You’ve probably seen some celebrities’ names and gambling scandals going along in the headlines already. Rappers, athletes, and movie stars; are all enjoying their nights out and spending incredible sums of money on craps, cards, and roulettes. How about rock legends, though?
Rocksino
Gambling and rock’n roll have partnered up in many famous songs. The House of Rising Sun, by Animals, tells the story of a man who’s spent his life “in sin and misery” at a gambling house. Deep Purple’s eternal Smoke on the Water talks about a casino burning down to ashes in Switzerland. Follow our guest specialist, Kristoffer Haagensen, for more information on this issue.
Gamblers from Norway, who are also willing to give the Ace the Spades a chance, can check odds bonuser for the best options. Now, if you love gambling as much as you love rock’n roll, check our list of rock stars with long gambling curriculums.
Lemmy Kilmister – Motorhead
The rock legend Lemmy Kilmister also had legendary gambling habits. One of the band’s most famous hits, Ace of Spades, talks about the sheer pleasure of gambling, and it “makes no difference what you say”. Sadly, Lemmy’s gritty and remarkable voice left us in December 2015. There’s a documentary about his life, though: Lemmy: The Movie. Many of his colleagues give their testimonies on the singer’s gambling habits here.
Scott Ian – Anthrax
Former guitarist of the 80s thrash metal band, Anthrax and the only member of the band still alive, Scott Ian, also has great hands for poker. Poker is his second passion, and he became a professional player over the years. He already took part in several world-class events, like the WSOP. Nowadays, he also hosts his own ring games online, and is also a frequent online casino gambler.
Ace Frehley – Kiss
Paul Daniel Frehley likes card games so much that he included an Ace in his artistic name. Ace Frehley made fame and fortune with his guitar and make-up, but now he’s mostly dedicated to poker. Frehley’s gambling habits are no secret to his fans. He lives in Las Vegas, gamble constantly, and was in the same WSOP that saw Scott Ian taking the prize home.
Sully Erna – Godsmack
Sully Erna is one of the famous rock stars in America, and the leader of the 90s heavy metal band, Godsmack. He has an accomplished career as a solo artist, and he’s admired as a professional by many colleagues in the industry. More importantly for this article, Sully Erna is a poker lover and an incredibly lucky one.
He’s got a tattoo on his back, displaying a royal flush and the words “No Justice”. The tattoo remarks when the musician won a game with the magic hand right after flopping four aces. That’s when he would have said that “there’s no justice in poker”.
Liv Boeree
Liv Boeree isn’t yet a rock star. Notice the “yet” in the previous phrase. Liv Boeree, an English born astrophysicist and prodigious guitar player (no, she’s not Brian May), Boeree was already a skilled musician at the age of 15. She played on a goth band called Nemhain, which is an independent project of Cradle of Filth’s drummer, Adrian Erlandsson.
She’s also passionate about poker. In 2005, she was selected for a reality show where five people would get lessons with poker masters like Anne Duke and Phill Hellmuth. In 2008, she landed her first big prize: USD 30,000 at the Ladbrokes European Ladies Championships.
Conclusion
Gambling gives the adrenaline kick that many rock legends crave when they’re offstage. Not only that but also gambling is a recurrent theme in rock’n roll classics of all ages. Other rock giants can be found in separate editions of the VH1 Rock and Roll Celebrity Tournament, where Dusty Hill (ZZ Top) and Vinnie Paul (Hellyeah and Pantera) shared the table with professional poker players, like Phil Laak and Phill Hellmuth.