Famous Musicians Who Are Notorious High-Stakes Gamers And Their Legendary Wins
4 min read
It’s no secret that musicians lead fast-paced, high-octane lives both onstage and off. With the roar of the crowd and the adrenaline, it doesn’t end there. For some of music’s most recognizable names, it’s not in the studio or the backstage lounge but at the tables of elite casinos; online through glowing betting platforms; or behind-the-scenes to digitally enhanced platforms.
High-stakes gambling has found plenty of not-so-secretive practitioners among several music icons, many of whom are probably better known for their larger-than-life wagers than for their platinum records.
The rhythm of risk and reward
From behind the velvet ropes of Las Vegas casinos to tucked away in private poker rooms, these players often trade in the microphone for the chips. Poker, blackjack, roulette, even online slots, in quieter moments are not pure entertainment but also arenas for strategic flair and personal thrill. There’s some kind of auditory analogy in the games; when a card turns up or a wheel spins, it’s musical in its rhythm and just as jazzed-up in its risk and potentiality.
Big names and even bigger bets
Take Jay-Z, for example. Jay-Z has been all over the news not just for the lucrative deals he makes in business but also for his exceptional craps play. Rumors prevail of a $560,000 fortune won at Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, though they often are accompanied by gossips of an equal poker loss in that very city. Apocryphal if taken literally to the last dollar, these stories do express some truth: to some musicians, gambling is not necessarily something they do for fun but often an outlet for that lifestyle driven by risk.
Appeal’s not just for rap moguls. Consider Godsmack’s Sully Erna and his poker résumé would be coveted by many pros. A deep run in the 2006 World Series of Poker and six-figures from the Five-Diamond World Poker Classic make his table presence not just celebrity spectacle but legitimate competition.
Contrast this with P. Diddy, who enjoys the suave confidence of blackjack. He famously has private tables set up on his tour and once turned $750,000 profit at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas. It’s a setting that seems to suit his high-luxury, image-conscious persona.
How their game of choice mirrors their persona
Ironically, the card games they like to play best correspond, generally, to the image they have in public. Drake’s energy was suited to the fast play of blackjack, while a penchant for flamboyance and unpredictability helped Styles explode into a $300,000 win at roulette in Perth.
Even the ‘Empress of Soul,’ Gladys Knight was known to quietly love the game of blackjack upon moving to Las Vegas and collected over $60,000. The fairly even speed of blackjack is like her performances lit by poised power and grace.
Not all stories, however, end in wins. Scott Ian of Anthrax lost $200,000 in Monte Carlo. As he once said, or rather as his commodity-trading mentor said: “A pebble in the shoe always hurts more when it’s a Yachting Lord sneaker.” Not that the lesson suddenly makes the loss any easier, but it’s part of the tale that belongs to the gambler, every win carries with it the shadow of possible loss, as much as every great song has its total of harmony and resolution.
When gambling meets artistry
The margin between Fame, Fortune, and the fortune-seeker become blurrier still when a Musician brings together his Aesthetic Universe and gambling. For example, Dave Mustaine of Megadeth channels the Volatility of Gambling into songs, “Train of Consequences”, personal stakes, artistic output. Vinnie Paul turns Poker nights at times into Bonding Rituals, hosting Celebrity Tournaments while on tour.
There’s a very fine line of similarity between the music industry and gambling. Both can be unforgiving, both can be exhilarating, and both can be wildly unpredictable. Both demand a performance of some kind, a read of the room, and an uncanny willingness to take a leap with no guarantee of success.
And maybe this is the reason why so many people, people who are hardwired to thrive on adrenaline and attention, find a home in the uncertain rhythm of the gaming world. Artists perceive gambling as just one more step.
To conclude
To most people, the worlds of high-stakes gaming and musical fame would appear to be universes apart, but a very few feel perfectly at home in both. Jay-Z’s craps table antics, the surreptitious blackjack wins of Gladys Knight, these artists bring to the casino the same kind of passion with which they practice their craft.
::: RenownedForSound.com’s Editor and Founder –
Interviewing and reviewing the best in new music and globally recognized artists is his passion.
Over the years he has been lucky enough to review thousands of music releases and concerts and interview artists ranging from top selling superstars like 27-time Grammy Award winner Alison Krauss, Boyz II Men, Roxette, Cyndi Lauper, Lisa Loeb and iconic Eagles front man/songwriter, Glenn Frey through to more recent successes including Newton Faulkner, Janelle Monae and Caro Emerald.
Brendon manages and coordinates the amazing team of writers on RenownedForSound.com who are based in the UK, the U.S and Australia.
