Molly's Game

A survey was taken a few years ago

that asked 300 professionals one question,

”What's the worst thing that can happen in sports?"

Some people answered losing a Game 7.

He scores! Bruins win in seven games!

And other people said getting swept in four.

Some people said it was missing the World Cup.

Guatemala is eliminated!

And some Brazilians said it was losing to Argentina.

Not just in the World Cup. Anytime. Ever. In any contest.

But one person answered

that the worst thing that can happen in sports

is fourth place at the Olympics.

This is a true story, but, except for my own,

I’ve changed all the names

and I've done my best to obscure identities

for reasons that'll become clear.

I’m Molly Bloom,

and right now I’m ranked third

in North America in Woman's Moguls.

I grew up in Loveland, Colorado,

about two hours north of Denver.

I have a BA in Political Science

from the University of Colorado

where I graduated summa cum laude

with a 3.9 GPA.

The median LSA T score at Harvard Law School is 169.

My score is 173.

Number 87 up! 56 on deck!

I’ve spent 16 years chasing winter

and being coached by the best in the world.

Sundays were for working out with my father.

Something's really wrong.

When I was 12 years old,

for no particular reason, my back exploded.

Tough it out.

Good advice. And lose the attitude.

Less than ten minutes later,

l was in the back of an ambulance.

I had what's called rapid-onset scoliosis.

My spine was curved at 63 degrees,

and I’d need a seven-hour surgical procedure

that involved straightening my spine,

extracting bone from my hip, fusing 11 vertebrae together,

and fastening steel rods to the fused segments.

She's going to be fine.

I wouldn't let her ski anymore.

Definitely not moguls.

And obviously skiing competitively

is out of the question.

Fine. God, thank you.

I was on skis again in a year,

running moguls in 18 months,

and by my 20th birthday [made the U. 8. Ski Team.

It’s the last round of qualifying

for the Salt Lake City Olympics.

This is the champion run at Deer Valley.

The altitude is 8,100 feet and the pitch is 52 degrees,

which is the same as the sides of the Great Pyramids.

The wind’s 20 to 25 miles an hour,

blowing left to right.

It’s three below zero at the top of the slope.

And with 17 skiers in front of me,

it’s going to be like trying to stick a landing

on a frozen infinity pool.

Kiki blew out of her line.

Shannon was off-balance on her second landing.

He's talking about Kiki Bandy and Shannon Keebler,

my two toughest competitors, who had significant

point deductions on their final runs.

/ can make the Olympic team, right now.

Go get it.

have three perfect runs in Salt Lake,

the best runs of my life,

I can beat the Austrians and the Swiss

and have a realistic shot at the podium.

Then law school, and then a startup.

A foundation that seeds entrepreneurial women.

My father's at the bottom of the slope,

telepathically telling me to check my line.

Check your line.

I check my line.

Competitor ready?

Good snow contact, calm upper body,

legs together, good shape, no line deviation.

Set up for the D-spin and

stick the landing.

Now two things you need to know before the second trick,

which will be a 720.

The first is that when visibility is bad

the way it is now,

race officials toss pine boughs on the course

so the skiers have some

foreground depth reference.

The second is that the tightness of your bindings

is determined by what is called a DIN setting.

If you're a beginner,

your DIN setting is probably a two or three.

If you're an experienced weekend skier,

it's probably seven or eight.

Mine’s 15.

My boots are basically welded to my skis.

Right? So how does this happen?

It happened because I hit a pine bough

that had become frozen in the snow.

And I hit it so precisely

that it simply snapped the release of my bindings.

Right in that moment, I didn't have time

to calculate the odds of that happening

because I was about to land pretty hard

on my digitally re-mastered spinal cord,

which was being held together

by spare parts from an Erector Set.

- Back up, back up! - Move!

Give her room! Get out of the way! Move!

None ofthis has anything to do with poker.

I’m only mentioning it because I wanted to

say to whoever answered that the worst thing

that could happen in sports was fourth place

at the Olympics...

Seriously? Fuck you.

- Hello? - Molly Bloom?

Is this Molly Bloom? Yes.

This is Special Agent Tomasino of the FBI.

We have a warrant for your arrest.

I'm sorry? We 're outside your door.

We want you to come out here, okay?

Listen to me now. Make sure we can see your hands.

Who is this?

This is Special Agent Tomasino of the FBI, Miss Bloom.

You've got 30 seconds to open your door,

or we ’re breaking it down.

Do you understand what I just said?

Hands in the air!

Put your hands in the air!

There's been a mistake. Are you Molly Bloom?

Yes, but there's...

I want you to walk towards me very slowly.

Okay? Go ahead.

Slower. Slower. Slow down.

Come on. Come on.

I'm having a hard time seeing.

- The flashlight's in my eye. - Walk slower.

Yes, sir.

Hands on the wall.

Spread your arms and legs.

Is there anyone in your apartment right now?

No, sir.

Are there any firearms in your apartment right now?

- No, sir. - Go.

You‘re under arrest for running

an illegal gambling Operation.

Do you understand?

Yes. Say you understand.

I understand.

There's been a mistake

because I haven't run a game in two years.

I want you to take a look

at this piece of paper right here.

Can you see what it says at the top?

Yes.

Read to me what it says at the top.

The United States of America vs. Molly Bloom.

I bet heavy on the favorite.

What do you think about the following concepts?

Just going to run them by you.

Marriage?

It is a trap.

Society?

It is a joke.

People?

I think there's good and bad.

But I don't trust them.

I don't trust people.

Every year on our birthdays,

my father would interview my younger brothers and me.

Who are the heroes or heroines in your life?

Who do you really respect?

I don't have any heroes.

You don't have any heroes?

How’s this for hubris?

I don't.

Because if I reach the goals I set out for myself,

then the person I become, that'll be my hero.

Even by teenage girl standards,

I would appear to be irrationally angry

at nothing in particular.

It would be another 22 years before I'd find out why.

After my colossal wipeout at Deer Valley,

I decided to take a year off before law school.

[needed to go away, sever myself from reality,

and come up with a new plan.

So, I chose Los Angeles.

A friend of mine from the ski team

had agreed to let me crash on a couch for a while.

My father had disapproved of postponing law school,

and so declined to help out.

But I had $1, 700 I'd saved from babysitting money,

and that would support me

until / found a waitressing job.