He Won $50 MILLION At Poker... But The FBI Was Watching
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- Опубліковано 5 лют 2025
- This is the craziest poker story we've seen in a long time. It involves Hollywood actors, a Texas billionaire, inappropriate relationships with 12 women, brazen scams, Asian whales, and tens of millions of dollars. At the center of it is Thomas Goldstein, a decorated supreme court attorney. He has represented the likes of Al Gore and Dan Bilzerian, and has just been indicted on 22 felony counts. The FBI and IRS claims that he has committed fraudulent transactions and underreported his massive poker earnings. What on earth is going on here?
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Check out the PokerNews article on Tom Goldstein: www.pokernews....
Props to those sex workers for getting their health insurance covered, that can't be very common.
I bet it isn't uncommon in that level of business
It's just shake down money. Call it extra from the "square"
They unionized
that's what happens when you move up from day to day gigging, to a long term contract
The working gals in Macau must be ravishing, tho at least $500/night. I can get Asian gals just as beautiful, for $32/night.
968,000 in a duffelbag at Dulles is such a Better Call Saul moment
sequential or non-sequential Bills? you know 1993 1994 1992?
That, in itself, is breaking the law.
@@brahmburgershow
This is a massive shocker. This guy was/is well known in the legal business both for his Supreme Court advocacy and his Supreme Court blog. Also, a few years ago a legal letter that he wrote representing Dan Bilzerian went viral that was the funniest lawyer letter I've ever read. Of course, now him representing Bilzerian makes a lot more sense now.
So it wasnt a socker at all?
Plus with all the corruption among the justices of the Supreme Court I don't think it should shock anyone that lawyers who argue in front of them often would also be incredibly corrupt.
Doug Polk vs California Businessman #3 one time
Goldstein is practicing law at the very top tier. Let’s see what’s going to happen to him. If he knows the law so well and he gets away lightly with this then you know it’s a conspiracy situation.
more like doug vs asian player #1
agree
Never gamble with Goldsteins.
This was such an amazing video, with a ton of great humor and great info. Thanks so much for putting it together Doug. You the real hero!
Professional Gambler 1, and 2, probably never reported their income, and are absolutely cooperating with the government as witnesses. 😂
Love Doug’s commitment to the continuing random pops at Luke Schwartz 😂
He fired his accountant and hired John McAfee's accountant from Bangkok. Maybe bath salts entered this mess at some point...Rest in peace John McAfee - A true legend degenerate.
This needs to be a movie once the dust settles
Mark Strong could play Thomas Goldstein.
The B-roll in this video is top notch, Doug! 👍
This story has Rick Solomon written all over it
The 🐐
if Doug knew HU matches like this were going down he never would've retired
He has to put on a mustache to be invited. "¿Qué? No, este no es Doug Polk. Soy Douglas Pocarez 🥸"
Doug knows...Keep in mind that he interviewed Dan Bilzerian awhile back about exactly these type of games.
Any time there's that much cash involved, how could you ever think the game is honest?
@@skinovtheperineum1208it's not.. he thought he could game the whales and the whales gamed him back. He also didn't clock out when he should have but that's the typical gambler's mentality. I Won, I can do it again
Because for people with that much money, cheating defeats the purpose of gambling it.
I'm still disappointed this channel isn't just called Doug Polker
Isn't it enough there's Doug Polka dancing Thursdays in the parking lots 7pm at the Lodge ? Sometimes Weird Al sits in on accordion
Doug your videos are miles ahead above others, hopefully you are paying your video editors health insurance and other perks :)
Remember kids, don't commit crimes against rich people or corporations, you'll go to jail...Only defraud poor people, if caught, you might get fined if you're unlucky
Your comment is Communist bullshit. Bernie Madoff was scamming rich people for years
In what way did he defraud rich or poor people? He evaded taxes. I think you need to watch the video again.
Facts
Variance
@@Broke_Stacker He defrauded the biggest corporation in the world, the united states of America by not paying his tithes
13:08 “Yo bro, what up? Breakin’ the law. Gettin’ paid dawg!” I almost choked on my breakfast burrito. Lol.
Who was Paul Phua's lawyer who got him off the US vs Paul Phau when he was arrested for running his World Cup betting operation from three Caesars Palace villas?
Tom was.
“Hey this package has dental, Monica-I know u can’t see too well”…😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Doug is the BEST
California businessman 2 is Alec Gores. Foreign gambler 3 is Paul Phua. Texas billionaire is Andy Beal. California businessman 3 is Bob Safai. Edited to add that Doug brushed over foreign gambler 3 which was obviously Phua....scared?
Wow, did this come out online or you just know?
Pieced things together. Dan Bilzerian's book, Google, ect....
I suspect the "actor" is Rick Salomon and the "producer" is Dan Bilzerian, not 100% on those though.
@@chrisc3346 nice it makes sense, hadn’t heard of Bob Safai since he folded to Dwan’s bluff on HSP decades ago… I bet Rick Salomon crushed Thomas heads up but I guess he beat Phua bc of the 2 pros analysis strategy memo 🤣
Andy beal still playing?
Doug, I've been a filmmaker & director in Hollywood for 30 years, you missed your calling my friend! I mean okay, you're a pretty good poker player, 🤣 but really nice job here! More Documentary content please!
The fact you never considered this to being some crazy money laundering scheme is mind boggling to me. Seems sureal to have a 700k hourly over 11 sessions no matter the stakes.
I read through this document in full when it was released and I have to say the BEST part of this is the spiteful 1099 issued at 14:29 in the last sentence by CA Businessman 2. "Yes I'll pay you but I'm going to make sure you burn"
I don't know for sure if this is what kicked the investigation off but I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.
As a person who struggles with gambling, we focus more on our wins then our losses and lose track of how much we’ve lost. So it’s easy not to realize how much you are in the hole for cumulatively.
Never believe a gambler who tells you they are always up.
Please learn the difference between *than and then.
You may be up in the week but down in the month up in the month but down on the year up in the year down lifetime that's how it works
Sure but we mostly poker players here. I log ever second of every hour I gamble for years now. I'm up but I don't consider myself a real gambler. I dont play the house or gamble on anything besides poker. I don't enjoy winning money. I enjoy implementing a strategy against others inferior strategy. I also know some sports gamblers that make money as well and they also have some crazy strategies but I just never liked not having say in the outcomes. 99 percent of the time what you said is right but not 100 and poker is just a different beast altogether
@@JohnPark-au please stop being grammar police on the internet. I’m sure it’s a stressful job 😩
@@changingspaces im always up
Isn't every single federal charge in the US 'The defendant vs The USA'?
Yes
Yea just like every state it's the entire state vs defendant.
Yeah and when you have caught a fed case you know you F’ed up. That was the point
Ya and when it happens they have a high win rate
Yeah I been there… sounds like some kind of epic prize fight..but you really can’t win nothing even if ya win..which is rare.
“This is not just some random guy.” *flashes to Luke Schwartz photo* Gotta love Dougie P.
LOL
I think Goldstein's problem was that when he won big he had a backer (presumably Foreign Gambler 3) and when he lost big he had 100% of himself
dan bilzerian's story seems alot more believable now huh
Most people believe he's probably a winning player in those private Hollywood games against total amateurs. Where'd he get that bankroll to begin with though heh. Everyone knows where.
Lol nahhhh
What story ?
If you think that he actually won all of the 50m from poker then my god... It's everywhere that that is coincidentally close to the amount of money they couldn't recover from his father's fraud
You know how you can tell when Dan Bilzerian is lying? HIS LIPS ARE MOVING!! The nerve it takes to walk around a huge multimillion dollar property with Kevin O'Leary as the entire meeting is being recorded and proceed to lie straight to Kevin's face when asked what the property cost him... As if Kevin O'Leary had not already done his research beforehand. He knew the answer before he asked the lying snake the question. And to think about all the other bullshit he's convinced people of over the years. I'm sure it's endless. I mean come on he passed all he needed to twice to become a NAVY SEAL but it just wasn't for him. Sure sounds completely reasonable 🤣🤣🤣
Ty Doug. Don’t be shy posting more vids
sounds like money laundering // payment for other things disguised as poker wins/losses
I love the typo in now that's what I call poker. Couldn't even be bothered to give the joke a review before just shipping it. Top shelf
FYI Doug. It’s a known town name - it’s pronounced Beh-Thess-dah.
What in the actual hell. I wish I could play against billionaire foreign gamblers and give pros a piece of my action
As a business consultant, I can't tell you how many times I've dealt with "successful businessmen" and long-time pillars of the community...wholly embedded in the upper echelons of local power...just being an absolute mess behind the curtain. I've even seen it with CPAs and, like Tommy boy here, law firms. Horribly miserable "successful" people...for various reasons...just slinging crap all over the place. Totally incapable of getting out of their own damn way. It's way more common than you might ever imagine.
Money is the root of evil as they say
Hmm... 🤔
@@musiclife7251 - It's actually 'the love of'.
first one that comes to mind was inaugurated as POTUS just yesterday
As a consultant, where to you start? Taxes, mgmt, operations, exit strategy...😂
The most shocking thing about this, having watched the HCL stream he played on, is that this bloke is a winning player! Honestly one of THE all-time biggest fish to appear on the show, and thats saying something! He couldnt even read the board! He raised all-in for about 1/10th pot as a bluff vs Keating!
I honestly though he was a plant, his punting made Rampage look like a rookie punter.
That B-roll at 7:31 is perfect bro. Good work to the video editor
Coffeezilla vibe... Nice video...loved it
Awesome content as always Doug. Polk for the Peabody!!!
This is the top comment as far as I'm concerned. None of us would know anything about this if not for Doug. This guy is providing a service for us. Let's acknowledge that.
Wow Thomas from hustler casino million dollar cash game, what a crazy story! Thanks doug
Tomas all wrapped up has to be the Thumbnail 😂
It was strongly implied by Molly Bloom in several interviews that Rick Salomon had won close to 100M in games that were running toward the end of her career (not her games).
I loved that movie.
I hear this story and then I see him and can only come up with "Inconceivable!"
Lmao perfect
Yep Thomas reminds me of tape man
Love the digestion & commentary!
I can't wait for the inevitable movie and / or netflix docuseries about this
I remember watching THOMAS play, he was a fish....
He's improved immensely since then.
@@skinovtheperineum1208 right to jail
You should make a top 10 of most controversial HCL players.
Haha yes that be ideal, but doug on the take for hustler live bro romance
WOW! Amazing project just saw the road map. I am in it for the presale 🌟🌟
Doug is awesome and funny as usual;) but you can’t take away the masterpiece of sarcasm in any way!
Great video. Thanks for that simpsons quote 😂
30:35 thats so crazy that Thomas played at Hustler million dollar game
Excellent recap of what happened (that we know about). I'd love to see the identities of the actor and the businessmen revealed at trial. but this will almost certainly wind up in plea deal
Wow - this guy has some real issues. Top of the best paying profession in the most litigious country in the world. And he throws it all away for thrills? That's some self-destructive shit right there.
It was cool seeing Thomas in HCL million dollar game
Being a lawyer must become boring AF to be fair.
@@marce4241my wife is a corporate attorney and yes it’s a boring ass job. But she gets paid a ridiculous amount of money to put up with it.
One of those paid poker players for the HU matches had to be Tom Dwan, right? Would also explain the connection to the Hustler game and the history with the Asian businessmen
And why a professional would need the money.
“Random guy” and a pic of a pigeon pops up on screen 🤷🏻♂️🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂
Great breakdown!! I always love content that crosses between my legal profession and my personal hobbies!! Let me know if you ever need a criminal law perspective! 😄
Doug, have you considered that what was taking place was money-laundering under the guise of poker play? This appears to be a way to shift millions of dollars around the world. One thing that happens a lot in money-laundering schemes are loans that go unrepaid.
Amazing how many politicians don't repay private loans until a reporter asks them about the loans.
The only actor that actually makes sense that would be playing that big and actually having somebody take a piece of has to be Tobey Maguire
No. Could be anybody. Affleck, Leo , …anybody….
@@homebusinessmastermind8641 Matt Damon obv!!!!!! ;)
nah its not an actor, its gotta be an "actor", aka Rick Salomon. No way this is Tobey.
Nice work!
"What is goin' on" 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
None of this should suprise us. It's just normal poker activities with a couple of 3 zeros attached to the numbers.
The poker stories are great content!
Great episode.
This reminds me a little about the movie "Owning Mahowny".
Enjoyed the story
🤙🤟
"Monica I know you can't see too well" 😆
Shout out to the billionaire who wanted a discount on his poker loss😂
Billionaires out there always looking for a good discount 😂
You gotta being 16 million in debt and the government hounding you for taxes on your winnings.
They have to do a movie on this. Dont even need a script just use the indictment
Hadn’t heard of this until your video!
So it looks like he got lucky to win the $50M because he wasn't properly bank rolled.
He made the rookie mistake of thinking it would always be that way.
Unfortunately, variance caught up to him, and he started to suffer the consequences for playing too high of stakes for his bank roll size.
Doug I was rolling " who would talk about strategies for making money, scumbags ❤😂😂😂😂
Big shoutout for mentioning X.AI50 and SUI. These two look like the future to me. Holding both tight!
Line can’t go up if no one buys and sells. We need liquidity.
How did he have time to be one of the most high profile lawyers in the country?
Cocaine.
Doug was Goldstein's coach. I know because I was there, at the negotiation table on health insurance.
15:10 Pay him…pay that man his money 💸
I totally read your reply in Teddys voice lol
@ I cant believe Doug didn’t work in that clip
@@moneymikzthat would have been gold
He's so different than me. I gamble at moving to places on the other side of the world, where I know no one and don't even speak the language. I come into the scene with about $2,000, develop a homestead, have a lot of g.f.'s and then..... well, you'll have to read the 3 books to know more. #1. Farmsteading in Thailand, #2. C.I.A. Brat, #3. 1 Pill = 28 Years. In 2 months, I'm off again for another Asian island, but I won't tell the name, because I'll be the only foreign resident there, and I like it like that.
So this insane story has motivated me too revisit my favorite Judas Priest ballad Breakin The Law. TYVM DP and R Halford.
All of poker has gotten so tired. Scammers, tankers, nits, Euro’s & crypto-money-launderers make up 90% of players.
True story
You forgot the heavy qanon contingent.
What if a big baller poker player on drugs went to a big event wearing skates? He'd be at a high stakes game as a high super high roller on roller skates.
23:20 "Flounders" 😂
I have an interesting story for you . The mans name is Robert joyce and the story's starts in st.charles police department . He was a civilian contractor from 06 -19 who collected evidence from computers, then he "magically " had enough money from cripto he retired at 30 ish. Then, he became a professional Poker player, and apparently, after a few failed years now he just became a police officer in sedona arizona. SOMETHING DOES NOT ADD UP.
Initial img is misleading, u naughty boy! 😂
I can hear Netflix calling
I wonder if the "actor" is Alan Keating?
So if I don't want to pay taxes on my poker winnings, it's best to lay low and not draw attention to myself... Got it
Always love the potshots at Luke Schwartz. 🤣
Dough, Ryan secretly hating you light right about now 😂
The high roller section cracked me up. Texas Doug Polk ain’t all bad.
The mucked hand at showdown on HCL seems like a great way to transfer money right out in the open.
I have been noticing a lot of things recently. Great video.
Hey Doug, this means Dan Bilzerian could have done his fortune playing poker 😳
The B roll at 7:23 makes it hilarious 😂
The massage girls unionized on this guy. That shit is hilarious 🤣
What's the story
Lol no wonder this guy accidently mucked his winning hand on Hustler in a 700k pot.... jeeez
Oh that was the guy who was all covered up
He didn’t want people to recognize him
19:15 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
“Beths-da”, Maryland! 🤣🤣🤣
As a lawyer and semi-pro poker player, everything about this story is absurd. Truly speechless.
Tommy... Is that you?👀
As a semi professional youtuber i feel your pain 😂
@11bornrich red handed
@PokrRat777 as a semi professional youtuber I totally understand 🤣🤣
Yooo aint no way this whole time the mystery guy playing horribly bad at Hustler was Goldstein.
Doug has to be trolling 😂
The current president be giving out pardons like Oprah gives out cars. This guy seems like the president's type.
saw the upswing plug coming from a mile away lmaoooooooooooo
Would have been interesting to have a business lawyer on to hear about potential legal defenses and consequences.
His lunch is more than $4000🤣🤣🤣🤣