Molly Bloom told Aaron Sorkin that she wanted Jessica Chastain to play her. Bloom is a year younger than Chastain in real life.
According to Molly Bloom, the most money she'd ever seen lost in a card game session in one night was $100 million. The losing player settled the debt the following day.
Because of schedules, Idris Elba and Jessica Chastain had only 10 days to shoot. They shot 45 pages in the first 6 days. They rehearsed off-set before shooting began, and between takes.
During one of the earlier poker games in the movie, one of the players can be seen wearing headphones. This is no doubt a nod to Leonardo DiCaprio who, according to the book, wore headphones and listened to music while playing during Molly's early games. DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire are close friends.