Court Orders Indicted Lawyer to Stop Playing Poker While Awaiting Trial
Tom Goldstein entered a not guilty plea in a federal court on Monday, and also signed an agreement to stay away from the poker tables while awaiting trial.
The SCOTUSblog founder who allegedly failed to disclose millions in poker winnings to the IRS is facing 22 counts of tax evasion, preparing false and fraudulent tax returns, and failing to pay his taxes.
Goldstein, the infamous "mystery player" who folded the winning hand in a $540,000 pot on Hustler Casino Live last May, once was a prominent lawyer who represented Al Gore against George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential election case. He's now facing his own legal issues and is being represented by President Donald Trump's attorneys, John Lauro and Christopher Kise.
"Mr. Goldstein will vigorously defend against these charges, and we look forward to his exoneration," Goldstein's lawyers told Reuters.
Taking a Break from Poker
According to court documents filed in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, Goldstein is out on release. But he must abide by certain pretrial stipulations set by the court.
One restriction is that he cannot travel anywhere but the Washington D.C. metro area without court permission during the pretrial phase. He is prohibited from getting drunk, possessing a firearm, and must surrender his passport.
The accused tax evader also must not "engage in any type of gambling including poker of any type," online or live. Goldstein is a longtime high-stakes player who supposedly won upwards of $50 million in nosebleed private games against billionaires who weren't identified by name in the indictment, which was filed earlier this month.
Goldstein, who left his Supreme Court practice in 2023, "allegedly engaged in a scheme to evade his taxes" by diverting legal fees from his law firm, Goldstein & Russell, P.C., to his personal bank account and using them to pay poker debts, according to the indictment.
He also allegedly used law firm assets to pay personal poker debts by falsely classifying them as "legal-fee" expenses and "using firm assets to pay salaries and health insurance premiums for people with whom Goldstein had a personal relationship but who performed little or no work for the law firm and did not qualify for its health insurance."
The story has been covered by virtually every leading mainstream news outlet and across the poker community. Poker pro Doug Polk also provided a detailed explanation of the accusations against Goldstein, in a YouTube video.
