Famous Rappers and Pop Stars Who Play Poker
Poker is a creative game, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that there are several celebrity musicians who have excelled at the poker table.
Some of these musicians play on the road, while others, like the DJ Steve Aoki, can be found in cash games in Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
From 2000s hip-hop icons Nelly and Ray J to contemporary pop star Madison Beer, here is a look at the rappers, pop singers and DJs who play poker.
Nelly
Rap star Nelly, best known for his 2002 hit "Hot in Herre," has been an avid poker player since at least the late 2000s.
Nelly took part in the 2009 Ante Up for Africa charity initiative and, the same year, he played at the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Monte Carlo stop.
In the following years, he played the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) in the Bahamas and the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event in Las Vegas.
More than a decade later, the "Grillz" rapper played in a low-stakes cash game in the Venetian Poker Room to celebrate the card room's grand opening.
Madison Beer
Madison Beer, who has over 23 million monthly Spotify listeners, may be the biggest pop star to ever take interest in the game of pot-limit Omaha (PLO).
In 2025, influencer and WSOP Circuit ring winner Nick Austin, Beer's boyfriend at the time, told PokerNews that the young pop star plays PLO cash games in Los Angeles.
If you play at Hustler or the Commerce, don't be surprised if the "Reckless" singer check-raises you in a double board bomb pot.
Steve Aoki
Iconic DJ and record producer Steve Aoki is an longtime poker player and former ambassador for the World Poker Tour (WPT).
In 2022, Aoki hosted a WPT-sanctioned home game inside his Las Vegas mansion, where he sat down with PokerNews for an exclusive interview.
"One of my very close friends in 2004 was an avid poker player," said Aoki, who has 14 million monthly Spotify listeners. "He was kind of a DJ guru, and I looked up to him a lot as far as guidance. He was kind of my big brother, and he played poker all the time. So, he got me into the world."
"We would DJ together and then after our sets, we would go to Commerce Casino and play."
Ray Jay
R&B legend Ray Jay is a proflific poker player who plays in both poker tournaments and streamed high-stakes cash games.
When he's not playing on Hustler Casino Live, Ray Jay can be found playing on the Celebrity Poker Tour or in major events like the WPT World Championship.
The "Sexy Can I" singer is married to fellow poker player Princess Love, who spoke to PokerNews on the Life Outside Poker podcast about her relationship with Ray J.
Waka Flocka Flame
As Nelly was playing poker in Monte Carlo, a rap star from the next generation, Waka Flocka Flame, was cooking up his 2010 single "Hard in da Paint."
The trap pioneer took to poker late in his career as he made an appearance in a 2025 Celebrity Poker Tour (CPT) event in Las Vegas.
"I was comfortable and nervous at the same time, but now I've figured out that I might have a career playing poker," the rapper told PokerNews in an interview. "I might have a good career playing poker."
He added that he planned to study poker, saying, "I can go through college and high school. Once I graduate, I'm kicking ass."
Waka Flocka Flame ended 2025 by playing in a CPT event at WSOP Paradise.
Irv Gotti
Legendary hip-hop producer Irv Gotti, who is credited with discovering rap talents like Jay-Z and DMX, died at the poker table.
According to news reports, The Murder Inc. Records founder suffered a stroke in February 2025 in the middle of a poker home game.
Gotti was a longtime poker player and had $44,106 in Hendon Mob earnings. The New York native had his first cash in 2010 in the Borgata Poker Open Championship Event in Atlantic City.
Maxo Kream
Waka Flocka Flame isn't the only rapper to take up poker on the Celebrity Poker Tour. In November 2024, Houston rapper Maxo Cream played in the CPT Championship in Las Vegas, where he told PokerNews he learned poker a week before by playing on Twitch.
“I do a lil' some’some. I play poker more with finesse. As long as you’ve got your finesse game right, ... there's time and opportunity. You just get the hand that’s dealt to you. But I’m a’ight," said the "Roaches" rapper with 1.2 million monthly Spotify listeners.
24kGoldn
Another up-and-coming rap star to dabble in poker is 24kGoldn, a California rapper with over 10 million monthly Spotify listeners.
24kGoldn, known for hit "Mood" with more than a half-billion views on YouTube, is a regular on the Celebrity Poker Tour and later played in Hellmuth's Home Game hosted by Poker Hall of Famer Phil Hellmuth.
Bun B
Yet another rapper to come to poker through the Celebrity Poker Tour is Bun B of the seminal southern hip-hop group UGK.
The Houston rap legend brought his trillness to the poker table when he played the CPT Invitational II in Las Vegas in February 2024.
Angela Defoe
Los Angeles-based producer Angela Defoe, who had a viral pop single in 2020, is an avid poker player with $94,335 in live earnings and two tournament victories under her belt.
"Since I was a baby, all of our family reunions was poker and Filipino food. And I would take stacks of chips and make little houses and little roads for my cards," Defoe told PokerNews in an interview at the 2025 WSOP.
Defoe, whose 2020 single "Black Metal Romance" has over 1.6 million views on YouTube, is married to The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus singer and founder Ronnie Winter, who she said is also a bit of a poker player.
Next, PokerNews will take a look at the rock stars and punk legends who play poker.
*Images courtesy of World Poker Tour/Joe Giron, Celebrity Poker Tour, All In Britney via Instagram & WikiMedia Commons
