Top Stories of 2025, #6: Star Attorney Tom Goldstein Indicted Over Million-Dollar Poker Games

One of the crucial revered attorneys in the USA, Tom Goldstein, has spent the 12 months battling expenses of tax fraud and different monetary crimes associated to high-stakes poker matches.

The high-stakes poker matches allegedly took Goldstein, who has appeared earlier than the U.S. Supreme Courtroom greater than every other non-public legal professional, from Hollywood to Macau, the place he gained and misplaced tens of hundreds of thousands in heads-up poker matches.

Goldstein’s authorized battle, which remains to be within the pretrial section, makes for PokerNews’ sixth greatest story of 2025.

Breaking Down the Indictment

Goldstein, who’s the founding father of the favored authorized web site SCOTUSblog, had just lately retired from legislation when he was indicted in January by a federal grand jury on 22 counts, together with tax evasion, falsifying tax returns, failing to pay taxes, and making false statements to 2 separate mortgage lenders. A superseding indictment returned in August produced new accusations in opposition to Goldstein however no new expenses.

Prosecutors allege that Goldstein was a high-stakes poker participant between 2016 and 2024 and was “often enjoying in video games involving hundreds of thousands of {dollars}.” Throughout this time, he “allegedly engaged in a scheme to evade his taxes” by diverting authorized charges from his legislation agency, Goldstein & Russell, P.C., to his private checking account and utilizing them to pay poker money owed.

He additionally allegedly used “agency property to pay salaries and medical insurance premiums for individuals with whom Goldstein had a private relationship however who carried out little or no work for the legislation agency and didn’t qualify for its medical insurance.” The fees associated to those allegations have been dropped in December.

In keeping with the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace District of Maryland, Goldstein “additionally allegedly didn’t report, or falsely understated, hundreds of thousands of {dollars} of playing winnings on his tax returns.”

“As well as, for 2016 via 2021, besides 2018, Goldstein allegedly didn’t pay the taxes he self-reported have been due on his returns, whereas concurrently spending hundreds of thousands of {dollars} on private bills akin to playing money owed, journey, trip leases, and luxurious items.”

A number of the Largest Poker Video games Ever

The indictment make clear among the greatest poker video games ever performed. In 2014, Goldstein allegedly started enjoying in poker matches “involving stakes totaling hundreds of thousands, and even tens of hundreds of thousands, of {dollars},” which he financed by promoting motion to unnamed high-stakes poker gamers and “borrowing hundreds of thousands of {dollars}.”

In 2016, Goldstein allegedly performed in three heads-up matches in opposition to “three ultra-wealthy people” that resulted in over $50 million in revenue. The primary match, in Asia, resulted in a $13.8 million victory, whereas the second match in Beverly Hills produced a $26.4 million win. Goldstein then returned to Asia for a 3rd match and gained $8.8 million.

However losses mounted for Goldstein the next 12 months, and by 2021 he allegedly had greater than $14 million in poker money owed, all whereas accruing a large tax invoice.

Again-and-forth motions between Goldstein and prosecutors revealed further particulars about his poker escapades. For instance, Goldstein allegedly “misplaced a considerable sum of cash” in high-stakes poker matches at a 2024 birthday bash in Greece, which PokerNews discovered was that of actor Kevin Hart.

PokerNews additionally discovered and revealed that Goldstein was the thriller poker participant recognized solely as “Thomas” who took half in final 2024’s Hustler On line casino Dwell Million Greenback recreation, the place he infamously mucked the successful hand to give up a $540,000 pot.

The fees in opposition to Goldstein, who pleaded not responsible, carry stiff penalties. He faces a most of 5 years in jail for every of the tax evasion expenses, three years for every rely of tax falsification, one 12 months for every rely of willful failure to pay taxes, and 30 years for each counts of constructing false statements to mortgage lenders. He additionally faces financial penalties and restitution.

Goldstein’s Poker Background

Goldstein’s high-stakes poker passion was already recognized in some authorized and poker circles. He gained consideration for his manic enjoying fashion on the Bellagio in Las Vegas in 2008, the identical 12 months he developed a detailed friendship with social media star Dan Bilzerian, who he would go on to characterize in an notorious case in opposition to an grownup movie actress.

The 2 as soon as had a $385,000 racing prop guess that ended with Goldstein’s Ferrari parked in the course of Las Vegas Boulevard. Bilzerian would later write in his autobiography that he had “by no means met anybody with much less respect for cash proportionate to their internet price than Tom.”

Goldstein additionally did authorized work within the poker business, together with representing Poker Gamers Alliance (PPA) after the Black Friday on-line poker shutdown and later representing Malaysian playing mogul Paul Phua in an unlawful playing ring case (Phua was in the end acquitted).

Pretrial Combat Continues

Goldstein’s authorized woes continued after the indictment. He was arrested in February as prosecutors accused him of constructing crypto transfers that violated his bail phrases, however a choose later ordered his launch after Goldstein offered proof casting “enough doubt” that he owned the crypto wallets in query.

Goldstein later unsuccessfully appealed his “drastic” launch situations, which included the monitoring of all of his digital gadgets, and accused prosecutors of “deliberately” deceptive the courtroom and making “crucial false statements.”

Goldstein suffered one other pretrial loss in October 2018 when a choose denied his movement to suppress statements he made a few duffel bag of money he introduced into the USA in October 2018.

PokerNews will proceed to comply with the Goldstein saga intently into the brand new 12 months because the case approaches trial.

*Images courtesy of WikiMedia Commons

Connor Richards is a Senior Editor U.S. for PokerNews and host of the Life Exterior Poker podcast. Connor has been nominated for 3 World Poker Awards for his writing.