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The Foundry Tom Goldstein Poker

The Billionaires Across the Table

Illustrated poker player reaching toward chips, surrounded by city scenes and financial charts.
Contributors
Bradley Hope
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Tom Goldstein takes his poker operation from Alec Gores’s Beverly Hills mansion to a showdown with Tang Hao in Manila. Millions are on the table.

Welcome to Whale Hunting, where we meet the people on the other side of the world’s biggest bets.

Billionaire Alec Gores likes to play poker at home. In his mansion above Beverly Hills, the table is set up in a darkened home theater. Across from him sits Tom Goldstein, the Supreme Court lawyer.

Gores has a small frog figurine that he places on his cards for luck. When he is losing, he moves it to the top of his chip stack. He tries changing the deck, the dealer and the time of day they play. He doesn’t know that his bad luck is rooted in the deep analysis of his playing style by Goldstein’s team.

In yesterday’s chapters of The Tell, my investigation into Goldstein’s double life, we watched him assemble his team. Now Keith Gipson, a professional player, is in the room, watching Gores and passing his observations back to Goldstein between sessions.

Then we follow Goldstein across the Pacific to a private poker room in Manila. His opponent is Tang Hao, a Chinese investor based in Hong Kong whom the poker world knows as Tango.

I met Tang in Tokyo last year while working on a poker documentary project. Over several conversations, he described how he had made his money and why he played poker. “I only gamble when I have an edge,” he told me.

At the poker table, Tang had his own assessment of Goldstein. He thought he was a weak player. Then he noticed Goldstein playing well above that rating.

Read Chapters 5 and 6

All eleven chapters are free, with no registration required. If you’re new to the story, start with Chapters 1 and 2.

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Until next time,

Bradley

Check out the Brazen Whale Hunting Collection.

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This is Whale Hunting, a newsletter and podcast delving into the secret worlds of money and power that we became obsessed with during our investigation into the globe-sprawling 1MDB scandal. That project changed our entire worldview. We wrote a book about it.

Back then, we were long-time reporters for The Wall Street Journal. Now, we’ve struck out on our own to uncover more brazen stories than ever. At Whale Hunting, we’re immersing ourselves in the murky waters of the ultra-wealthy and influential, from billionaires and kleptocrats to criminals, spies and corrupt officials.

Got a question or a tip for us? Get in touch at whalehunting@projectbrazen.com. You can also contact us securely here.

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