solderz 0 Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 Spidey's Home Game LinkSpider-Man star Tobey Maguire is among more than a dozen high-profile Hollywood celebrities being sued in connection with a mega-millions illegal gambling ring that ran high-stakes underground poker games, Star magazine is reporting exclusively.Maguire, 35, won more than $300,000 from a Beverly Hills hedge fund manager who embezzled investor funds and orchestrated a Ponzi scheme in a desperate bid to pay off his monster debt to the star and others, it's alleged.An FBI investigation into Brad Ruderman, the CEO of Ruderman Capital Partners, uncovered how he lost $25 million of investor money in clandestine poker games held on a twice weekly basis in suites at the luxury Beverly Hills hotel, Four Seasons, and the Viper Room on Sunset Boulevard.Tinsel town A-listers Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon also played in the no-limit Texas Hold 'em games which had a buy-in of $100,000, multiple members of the ring told Star.Others who were part of the secret society and are facing hefty lawsuits include billionaire businessman Alex Gores, The Notebook director Nick Cassavetes, Welcome Back, Kotter star Gabe Kaplan, Paris Hilton's infamous sex tape partner, Rick Salomon, record label owner Cody Leibel and Las Vegas nightlife entrepreneur and real-estate developer Andrew Sasson, among others.Now, as Ruderman sits in a Texas jail until 2018, convicted on two counts of wire fraud and two counts of investment adviser fraud, lawyers for the clients whose funds he embezzled are filing a series of civil suits against those who won big in the illegal poker dens, in the hope of recouping some of their lost savings.DiCaprio, Affleck and Damon are not being sued.The games were "exclusive events, by invitation only, and that there was a regular roster of players consisting of wealthy celebrities, entrepreneurs, attorneys and businessmen," according to the lawsuit filed against Maguire in the United States Bankruptcy Court, in Los Angeles.Ruderman lost $311,300 to Maguire, including one losing hand of $110,000, on July 30, 2007, it's claimed.The Ponzi mastermind used clients' money to "pay for gambling losses at clandestine, high stakes poker games that were operated without any licenses or permits," the suit said."As part of the scheme, funds invested in (Ruderman) were transferred to persons such as Defendant (Maguire), who received the funds on account of Ruderman's gambling losses and on account of Defendant's gambling winnings."In their attempt to win back Ruderman's losses, the trustee has claimed Maguire is "not entitled to receive the transfers from the Debtor, which transfers were compromised of improperly-diverted investor funds."In a deposition of the alleged ringleader of the operation, which took in tens of millions of dollars beginning in 2006 through 2009, Maguire is described as a "very, very frequent player," in the games, which ended in 2009.Maguire won as much as $1 million a month over a period of three years, one source told Star, which is on newsstands Wednesday."That means he could have made up to $30 to $40 million from these games," the whistle-blowing card shark predicted.Under California law, it's illegal to play for money at underground poker clubs, although it is a crime rarely prosecuted. None of the participants are under criminal investigation, Star has been told.Indeed, it's understood Maguire has hired an attorney to strenuously defend the allegations against him, who will argue the games were not illegal.In a world exclusive investigation, Star detailed how the A-list aces used secret passwords to play in the covert games that were so intense, the door was manned by armed guards in bulletproof vests.Inside the rooms, tucked away in different locations around Los Angeles, high-rollers laid down wads of cash on felt-top tables presided over by professional dealers who were part of the operation's hierarchy.One of the participants, Dan Bilzerian, told Star that he regularly played against DiCaprio, Affleck and Maguire.Damon, according to Bilzerian, played irregularly.While Affleck, who won an Academy Award for his screenplay Good Will Hunting, impressed players with his poker skills, both DiCaprio and Damon did not fair as well, Star reported."Matt never won,’’ another whistle-blowing player told the magazine."In truth, Leo is a tight ass. When he lost $50,000 the look in his eyes was obvious he was crazy." Link to post Share on other sites
solderz 0 Posted June 22, 2011 Author Share Posted June 22, 2011 How's that for a bad beat? Link to post Share on other sites
FCP Bob 1,321 Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 Interesting stuff, the fact that there have been a lot of private high stakes celebrity games in LA hasn't been a secret.Here's the link to the actual lawsuit.http://www.radaronline.com/sites/radaronli...Radaronline.pdf Link to post Share on other sites
ajs510 122 Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 Maguire won as much as $1 million a month over a period of three years, one source told Star, which is on newsstands Wednesday."That means he could have made up to $30 to $40 million from these games," the whistle-blowing card shark predicted.Pffffffft. That seems like a more than slightly sensationalist claim.*Edit* Ah...Star Magazine. Now the pieces are falling together... Link to post Share on other sites
king_tanner 84 Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 lol so one guy says Toby Maguire made 1 million a month, and they take that to court? Did he bring a calculator to the game and track everyone's money? How can a guy say he lost exactly $311,000 and a $110,000 hand without video footage? This all sounds so ridiculous to me. Why are DiCaprio, Damon, and Affleck not included. This is all such bs. Link to post Share on other sites
Mercury69 3 Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 lol so one guy says Toby Maguire made 1 million a month, and they take that to court? Did he bring a calculator to the game and track everyone's money? How can a guy say he lost exactly $311,000 and a $110,000 hand without video footage? This all sounds so ridiculous to me. Why are DiCaprio, Damon, and Affleck not included. This is all such bs.Get out of jail free card? Link to post Share on other sites
Skeleton Jelly 2 Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 lol so one guy says Toby Maguire made 1 million a month, and they take that to court? Did he bring a calculator to the game and track everyone's money? How can a guy say he lost exactly $311,000 and a $110,000 hand without video footage? This all sounds so ridiculous to me. Why are DiCaprio, Damon, and Affleck not included. This is all such bs. Court documentBasically, this guy is suing Ruderman because he was taking investor money and using it to pay his poker debts. There were seven transfers totaling $311,200 from Ruderman to Maguire. He's saying that Maguire isn't entitled to that money and is suing to get it back. I assume the other lawsuits are similar.DiCaprio, Damon, and Affleck probably aren't being sued because Ruderman never transferred money to them. Link to post Share on other sites
solderz 0 Posted June 22, 2011 Author Share Posted June 22, 2011 It seems to me, if they just sent Toby a letter stating that the money given to him was the result of a ponzi scheme and actually was stolen (along with the indictment, etc.), that he would return it without much problem. This all seems a bit unnecessary. Link to post Share on other sites
ajs510 122 Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 It seems to me, if they just sent Toby a letter stating that the money given to him was the result of a ponzi scheme and actually was stolen (along with the indictment, etc.), that he would return it without much problem. This all seems a bit unnecessary.Well yeah, I mean the guy won* $40 million playing poker over the course of two to three years...*According to Star magazine, the bastion of credible journalism. Link to post Share on other sites
Skeleton Jelly 2 Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 It seems to me, if they just sent Toby a letter stating that the money given to him was the result of a ponzi scheme and actually was stolen (along with the indictment, etc.), that he would return it without much problem. This all seems a bit unnecessary. Thanks, Jubi. Link to post Share on other sites
blakheart 3 Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 Get out of jail free card?Maybe they are losers in the game? Link to post Share on other sites
solderz 0 Posted June 23, 2011 Author Share Posted June 23, 2011 Obviously a number of you have never been included in a large lawsuit. $411,000 is not a lot of money when it comes to a lawsuit of this size. I defended a lawsuit that was much smaller, and won, but incurred over $250,000 in legal fees (and expert fees). If this thing goes to trial it will cost much more than that to defend. Not to mention all the negative publicity he has gotten. Somehow I do not think he is happy about that either.I really feel this could have been settled out of court rather easily. Once you get attorney's involved at this level though, they will never let that happen. Too much money for them at stake. Link to post Share on other sites
FCP Bob 1,321 Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 Since this is the NY Post not sure how much can be believed but they're reporting that Andy Beal lost as much as $50 Million playing in games with a minimum buyin of $1 Million with Tobey Maguire.http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/mogul_texa...L#ixzz1RMn0hgDX Link to post Share on other sites
TheWynn 0 Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 I mean is Tobey really that good or do these guys just blow ass? Link to post Share on other sites
dna4ever 2 Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 interesting ....http://www.tmz.com/2011/08/17/gabe-kaplan-...-tobey-maguire/"Welcome Back Kotter" star Gabe Kaplan is forking over almost half his winnings from those Hollywood poker games involving a ponzi crook, Tobey Maguire, and several other big name celebs.According to court documents filed last week -- Kaplan won a total of $62,000 from Ruderman ... but as part of a settlement he's agreeing to return $27,900 to the trustee.Tobey is fighting the lawsuit against him and has refused to hand over any of his winnings. Link to post Share on other sites
cwjones14 0 Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 What exactly makes these games illegal? It is my understanding that unless there is a rake, the game is legal. Is this correct? Link to post Share on other sites
Pot Odds RAC 23 Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 What exactly makes these games illegal? It is my understanding that unless there is a rake, the game is legal. Is this correct? Court documentBasically, this guy is suing Ruderman because he was taking investor money and using it to pay his poker debts. There were seven transfers totaling $311,200 from Ruderman to Maguire. He's saying that Maguire isn't entitled to that money and is suing to get it back. I assume the other lawsuits are similar.DiCaprio, Damon, and Affleck probably aren't being sued because Ruderman never transferred money to them. Link to post Share on other sites
keith crime 8 Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 it seems like it would be pretty hard to prove exactly how much was won or lost - theoretically couldn't this guy have been short to the entire game and Toby covered it for him?the more interesting thing to me is how much toby declares on his taxes and whether they will go after him for thatlol at DiCaprio being pissed as hell at losing 50k and Damon being the fish - apparently this is a man beaten by jacks Link to post Share on other sites
mrdannyg 274 Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 @Pot Odds - you indicated why the lawsuit was happening. I think the person you quoted is wondering why the games themselves are being referred to as illegal. A bunch of people playing poker in a non-raked game is not illegal, to my knowledge.I can't imagine there is a legal case here. Even if the games were illegal, I don't see how there is a legit case, but I'm sure they could figure something out that sounded close.In the ponzi scheme cases, the people are having to give back gains based on the argument that it should have been clear to them based on the consistency of profits, the lack of detail and transparency provided, etc, that their gains were unrealistic and likely illegitimate. I don't see how the same could be applied to a poker game. Link to post Share on other sites
FCP Bob 1,321 Posted September 28, 2011 Share Posted September 28, 2011 The Secret World of Hollywood PokerLong, in depth story on the Hollywood games. Link to post Share on other sites
dna4ever 2 Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 Tobey Maguire is buying his way out of that high-stakes poker lawsuit -- agreeing to fork over $80,000 ... this according to new court docs.As we previously reported, Tobey was one of 22 people sued this summer for taking Ponzi schemer Bradley Ruderman to the cleaners ... in multiple underground poker games back in 2007 and 2008.It sounded like a bogus bunch of lawsuits, but Tobey folded by paying $80 grand. Still not bad, considering the actor burned Ruderman for more than $300,000 at the tables. Link to post Share on other sites
FCP Bob 1,321 Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 Tobey Maguire is buying his way out of that high-stakes poker lawsuit -- agreeing to fork over $80,000 ... this according to new court docs.As we previously reported, Tobey was one of 22 people sued this summer for taking Ponzi schemer Bradley Ruderman to the cleaners ... in multiple underground poker games back in 2007 and 2008.It sounded like a bogus bunch of lawsuits, but Tobey folded by paying $80 grand. Still not bad, considering the actor burned Ruderman for more than $300,000 at the tables.Link to today's story.http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/t...0-settle-266579 Link to post Share on other sites
FCP Bob 1,321 Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Tobey Maguire, Other Celebrities Reach Poker Settlement — Details of Hollywood’s Underground Ring Kept Out Of Court Link to post Share on other sites
FCP Bob 1,321 Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 New Details on Underground Hollywood Poker Ring Implicate a Major Studio Boss and Yankees PlayerBut if Ruderman was the easy pickings, then the real talent at the table was always Tobey Maguire, who claims he only ever won $187,000 but is believed to have walked away with as much as $1 million a month off these games. But that's not even the most shocking revelation in the deposition, an honor reserved for the leaked names of other bigwig players: DreamWorks CEO and former Walt Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg; pro poker player Kenny Tran; The Notebook director Nick Cassavetes; and even Yankee Alex Rodriguez. Link to post Share on other sites
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