A-Rod didn’t know when to fold ’em.
The Yankees slugger reportedly played in the illegal high-stakes poker ring in that included A-list celebrities Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.
Rodriguez also recently played in a separate high-stakes game that had a $40,000 buy-in, Star magazine and RadarOnline.com reported today.
The report drew the attention of Major League Baseball, which takes a dim view of players gambling.
“This is the first we have heard about this and we will look into it,” Patrick Courtney, MLB senior vice president of public relations, told RadarOnline.
Poker player Adam Bilzerian told the publications “I was surprised to see just how good a poker player Alex is.” In one game within the past two years, “A-Rod won a bunch of money,” Bilzerian said.
The ring that included celebrities came to light recently after Maguire was sued by a trustee trying to recover money lost in a Ponzi scheme allegedly masterminded by a Beverly Hills hedge fund manager. Maguire won more than $300,000 in the poker games from the hedge fund manager, Star has reported.
The poker ring cost $100,000 to get into.
“Initially, A-Rod came to the game and simply watched,” one source told Star.
“But once he knew what it was all about, he bought into the game. He played two or three times, I would estimate.”
Rodriguez was tagged playing poker in Manhattan in 2005.
The third baseman and poker legend Phil Hellmuth stopped by a poker club near Union Square at around midnight Sept. 21, 2005, The Post reported then. Although it is illegal to operate a card club that charges admission or takes a cut of the pots, it’s not against the law to wager in such an establishment.