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11271 Ventura Blvd #612 Studio City, CA 91604 Inside This Issue pg 1 ∙ Not the Judge or Jury pg 2 ∙ As I See It pg 3 ∙
From the Practice Corner
pg 4 ∙ Member Spotlight pg 5 ∙ Save The Date pg 6 ∙ Shoutouts! pg 8 ∙ IRS Terror Tale of the Month
IRS Terror Tale of the Month ‘Poker Princess’ Leaves More Than Her Cards on the Table
Most young people in their 20s who come to Hollywood are looking for fame and fortune. After growing up as a competitive skier in Colorado, Molly Bloom just wanted some sun. What she found instead was the shadowy world of high-stakes poker and a path that would ultimately lead to her arrest by the FBI and the IRS demanding thousands in unpaid taxes. Many people are already familiar with Bloomwho wrote a memoir about her experience as the“Poker Princess,”and her book, “Molly’s Game,”was later adapted into a movie of the same name, starring Jessica Chastain. For those who don’t know, in 2001, Bloom took a job as a cocktail waitress in Los Angeles’Viper Room, where she helped run poker games. Players included actors like Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Ben Affleck. She discovered she had a talent for running the games, and in a single year, Bloommade over $4 million in tips. In the beginning Bloom kept her operation legal by paying taxes on her income, but things became shady in 2009 when Bloom relocated and started her own underground games in NewYork. To help players keep playing Bloombegan extending credit. But after getting stiffed $250,000, Bloombegan taking a percentage of the pot, which is illegal. The IRS, of course, doesn’t care how
one earns their money. Legal or not, you have to pay taxes on that money. In 2011, the government came knocking—or, more accurately, 17 FBI agents armed with automatic weapons crashed through her door. The government seized all of Bloom’s money, and the IRS demanded she cough up the nearly $1,000,000 she owed in back taxes. Bloom’s mother had to sell her home in order to get her daughter out of jail and pay the legal fees. Charged with a federal crime, Bloom could have spent years in federal prison. However, though she pled guilty, the judge determined she was just a minor player in the gambling ring. In 2014, Bloomwas
sentenced to one year of probation, 200 hours of community service, and a fine of $1,000.
Although Bloomgot a Hollywood ending, she’s aware of how lucky she is. Gifted with a second chance, Bloom is negotiating with the IRS to figure out a payment plan for her restitution and has launched a service to help women succeed in their own business ventures.
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