Ben Affleck Lost it All in Illegal Celeb Poker Ring
"Ben Busted Big" in Bulletproofed Games
You don't have to understand poker to understand how stupid some of your favorite celebs have been. New names have been revealed in the recently discovered Hollywood poker ring that has threatened the careers of stars like Tobey Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio...and now Ben Affleck. Check out how much Affleck paid Maguire's father-in-law, and why insiders call this poker participation "career suicide" in Hollywood.
A report broke last week to reveal that for nearly the last decade, groups of lawyers, businessmen, Hollywood execs and famous actors have been gathering in locked-down rooms around Los Angeles to play in high-stakes, no limit poker games. Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon are reported to have been big players in the ring, as was Tobey Maguire, whose father-in-law, Ron Meyer, ran the whole thing.
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And today it's Ben Affleck's game that's making major headlines. Despite the fact that he once played a street-smart bad boy in Good Will Hunting, it turns out when it came to poker, Affleck didn't have much game at all: that's why in 2004, right around the time he and Jennifer Lopez split, Affleck -- who hosted a regular poker night known as "Ben's Game" at Beverly Hills' ritzy cigar bar, the Grand Havana Room -- found himself in a heated predicament owing $400,000 to Meyer. For awhile it appeared as though the actor, now 38, couldn't pay it, which began to raise questions among Affleck's high-paying peers. Remember, this was the era in which Affleck was getting Gigli with it, and, says a source, "He'd had a string of bad movies and didn't have any big projects on the horizon, and everyone was wondering, 'Is Ben broke?'"
It's reported that after sweating for awhile, Affleck finally came up with the money because, as the source says, owing money to Hollywood heavyweight Ron Meyer would have been "career over ... suicide," says the source, adding, "Eventually ... Ben started turning up to the games again."
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At the time, showing up to those games was a money move...but today everybody that's being named in the ring look like losers. Insiders say no criminal investigation will take place, but some guys who played in the games (which were sometimes regulated by bodyguards in bulletproof vests) have slammed Tobey Maguire with a civil suit as he's said to have pocketed $30 million to $40 million over the course of three years. "He's cheap as f*** and plays like a cheap b****," says pro poker player Dan Bilzerian.
And despite how serious the celeb poker saga is -- as well as the millions of dollars that were illegally wrapped up in it -- Affleck's poker faux pas is getting some big laughs. At press time the U.K.'s Daily Mail reported that Affleck's rep had been unavailable for comment.
We have to ask: what's good girl Jennifer Gardner saying?
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