1.
How did Player X (whom many sites are saying was Tobey Maguire) have the authority to demand that Molly's tips be capped? It was her game not his. He wasn't her boss. What did I miss there?
2.
And I don't know Poker rules, so I also didn't understand how he was conning the other players. I thought it was allowed to bluff and make the other players think you have a good hand. So why was Molly unhappy about that?
Thanks
Probably because he is well respected by the other players -- some owe him a lot of money -- and so if he suggested they limit their tips they might well agree.
She was unhappy because he was lending money to another player at the table. So if the other player won he still won. His motives were no longer pure. He could signal the other player what he was holding, for example, and then that player would know that some critical card was not a hold card for any other player.
1. He had leverage because he was famous and people wanted to play against him. He was the star of the game for the rich businessman. She was just the host. She was replaceable, he wasnt as was evident from him stealing the game from her.
2. As the other poster said. He was staking the other player. Paying for his buyins while receiving a % of his winnings. This opens the door for collusion. If you are financially invested in someone at the table, you have no reason to try and beat them, this is what Molly was getting at.