New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez is being investigated by Major League Baseball for his participation in a high-stakes poker game that included A-list celebrities such as Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. Rodriguez, currently on the disabled list following knee surgery, could face a suspension if his participation in the games is confirmed, according to an anonymous MLB executive.
Star magazine reported on Wednesday that Rodriguez “played in an underground, illegal poker game where cocaine was openly used,” according to poker pro Dan Bilzerian. Another source told Star that Rodriguez was in attendance when a fight nearly broke at one of the games and added that Rodriguez “tried to distance himself from the game” once the violence broke out.
“He didn’t want to deal with it at all,” the source told Star. “He was like, ‘OK, whatever. It’s your game.’ I would estimate A-Rod lost, like, a few thousand dollars that night. After everything that happened, he paid-up and left.”
World Series of Poker bracelet winner Kenny Tran and high-stakes regular Rick Salomon also participated in the game, according to Bilzerian.
Regarding Rodriguez, Major League Baseball released a statement on Wednesday: “We take this matter very seriously and have been investigating it since the initial investigation. As part of the investigation, the commissioner’s office will interview Mr. Rodriguez.”
In 2005, Rodriguez was warned about gambling in underground poker clubs by the Yankees and by baseball commissioner Bud Selig. The league has attempted to distance itself from any sort of gambling, and while poker doesn’t fall in the same category as sports betting, the fact Rodriguez ignored the commissioner’s demands could be enough to warrant a suspension.
Richard Rubenstein, Rodriguez’s spokesman, told the New York Daily News in July that his client “has not participated in these poker games.” However, according to a report by RadarOnline, a source claims Rodriguez played in at least two of the games, one of which took place at the Beverly Hills mansion of a Hollywood record label owner.
The games Rodriguez allegedly played in could be the same for which Spiderman star Tobey Maguire is being sued. Maguire is set to appear in court on January 30, 2012, following a lawsuit filed by a trustee for investors seeking the return of winnings that Maguire won while playing in multiple high-stakes cash games.
Maguire is being sued for more than $300,000 for winnings he earned from the invitation-only Texas Hold ‘em games, organized by businessman Bradley Ruderman, who’s currently serving a 10-year prison sentence for running a Ponzi scheme to pay off debts.
Maguire is among 22 people, including former High Stakes Poker host Gabe Kaplan and private equity billionaire Alec Gores, sued by Ehrenberg. Rodriguez was not mentioned in the suit despite allegedly playing in at least one of the games organized by Ruderman, Star reports.
ESPN New York reports that the league has yet to positively determine that Rodriguez took part in the games, but the anonymous MLB executive says that Selig has at least two investigators working on the case.
“I could see us trying to pursue this a lot further,” the executive told ESPN. “The truth is still out there somewhere.”
