Book Lovers pt. 7 Molly's Game
- thevaginaliberator
- Sep 18
- 2 min read
I read the book first, then immediately watched the movie. And for the life of me, I’ll never understand why filmmakers can’t just follow the book! But I digress.
For starters, this is the true story of a woman who had a promising future as both an athlete and an intellectual—yet somehow found herself running high-stakes underground poker games.
The movie and the book overlap, but there are key differences. For example, the film shows Molly eventually taking a rake (an illegal cut of the pot) because the games got out of control and she couldn’t afford to keep covering payouts. It also highlights her drug addiction, the millions she made, and her ultimate legal downfall. Here’s the kicker: had Molly handed over the hard drives with her players’ secrets, she would’ve walked away with just a year of supervised probation, a $200,000 fine, and—get this—her $4 million returned. Instead, she chose to protect her players, pled guilty, and ended up a convicted felon still owing the feds $2 million in taxes. Molly will forever be a better woman than me! If you go to prison, whoop-did-do! Fight to get out. I won't be there with you!
The book, though? A thousand times better. Molly name-dropped, shared friendships, relationships, family dynamics, and painted her transformation from a green Colorado girl into a “cinematic” poker queen. It gave texture, humor, and grit the movie just couldn’t match. And let’s talk about her boss: Reardon Green in the book, Dean Keith in the movie, and Darin Feinstein in real life. No matter the name, the man was an overcompensating, broke, racist, verbally abusive nightmare. Honestly, Molly would’ve been treated better working for Luther’s Janitorial. But it was Darin who introduced her to the game, ultimately shaping her into the badass poker runner she became.
So, while the movie delivered the headlines—money, crime, consequences—the book gave us Molly’s story. Her journey. Her heart. My advice? Skip the movie, read the book. Or do both, like I did—I’m glad I did, if only to see the contrast.
Are you adding this to your library?
Happy Reading!
Until Next Time,
The Vagina Liberator
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