The Poker Hiphop: Jay-Z

One of the famous hip-hopper, agent, songwriter, businessman and no good poker player Jay-Z, by his real name Shawn Corey Carter, has recently developed a new passion, for which he seems willing to allocate not only time, but also significant amounts of money.




Playing blackjack and poker are his game, beyond his special talent for music which brought significant amounts of money to his personal treasury, Jay-Z has discovered another talent of his: he loves poker and seems to be getting better and better at it.

In 2008, Jay-Z revealed his passion for poker while in London, with the occasion of a tour in UK. Back then he stated that he liked to play at the casinos in London and that he likes playing especially because the press is not always watching him.

Jay-Z considers himself to be an expert with regard to gambling and he thinks that he is difficult to defeat in poker or blackjack.

“I am a pretty good player, almost professional. I won’t give names because I don’t want to ruin it all, but there are here (i.e. in London) all sorts of private clubs in West End, where you can go and play and where the atmosphere is super cool”, said Jay-Z.

His passion for poker is also shared by the rapper’s wife, Beyonce Knowles. The diva prefers the casino Fifty, a location where neither she nor her husband is in short supply of thousands of dollars to spend at the playing poker.

Jay-Z is not famous only for his talent at poker, but also for the colossal losses registered on account of his passion. The most notorious news about Jay-Z is the one referring to the loss of nearly one million dollars on a single hand of poker in Las Vegas, at the end of 2008.

With all these, with an estimated personal fortune of $547 million, it’s not hard to see that the amount lost did not represent that much and that high-stake gambling are not a problem for the rapper. Moreover, the rapper would be extremely interested of opening his own casino in Vegas, an area which he visited many times next to Beyonce. It seems that Jay-Z intends to extend his business from Atlantic City, the 40/40 club, and to turn it into a location for gambling.

Like most celebrities keen on gambling, Jay-Z is no stranger to poker tours for charity purposes in which many important names from all fields of activity, especially show-biz, take part.

Even more, the rapper even organized together with the star of the “Yankees” team, Alex Rodriguez, a poker tour for celebrities in his club in New York, with the purpose of raising money for charity. The celebrities to take part in the event included Nelly, Ashanti, Cedric the Entertainer, Steve Harvey, Dj Clue, Anthony Mackie and much more.

Shakira's Online Games

The hip shaking and sensual Shakira is waiting for you to shake your hips and dance with in her new online game “She Wolf”.

Help the sexy hip shaker Shakira with the rehearsal of her amazing dance movements for the recording of the latest smashing single She Wolf!

Make sure she doesn't miss a move, push the number indicated by the moon in the game screen or do it by pressing your number keypad. Train her properly so this video can become a must watch! And be careful as you only have 3 chances to make a mistake! If there's more you'll be fired!

About Shakira: Isabel Mebahrak Ripoll (Shakira) is a Colombian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, dancer and a philanthropist who has been a major figure in the pop music scene of Latin America.

By the time she was seven, Shakira displayed an impressive dancing ability when she joined a group of belly dancers at a Middle Eastern restaurant. She showed she could emulate their moves, much to the delight of everyone in the restaurant and she continued delivering impromptu performances for anyone who would stop long enough to watch her. It’s a talent she has clearly continued to put to good use throughout her career though it hardly begins to describe her fluid, sexy dancing ability and the impact it has had on pop culture.

She also began singing and, from the start, displayed a unique voice that stood out among her peers. Because of her already developed strong vibrato, she could only sing the solos in school because her voice overpowered her class mates.

In a twist that seems like something out of a made-for-TV movie, a local theater producer whom Shakira had befriended met a Sony Music executive on a flight and convinced him to audition Shakira in a motel lobby.

Her talent won over any doubters and the label signed her to a three-album deal. But she was hardly an overnight sensation. Her first album, “Magia," recorded when she was only 14 in 1991, failed to find an audience.

The subsequent album release of the concert program earned Shakira her first Grammy Award. She was later named favorite international artist at the August 2000 MTV Video Music Awards.


At the inaugural Latin Grammy Awards ceremony that same year, Shakira delivered a much-discussed, show-stopping performance of "Ojos Así" and took home Unplugged-related trophies for Best Female Pop Vocal and Best Female Rock Vocal.

As always, eager to continue to explore her roots, she included new Spanish songs. “Laundry Service” contained the mega-smashes “Whenever, Wherever” and ballad “Underneath Your Clothes.”

By airing her musical “Laundry” before her adoring public, Shakira went from a Latin American superstar to a global superstar loved by people all over the world. The 2001 album went on to sell more than 13 million albums.

Not surprisingly, by 2002 Shakira had plenty of material for a Spanish greatest hits set. The year was also memorable for her continued mutual admiration society with MTV. She won another MTV Award, as well as five MTV Latin America Video Music Awards. She followed the greatest hits with 2004’s “Live and Off the Record,” a DVD of her Tour of the Mongoose. But even greater things lay ahead as Shakira continued to challenge herself artistically.

The English version, “Oral Fixation Vol. 2,” came out in November 2005. Like its predecessor, it set a few records of its own. The single “Hips Don’t Lie,” featuring Wyclef Jean, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became the most played song in the history of pop radio as her fans could not get enough of the sexy tune. The trip to the top made Shakira the only Colombian artist to land at No. 1.

In 2007, she teamed with Beyonce for their international hit “Beautiful Liar” from the deluxe edition of Beyonce’s “B’Day” album. In addition to topping the chart in 12 territories, the song set the record for the largest jump ever on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. by soaring 91 positions from No. 94 to No. 3 in one week. It also debuted at No. 1 on both the Hot Digital Tracks and Hot Digital Songs charts.

And now, Shakira is keen to record a duet with actor Robert Pattinson after witnessing his musical talent in “Twilight”.

Photos | Bio: http://www.shakira.com