Worlds Merging: Rap and Poker

Squeeze Play Poker Movie Trailer Version 2 – Poker Life In The Fast Lane

The rap and poker worlds have been intertwining for quite some time now. We’ve seen rappers getting into late stages of major poker tournaments, as well as throwing private and charity events. Here’s a list of renowned rappers that have gotten into poker to get an idea of what’s been transpiring over the years.

Nelly hit headlines in 2007 when he played at the Main Event in the World Series of Poker. He was also recently at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open playing against other celebs like American Pie’s Shannon Elizabeth. He went on the record with the Sun Sentinel stating, “I play a lot on instinct, but being who I am has a double edge [playing poker].” He added that he notices that players call his bluffs and go all-in more often “because then they can tell their friends they knocked out Nelly.”

Jay Z is lower key with his poker outings. He’s known for going to the casino for high-stakes private games as he reportedly lost $500,000 on one hand. In 2006, he teamed up with A-Rod for a charity even at the 40/40 Club in Manhattan. The New York Yankees official site reported that it raised more than $250,000 for A-Rod’s charity.

Ja Rule had his own poker site for some time, but it was shut down by the government. He’s known for his private poker games with other rappers and friends, and for hitting up the Bellagio from time to time. Ja is also a good friend of poker star Phil Ivey.

This connection between the two worlds hasn’t just meant that some rappers are getting into poker. In fact, some stars of the game have actually tried their hand at rap.

Phil Ivey got upset when an online poker site wouldn’t pay out some of its players. As a result, he sat out of the World Series of Poker in 2011 because of the issue. On top of that, the nine-time WSOP bracelet winner had a rap made that spoke about his feelings towards the situation. Bet Fair, a site known for online poker and other gaming options, has that rap posted in full on its blog.

Jeff Madsen, the three-time WSOP bracelet winner has been on YouTube several times because of his rapping. In the video he made in 2009 for the WSOP, it includes him rapping and talking about how he’s “always been into hip-hop music. [He] definitely uses rap to get out some frustration and emotion. ” More notably he is on YouTube battling Phil Ivey’s Cousin, but to his credit he’s a much better poker player than rapper.

Brett Richey is known throughout the poker world as a fun-loving guy who’ll make rap videos just about anything in the poker world. He even built a site that hosts his poker rap videos. He’s also in a rap group named Dream/Clone, which is surprisingly decent.

The marriage of poker and rap isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Many rappers use poker to help build their negotiating skills for not only labels but for outside business opportunities as well. Most notably Jay-Z is known for his negotiation skills, which he put on full display when he acquired Robinson Cano a sweet new contract.