It’s a secretive gathering, one to which outsiders are typically denied entrance. But the star of these testosterone-fueled games, the celebrity who stands out in a group of millionaires and A-listers, is Tobey Maguire - careful, conservative, effective. Nick Cassavetes and Gabe Kaplan are players, joined in the past by Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and on occasion, New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez. Indeed, this game - and much of the world of high-stakes Hollywood poker - is an intoxicating mix of competition, power and ego.
And at this level, the game is no longer simply about a group of buddies getting together for friendly bonding over cards. When they tire, masseuses dole out massages. They catch up on their busy lives, maybe discuss a business opportunity. They order in dinner from Matsuhisa or Madeo or tuck into filet mignon prepared by private chefs. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are won and lost - sometimes in a single hand. With eight or nine gathered, they play no-limit hold ’em into the night at one another’s multimillion-dollar homes in Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood or Malibu. They are among the highest of the high-stakes players in this moneyed town: A-list actors, Hollywood hangers-on and businessmen who can shell out $50,000 just for a seat at the table.
