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

was 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 Women'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 L-SAT score at

Harvard Law School is 169.

My score:
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,

I 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 7-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 gonna be fine.

I wouldn't let her ski anymore.

Definitely not moguls.

And obviously, skiing competitively

is out of the question.

Oh, I know.

I was on skis again in a year,

running moguls in 18 months

and by my 20th birthday,

I'd made the U.S. 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's 8,100 feet

and the pitch is 52 degrees

which is the same as the

sides of the Great Pyramids.

The wind's 20-25 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 gonna 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.

I can make the Olympic

team right now.

Go get it.

And if I had 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 start-up.

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'll 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's 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

remastered spinal cord

which is being held together by

spare parts from an Erector Set.

Back up! Back up! Move!

-Watch out!

-Give her room!

That way, move!

None of this 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, f*** you.

-Hello?

-Molly Bloom?

-Is this Molly Bloom?

-Yes.

This is Special Agent

Tomasino at the FBI.

We have a warrant

for your arrest.

-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

toward me very slowly.

Okay. Go ahead.

-I'm...

-Slower.

Slower. Slow down.

Come on. Come on.

-I'm having a hard time seeing--

-Walk slower.

-the flashlights in my eyes--

-Walk slower.

Yes, sir.

Hands on the wall.

Spread your arms and legs.

Is there anyone in your

apartment right now?

Uh, 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?

Uh...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.

United States of America

vs. Molly Bloom.

I'd bet heavy on the favorite.

What do you um, think about

the following concepts?

Just gonna run 'em 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 uh,

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'd 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.

I 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 her couch for a while.

My father had disapproved

of postponing law school

and so declined to help out.

But I had $1700 I'd saved from

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