One of the wildest poker stories of the last several years finally has an ending. A U.S. District Court judge sentenced a high-stakes poker-playing Supreme Court attorney to six years in prison for tax fraud.
Last week, District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby sentenced Tom Goldstein to more than half a decade in federal prison. In February, the court convicted Goldstein of tax and mortgage fraud stemming from his ultra-high-stakes poker habits.
Following the conviction, Griggsby revoked Goldstein’s bond and ordered him into custody. She agreed with government prosecutors who argued Goldstein was a flight risk and needed to be in custody.
According to a Bloomberg report, prosecutors asked Griggsby for an eight-year sentence, the maximum amount allowed under the law.
“Thomas Goldstein built a distinguished legal career arguing that the rule of law matters,” Kelly Hayes, US attorney for the District of Maryland, said in a statement. “Yet, as the evidence at trial showed, he repeatedly chose to violate that very principle for his own financial benefit.”
Goldstein argued 44 cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court and founded SCOTUSblog, which offered insight and analysis into other cases on the court’s docket.
Goldstein Gambled For Millions
At the start of 2025, the feds indicted Goldstein for tax evasion over unreported poker winnings. During the trial, prosecutors revealed several high-stakes matches that involved seven or even eight-figure swings.
Goldstein played matches against billionaire banker Andy Beal, actor Tobey Maguire, and was involved in several other celebrity-laden games. He also made a memorable appearance on the Hustler Casino Live Million Dollar Cash Game. Goldstein showed up in a hat, hoodie, and face mask to conceal his identity to the masses and the production staff only called him “Thomas” on screen.
He was part of one of the more memorable hands of the stream. Goldstein accidentally mucked the winning hand at showdown in a pot worth $543,000.
As part of Goldstein’s initial indictment, the government alleged that he failed to pay $5.3 million worth of taxes from 2016-2021. Investigators said he won $13.8 million in Asia in 2016 and another $26.4 million against Alex Gores.
High-stakes poker player Keith Gipson coached Goldstein prior to that match. Prior to the coaching agreement, Goldstein represented Gipson in a Supreme Court case regarding the wrongful seizure of $90,000 worth of blackjack winnings.
In 2018, Goldstein returned from Asia with a duffel bag containing $1 million in cash. Authorities said he reported the cash, but did not declare the winnings on his tax return.
Additionally, prosecutors claimed he submitted false mortgage applications to two separate lending companies. He used those applications to purchase a $2.6 million home in the nation’s capital.
