Phil Ivey Meets Barack Obama in Las Vegas

Phil Ivey and Howard Lederer ponied up a few big blinds to meet the president.

Last night U.S. President Barack Obama visited Las Vegas and two world-class poker players were on hand to greet him. 

There was a price tag attached to the greeting though: according to the Twitter feed of political journalist Jon Ralston, poker pros Phil Ivey and Howard Lederer both paid $30,000 each to attend last night’s fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee. The night’s festivities were held at the home of George Maloof, owner of the Palms Hotel and Casino and brother to the owners of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings. The president was on hand at the fundraiser, which was expected to raise upward of $1 million and also drew visits from actor Dennis Haysbert and NBA rookie Tyreke Evans. Phil Ivey last met with the president when he was still running for office in 2008.

It’s unclear at this point whether the two had the chance to bend the president’s ear, but if they did it might have been to ask him to please stop slagging Las Vegas because all the fish are staying home. On a possibly related note, President Obama apparently stopped at Bellagio before heading to the fundraiser. The rumors about him playing in Bobby’s Room, though – those are 100% untrue. Repeat: the president wasn’t at Bobby’s Room playing in the Big Game yesterday. Seriously. Now don’t ask us about it again.