Top 10 Musicians Who Play Poker

Poker has boomed over the last couple of decades. As the game has grown, it’s attracted a number of celebrities, athletes and musicians. While the first two are typically better known, poker doesn’t get as much attention when musicians dive in.

In this list, we’re doing a deep dive into 10 artists or band members in the music industry that are well known in the poker game industry for their love of the game.

Drake

The Grammy-winning artist Drake has been a longtime fan of poker. In 2021, Drake was seen playing poker alongside other artists such as Meek Mill and Lil Baby on New Year’s day. Some people that were around the large poker game recalled that Drake was betting millions during these poker games. He was also seen hanging out with Phil Hellmuth, a poker legend and one of the best players of all time. Has he learned a thing or two? It’s hard to say as we don’t know much about Drake’s poker game.

Justin Vernon

Justin Vernon was able to catapult himself into the spotlight by appearing on an album called Bon Iver. Some people have labeled the album as a masterpiece due to the fact that it only came to fruition by utilizing guitars, a laptop, and some microphones.

While he showed off his impeccable skill there, Vernon has also done the same at the poker tables. He has admitted to playing the game in his spare time, losing $220 once after competing in the online version of the game. The artist has talked about his poker playing while on stage a few times as well, so it seems like a frequent hobby for him.

Nelly

Nelly first came up on the scene with the song “Country Grammar” and he’s since released tons of other hits that have gotten him towards the top of the ranks a couple of times throughout his career. One of the bestselling rappers of all time has recently been seen focusing a little bit of his time on poker. Nelly has competed in different tournaments such as the World Series of Poker and the PokerStars European Tour. If you see him at one of your tables, make sure you get a selfie with him.

Steve Aoki

Scott Ian at the Ante Up For Africa charity poker tournament during the World Series of Poker at the Rio hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Wednesday, July 2, 2008. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)

Steve Aoki is one of the best-known DJ’s. Not only is he unique because he has long hair and throws cakes into the crowd, but he’s also a member of the poker community.

Over the years, he’s been able to come out and host a variety of big charity poker tournaments. Aoki himself has even described himself as a poker fanatic and it resulted in him getting some commentating jobs for the World Series of Poker. To make his poker hobby even more exceptional, Aoki is considered to be a good friend to Phil Ivey, a legend in the game.

Scott Ian 

For those not familiar with Scott Ian, he’s a guitarist for the metal band Anthrax. Ian has long been a known poker player, even competing professionally for multiple years. He even managed to get sponsored by an online poker company. He also once won a celebrity poker tournament and never looked back.

To build on his game, he started to take lessons and eventually won multiple tournaments– including an event at the World Series of Poker in 2009. There’s no doubt that he’s learnt to love the game and it has rewarded him in a variety of different ways.

Joni Mitchell

Not only is Joni Mitchell a musician that has played poker, but she’s been able to use it as inspiration as well. For example, the song “Help Me”, written in 1974, was all about her experience at the poker table and how it compares to other aspects of her life.

She mentioned that she could stay calm under pressure when competing at the poker table, while her significant other could not. Mitchell most certainly utilized her skills at the poker table to further influence her music career over the years.

Josh Homme

Josh Homme is known for his involvement with the band Queens of the Stone Age. He’s the primary songwriter and founder of the group and has always been helping out numerous bands throughout his career. A few of those involvements were with the Foo Fighters and the Arctic Monkeys.

Fans have regularly seen him compete at the poker table during the time he wasn’t out there with a band. Homme has surely been able to get some good runs in over the years during some live action.

Frank Sinatra

The legend himself.

Frank Sinatra is one of the most iconic members of the music industry but what you might not know is that he was also a member of the poker community.

Sinatra quickly became one of the most successful musicians of all-time, selling over 150 million records. While he was topping the charts, he was also doing his best to top the leaderboards at poker events. He competed consistently in poker games. Every chance he took, Sinatra was seen entertaining residents at these establishments while sitting down at the poker tables.

Ian Fraser Kilmister – Lemmy

Commonly known as Lemmy, the late musician was the founder of Motorhead. Many believe that he was the initial pioneer of the heavy metal genre of music, helping write songs talking all about his gambling life and how much he has a love for the competition.

What many seem to know about his gaming is that he loved to play slots. However, he also delved into online and regular poker. He had such a fond love for games like Hold’em, so much that the property kept a seat reserved next to the machine after he passed away back in 2016.

Liv Boeree

Liv Boeree was the lead guitarist for the band Nemhain and Dissonance. Boeree is also a wildly successful poker player – maybe even the most successful on this list of musicians.

She first spent some time competing in various commercial tournaments before coming away with a massive $1,698,000 cash prize. Liv won it in the European Poker Tournament in 2010. She also was so successful within  the professional poker circuit that she eventually came away with the nickname of Iron Maiden. Boeree was also the first female player to win a European Poker Tournament title and a World Series of Poker title.