmuth
In Palo Alto, at the home of Silicon-valley venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya, big-time tech geniuses, founders, professional athletes, and wealthy businessmen gather around to play poker. Some of the big names include David Sacks, the founder of Yammer, Mark Pincus, the founder of Zinga, Dave Goldberg, founder of Survey Monkey, and Inside.com’s Jason Calacanis.
But the star of these games is Phil Helmuth, the 13-time WSOP bracelet winner in Texas Hold ‘Em. You might think that this would be a shoo-in for Helmuth to win, but shockingly, that is not the case. In fact, according to Helmuth, it took him three years just to break even at these games! His reasoning was that these people are financial sharks and moguls who have run successful businesses and made a lot of money. Their skills translate on to the poker table, he says.
This is Palihapitiya’s reason for hosting poker home games as well. He believes that many of the skills you need to play poker are also ones you need to run a start-up. He takes inspiration from his real life rags-to-riches story. According to him, being dealt a bad hand is the same as being born into terrible circumstances. His words that both in poker and in real life, you need to learn from your mistakes as well as your winning streaks rings very true.
5. Starworld’s Poker King Club
Although this is not a home poker game, it is so exclusive that creating a list without including it would be akin to a crime. Organized by Richard Yong and Paul Phua, Malaysian billionaires, these games are held at the Star World Casino in Macau, a special administrative region of China.
These games are frequented by the uber-rich, including several wealthy businessmen from China, Hong Kong, and Malaysia. To take part in the games, you need to know someone from there. If you do not have any connections, you will be turned away – even if you are a professional poker player from America. Some of the players that have frequented these games include poker legends such as Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey, and Johny Chan.
The blinds at these games start at $10k/ $20k, with stakes reaching as high as $1250/ $2500. Tom Dwan reportedly lost $4 million in one of these poker games. If you thought that was high, there have been rumors of players losing $10 million in one go.
