Top Stories of 2025, #6: Star Attorney Tom Goldstein Indicted Over Million-Dollar Poker Games
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One of the most respected lawyers in the United States, Tom Goldstein, has spent the year battling charges of tax fraud and other financial crimes related to high-stakes poker matches.
The high-stakes poker matches allegedly took Goldstein, who has appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court more than any other private attorney, from Hollywood to Macau, where he won and lost tens of millions in heads-up poker matches.
Goldstein's legal battle, which is still in the pretrial phase, makes for PokerNews' sixth biggest story of 2025.
Breaking Down the Indictment
Goldstein, who is the founder of the popular legal site SCOTUSblog, had recently retired from law when he was indicted in January by a federal grand jury on 22 counts, including tax evasion, falsifying tax returns, failing to pay taxes, and making false statements to two separate mortgage lenders. A superseding indictment returned in August produced new accusations against Goldstein but no new charges.
Prosecutors allege that Goldstein was a high-stakes poker player between 2016 and 2024 and was "frequently playing in games involving millions of dollars." During this time, he "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.
He also allegedly used "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 charges related to these allegations were dropped in December.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office District of Maryland, Goldstein "also allegedly did not report, or falsely understated, millions of dollars of gambling winnings on his tax returns."
"In addition, for 2016 through 2021, except 2018, Goldstein allegedly did not pay the taxes he self-reported were due on his returns, while simultaneously spending millions of dollars on personal expenses such as gambling debts, travel, vacation rentals, and luxury goods."
Some of the Biggest Poker Games Ever
The indictment shed light on some of the biggest poker games ever played. In 2014, Goldstein allegedly began playing in poker matches "involving stakes totaling millions, and even tens of millions, of dollars," which he financed by selling action to unnamed high-stakes poker players and "borrowing millions of dollars."
In 2016, Goldstein allegedly played in three heads-up matches against "three ultra-wealthy individuals" that resulted in over $50 million in profit. The first match, in Asia, resulted in a $13.8 million victory, while the second match in Beverly Hills produced a $26.4 million win. Goldstein then returned to Asia for a third match and won $8.8 million.
But losses mounted for Goldstein the following year, and by 2021 he allegedly had more than $14 million in poker debts, all while accruing a massive tax bill.
Back-and-forth motions between Goldstein and prosecutors revealed additional details about his poker escapades. For example, Goldstein allegedly "lost a substantial sum of money" in high-stakes poker matches at a 2024 birthday bash in Greece, which PokerNews learned was that of actor Kevin Hart.
PokerNews also learned and revealed that Goldstein was the mystery poker player known only as "Thomas" who took part in last 2024's Hustler Casino Live Million Dollar game, where he infamously mucked the winning hand to surrender a $540,000 pot.
The charges against Goldstein, who pleaded not guilty, carry stiff penalties. He faces a maximum of five years in prison for each of the tax evasion charges, three years for each count of tax falsification, one year for each count of willful failure to pay taxes, and 30 years for both counts of making false statements to mortgage lenders. He also faces monetary penalties and restitution.
Tom Goldstein Case Timeline
- Jan. 16, 2025 - Federal grand jury charges Tom Goldstein with 22 counts related to tax evasion, preparing false and fraudulent tax returns, and making false statements on mortgage applications.
- Jan. 21, 2025 - Goldstein revealed to be "best friends" with social media playboy Dan Bilzerian, who called him a reckless gambler.
- Jan. 28, 2025 - Goldstein pleads not guilty and is ordered to stop playing poker while awaiting trial.
- Feb. 10, 2025 - Goldstein is arrested after prosecutors accuse him of making transactions from undisclosed cryptocurrency wallets.
- Feb. 11, 2025 - Goldstein denies ownership of the wallets and demands release.
- Feb. 13, 2025 - Goldstein is released from custody as Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Sullivan found the government hadn't proved by "clear and convincing evidence" that he violated pretrial release conditions. Judge Sullivan orders that Goldstein have his electronic devices monitored and be prohibited from using cryptocurrency.
- Feb. 27, 2025 - Goldstein appeals release conditions and calls device monitoring "drastic."
- March 7, 2025 - Government responds to Goldstein's appeal and reveals that he won $51 million gambling against a single player from May 2022-May 2024.
- March 14, 2025 - PokerNews reveals that Goldstein lost big to other high-stakes poker players at Kevin Hart's July 2024 birthday bash in Mykonos, Greece.
- March 18, 2025 - Goldstein argues that the government "intentionally misled" the Court and asks for prosecutors to be formally rebuked.
- March 2025 - Goldstein loses big to ease "drastic" pretrial monitoring conditions.
- August 2025 - A grand jury returns a superseding indictment against Goldstein, which includes new allegations but no new charges.
- October 2025 - A judge denies Goldstein's motion to suppress statements he made about a duffel bag of cash he brought into the United States in October 2018.
Goldstein's Poker Background
Goldstein's high-stakes poker hobby was already known in some legal and poker circles. He gained attention for his manic playing style at the Bellagio in Las Vegas in 2008, the same year he developed a close friendship with social media star Dan Bilzerian, who he would go on to represent in an infamous case against an adult film actress.
The two once had a $385,000 racing prop bet that ended with Goldstein's Ferrari parked in the middle of Las Vegas Boulevard. Bilzerian would later write in his autobiography that he had "never met anyone with less respect for money proportionate to their net worth than Tom."
Goldstein also did legal work in the poker industry, including representing Poker Players Alliance (PPA) after the Black Friday online poker shutdown and later representing Malaysian gambling mogul Paul Phua in an illegal gambling ring case (Phua was ultimately acquitted).
Pretrial Fight Continues
Goldstein's legal woes continued after the indictment. He was arrested in February as prosecutors accused him of making crypto transfers that violated his bail terms, but a judge later ordered his release after Goldstein presented evidence casting "sufficient doubt" that he owned the crypto wallets in question.
Goldstein later unsuccessfully appealed his "drastic" release conditions, which included the monitoring of all of his electronic devices, and accused prosecutors of "intentionally" misleading the court and making "critical false statements."
Goldstein suffered another pretrial loss in October 2018 when a judge denied his motion to suppress statements he made about a duffel bag of cash he brought into the United States in October 2018.
PokerNews will continue to follow the Goldstein saga closely into the new year as the case approaches trial.
*Photos courtesy of WikiMedia Commons
