Molly Bloom > Quotes

“There's something that happens to people when they see the opportunity to make money. Greed flavored with desperation, especially at a poker table, gives rise to a moment when the eyes change, the humanity vanishes, and the players become bloodthirsty, flat-eyed predators.”
― Molly Bloom

“When you’re rich you can volunteer as much as you want, but you’re poor and stupid and you need to spend your time getting smarter and figuring out how not to be poor.”
― Molly Bloom, Molly's Game

“was as if being rich filtered out the inconveniences of life and left you with only the best parts.”
― Molly Bloom, Molly's Game

“Nothing was "recreational" in our family; everything was a lesson in pushing past the limits and being the best we could possibly be.”
― Molly Bloom, Molly's Game

“although i had been told my whole life that money couldnt buy you happiness, it was certainly clear to me that it could provide some desirable upgrades”
― Molly Bloom, Molly's Game: From Hollywood's Elite to Wall Street's Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker

“THERE’S SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS to people when they see the opportunity to make money. Greed flavored with desperation, especially at a poker table, gives rise to a moment when the eyes change, the humanity vanishes, and the players become bloodthirsty, flat-eyed predators.”
― Molly Bloom, Molly's Game

“i had nothing to lose, and so much to gain. i felt free and alive.”
― Molly Bloom, Molly's Game: From Hollywood's Elite to Wall Street's Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker

“although I had been told my whole life that money couldn’t buy you happiness, it was certainly clear to me that it could provide some desirable upgrades.”
― Molly Bloom, Molly's Game

“Author MOLLY BLOOM grew up in Loveland, Colorado. She attended the University of Colorado at Boulder, majoring in political science. Later, she was a member of the U.S. Ski Team and ranked third overall in North America in 1998. For several years Molly organized one of the largest high-stakes poker games in”
― Molly Bloom, Molly's Game

“I wasn't born with a way to get it, like my brothers. I was waiting for my opportunity and somehow I knew it would come.”
― Molly Bloom

“I dressed like a woman and looked like a woman, but I could speak the language of men fluently.”
― Molly Bloom, Molly's Game: From Hollywood's Elite to Wall Street's Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker

“I instantly fell in love with the unfamiliarity and uncertainty involved in being in a foreign place. Everything was a discovery, a riddle to solve. Suddenly my world became a lot bigger than seeking my father’s approval. Somewhere, someone else was winning a blue ribbon in women’s moguls, or acing an exam, but frankly I didn’t care.”
― Molly Bloom, Molly's Game: From Hollywood's Elite to Wall Street's Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker

“I put on my disappointingly ordinary outfit and decided I would compensate for my lack of elegance by being superfriendly, helpful, and professional.”
― Molly Bloom, Molly's Game: From Hollywood's Elite to Wall Street's Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker

“Molly Bloom, you are wearing the dress of your dreams, you are confident and fearless and you will be perfect.”
― Molly Bloom, Molly's Game: From Hollywood's Elite to Wall Street's Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker

“My brother Jordan was also a talented athlete, but his mind was his greatest attribute. He loved to learn. He loved to take things apart and figure out how to put them back together. He didn’t want to hear imaginary bedtime stories; he wanted to hear stories about real people in history. My mom had a new story every night for him, about great world leaders or visionary scientists, and she researched the facts and wove them into engaging tales.”
― Molly Bloom, Molly's Game: From Hollywood's Elite to Wall Street's Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker

“Grow up, Molly, I told myself. This isn’t high school, it’s not a popularity contest. This is part of being a businesswoman. It’s just business, I thought. This phrase was a useful way to justify behaving with greed instead of compassion. I had been using it a lot lately.”
― Molly Bloom, Molly's Game: From Hollywood's Elite to Wall Street's Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker

“I was working long hours during the day, and at a different club every night. Iwas completely exhausted. But I discovered that I had endless stamina when it came to making money.
No matter how busy or tired I was, I never said no to a job.”
― Molly Bloom, Molly's Game: From Hollywood's Elite to Wall Street's Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker

“I wanted a big life, a grand adventure, and no one was going to hand it to me. I wasn’t born with a way to get it, like my brothers. I was waiting for my opportunity, and somehow I knew it would come. Again I thought of Lewis Carroll’s Alice saying, “I can’t go back to yesterday because I was a different person then.” I understood the profound simplicity of that statement—because after tonight I knew I could never, ever go back.”
― Molly Bloom, Molly's Game: From Hollywood's Elite to Wall Street's Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker

“I loved to read and write, and when I was young I lived half my life in books, movies, and my imagination. In elementary school I didn’t want to play with other kids; I was shy and sensitive and I found them intimidating. So my mom spoke to the school librarian. Tina Sekavic agreed to allow me to hang out in the library, so I spent the next few years reading biographies about women who had changed the world like Cleopatra, Joan of Arc, Queen Elizabeth, and others. (My mom had initially suggested this, but I quickly became fascinated.)
I was moved by their bravery and determination, and I decided right then and there, I didn’t want to settle for an ordinary life. I craved adventure; I wanted to leave my mark.”
― Molly Bloom, Molly's Game: From Hollywood's Elite to Wall Street's Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker

“For the most part, these were men who had risked it all to attain enormous success. Risked, past tense. Now they were coasting. They were safe. There was no jugular to their day-to day lives. They could get any woman they desired, buy anything they wanted, make movies, live in mansions, acquire and disembowel huge corporations. They craved the adrenaline of the gamble: that was what kept them coming back. It was much more than just a game—it was escapism, adventure, fantasy.
It had become an escape for me as well. A way to avoid “growing up,” which meant, at least to my father, succumbing to a life of thankless obligations. I decided that this game was the next level of my education. Everything that passed in front of my eyes was another lesson in economics, in psychology, in entrepreneurship, in the American dream.”
― Molly Bloom, Molly's Game: From Hollywood's Elite to Wall Street's Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker

“I grieved for a night or two and then I got angry—and anger felt better than sadness, more powerful. I could see Los Angeles clearly now . . . it was the kind of town where people came to prove themselves and their worth, dedicated to the pursuit of their own amazingness. Either you climbed to the top and then fought with all of your energy to hang on, looking at everyone around you with suspicion while accepting their fawning admiration, or you let the victors chew you up and spit you out, nourishing themselves on your weakness. This town was not made for permanence. It was designed for the quick flare of genius, the sputter and die when a new genius came along. That’s not how it was going to be with me.”
― Molly Bloom, Molly's Game: From Hollywood's Elite to Wall Street's Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker

“My father was handsome, charismatic, and complicated. He was a practicing
psychologist and a professor at Colorado State University. The education of his
children was of paramount importance to him. If my brothers and I didn’t bring
home A’s and B’s, we were in big trouble. That being said, he always
encouraged us to pursue our dreams.
At home he was affectionate, playful, and loving, but when it came to our
performance in school and athletics, he demanded excellence. He was filled with
a fiery passion that at times was so intense, it was almost terrifying.
Nothing was “recreational” in our family; everything was a lesson in pushing
past the limits and being the best we could possibly be.”
― Molly Bloom, Molly's Game: From Hollywood's Elite to Wall Street's Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker

“By now, I had figured out how to operate with confidence, or fake it till I made it.”
― Molly Bloom, Molly's Game: From Hollywood's Elite to Wall Street's Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker

“Reardon was a master strategist. He knew how to analyze a deal, and if he recognized opportunity, he would capitalize on it. It didn’t matter if it was something he had no experience in, he would learn. Study it day and night, until he figured it out.”
― Molly Bloom, Molly's Game: From Hollywood's Elite to Wall Street's Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker

“Soft Launch is both wildly unique and deeply universal. Through her gentle but fearless voice, Sarah Vacchiano reminds us that growth doesn’t follow a script — it’s messy, courageous, and often more beautiful than we could imagine. Readers will see themselves in her evolution and feel braver in their own.”
― Molly Bloom, Molly's Game: From Hollywood's Elite to Wall Street's Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker

“I can’t go back to yesterday because I was a different person then.”
― Molly Bloom, Molly's Game

“Bluff and perception are much more important than actual truth and circumstance.”
― Molly Bloom, Molly's Game: From Hollywood's Elite to Wall Street's Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker

“Poker is a game of odds, simple math, and being able to read people. If you are going to bluff, you have to believe it yourself. Keep in mind, the other players are looking for information from you. Facial expressions, body language, the amount and the way you bet. When you have what you believe to be the best hand, which is called the ‘nuts,’ you can either try to keep your opponents playing by betting in a way that strings them along, or bet aggressively and take the pot. And if you are going to go all in, make sure you have thought it through. Make sure you have the nuts, or that your opponent thinks you have them beat.
“But,” he continued, “outplaying your opponent doesn’t always work. Even the best players in the world have nights when they run bad. Recognize those nights and be disciplined with your downside, or the amount of money you allow yourself to lose. Know when to leave the table.”
― Molly Bloom, Molly's Game: From Hollywood's Elite to Wall Street's Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker

“As much as I had intended on spending my year in L.A. being young, spontaneous, and carefree, my gut told me to stick it out.”
― Molly Bloom, Molly's Game: From Hollywood's Elite to Wall Street's Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker

“Reardon was always trying to make me tougher, and smarter; he equated idealism with stupidity. He kept me around because I worked my ass off, and I was the only assistant he had ever had that didn’t quit after a week. He very rarely admitted it, but every once in a while he would tell me I had potential, that I could be smart. It was always followed quickly by an insult, of course. He was like an evil fairy godmother.”
― Molly Bloom, Molly's Game: From Hollywood's Elite to Wall Street's Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker