The president shakes hands with a man in a horse mask while greeting supporters. The Bear meets a horse

The bear was on the loose on Tuesday evening — this time in Colorado.

President Barack Obama greeted supporters on a walk following dinner in downtown Denver, a night that resulted in shaking hands with a man in a horse mask, and shooting pool and drinking beers during a chance encounter with Gov. John Hickenlooper.


Shortly after landing in the Rocky Mountain State, the president dined at the Wazee Supper Club in downtown Denver with five people who had written him letters. “I’m so glad you’re here,” the president told his dinner companions, according to a White House pool report.

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After dinner, Obama — who has begun to venture out in Washington, D.C., and interact with more average Americans — decided to walk down Denver’s 15th Street and talk to members of the crowd. Obama spent about 10 minutes speaking with people, according to the pool report, including an interaction with one crowd member wearing a horse head.

The president handed out “high fives, fist bumps,” as he put it, to many of his supporters there.

After his stroll, Obama went to Denver’s Wynkoop Brewing Company, which Hickenlooper — one of the establishment’s founders — was also visiting, coincidentally.

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The president greeted some patrons at the bar, including one patron who asked Obama whether he wanted to smoke marijuana.

“You want to take a hit of this?” the man asked to a laughing Obama. Colorado voted to legalize marijuana in 2012.

The president and Hickenlooper then ordered beers and shot a game of pool.

Though the governor and the president started slow — they were “pushing the balls around without much success,” according to the pool report — Obama “got hot” and won the game.

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At one point, Hickenlooper jokingly asked for reporters because of his play. After the game, Obama asked the pool reporter to note that the governor still had five balls left on the table.

Later Tuesday evening, the Colorado governor took to Twitter to praise Obama for his character — and pool skills. “The president shoots some mean stick with a kind heart,” Hickenlooper wrote, with an accompanying picture of Obama lining up a pool shot. “Won $20 off me, but returned it saying, ‘Give it to charity.’”