Gossip Column: Aamir Khan Calls Poker His Guilty Pleasure, Shilpa Shetty & Raj Kundra Host Casino-Themed Diwali Bash & More
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- Namita Ghosh November 6, 2018
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5 Minutes Read
With the entire nation lit up with the sparkles and festivities of Diwali, the poker hallways’ were full of juicy stories to catch up on. Playing card games for money has always been an inherent part of the Diwali celebrations for many and it’s no secret that Bollywood loves its share of Diwali parties, but it was refreshing to know that actor and producer Aamir Khan also takes an interest in poker! Turns out Khan is quite a seasoned hand at poker and admits it`s his guilty pleasure.
While you mull over that, we also have details of Bollywood’s poker celebrity Shilpa Shetty Kundra and her husband Raj Kundra`s magnificent Diwali bash and guess what the theme was? Casino Night, of course!
Speaking of bashes, if the poker fraternity back home is celebrating Diwali, our favorite international poker stars have been on beast mode, literally, and we’re not talking of their performance on the felts but their jaw-dropping Halloween parties and dress-ups!
Well, someone else has been playing it high and risky, but not at the ever-popular Bobby’s room. High stakes pro Leon Tsoukernik invited an elite group of very wealthy players to King’s Casino where the group played poker.
And while all was well there, Canadian rapper Drake was shunted out of a casino in Vancouver. Drake hasn’t taken it too well and has even accused the casino of racial profiling.
So well, have your gossip-loving senses attuned to all the chatter we have for you? Read on!
Aamir Khan Admits Poker Is His Guilty Pleasure
Poker and glamour go hand in hand and we have often seen many a Hollywood star taking to the game. There have been several classic cult movies as well on poker, the 1998 Rounders being a good case in point here.
Aamir Khan with Karan Johar
And yes, Bollywood has been home to a number of actors and celebrities swearing by the mind sport. It’s no secret that Minissha Lamba is adept at poker and even actors like Shahid Kapoor and Harman Baweja have quite a knack for the game.
It recently came out that even Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan is admittedly hooked to the game. We believed the tabloids but while we have seen Lamba at poker tournaments quite a few times recently, Khan has been quite low-key on his passion for poker. Until now, that is.
Khan recently appeared on director Karan Johar’s talk show Koffee With Karan and talked about his character ‘Firangi’ in the upcoming flick ‘Thugs of Hindostan’. As he fielded many questions put up by Johar, he candidly answered many questions about his first marriage, his love interests, and what do you know, his interest in poker! Yes, Khan admitted that his guilty pleasure was the game of poker. Did you say poker! Well poker is certainly a game of skill and if anyone in the movie business should like poker, Bollywood’s Mr. Perfect just has to be counted in.
And now that Khan has admitted to his ‘guilty pleasure’ we wonder how long it’d be till he gives in and makes an appearance at a major poker tournament!
Shilpa Shetty & Raj Kundra Host Casino Themed Diwali Bash & Bollywood Loved It!
Tinsel town people have been busy this past weekend, and like the rest of the country, living up the Diwali spirit big time. While Shah Rukh Khan’s weekend Diwali bash on Saturday had the who’s who of Bollywood landing up at his place, Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty and her industrialist husband Raj Kundra were not far behind in throwing one of the most lavish parties at their Juhu beach-facing home, this Diwali. Living up to their love for poker, Kundra, who has entered the Indian poker industry in a big way with the Match Indian Poker League (MIPL) that concluded its third consecutive season recently and more recently launched his new online poker site PokerRaj, decided to go with a ‘Casino Night’ theme for the bash.
Raj & Shilpa Shetty Kundra with Harbhajan Singh & Geeta Basra
The couple correctly guessed that the filmy stars of Bollywood would love the bash and they did! Everyone, from Salman Khan to Jacqueline Fernandez, Neha Dhupia, Sushmita Sen, Arbaaz Khan, R. Madhavan, designer Manish Malhotra…the list of attendees is endless.
The celebs got together and played cards as well as the 7 up 7 Down Dice Game. We just loved what Shetty and the other Bollywood beauties wore, though. Bollywood apart, the Casino Night party also saw cricketer Harbhajan Singh and Geeta Basra among the attendees.
Basra shared photographs from the party on her Instagram handle.
While the Kundra couple is fast creating a bigger competitive space in the domestic poker circuit, they surely managed to ring in Diwali in style!
International Poker Players Celebrate Halloween
If it’s Diwali now then it was Halloween last week. And leave it to poker players to dress up on Halloween! Sarah Herring somehow always manages to come up with some real scary costumes every Halloween and we loved the theme she went with this time!
Caitlyn Howe
Herring shared another photograph on Instagram that just goes on to say a thousand words on how she’s living it up the Halloween way.
Jennifer Tilly also dressed up to celebrate Halloween and shared her cold, wicked look on Instagram.
So did Caitlyn Howe who was scary as hell.
Leon Tsoukernik Throws A High Stakes Party
Who doesn’t know of high stakes regular and owner of the biggest casino in Europe, King’s Casino in Rozvadov, Leon Tsoukernik?
The high stakes cash specialist decided to host a private game at the casino last week. The stakes, we heard were as steep as €20k/€40k and some of the biggest names in the high stakes circuit were in attendance.
partypokerlive later shared an image of the game on Instagram.
The photograph says it all. From Australian cryptocurrency millionaire Matt Kirk to player-turned-politician Tony G, Rob Yong, 2018 WSOP Main Event champion John Cynn, Bobby Baldwin and Ben Lamb, the high and mighty of poker were all sitting together on a single poker table.
We don’t really know what went on in the cash game yet, but there have been reports that Tony G won a $2 Million pot from Leon, while Kirk scored big.
Kevin Mathers shared a few details on Twitter.
Could it be the best cash game in the world right now? The €1,000/2,000 PLO game running @PokerroomKingspic.twitter.com/MQk0b0YX7q
— Kevin Mathers (@Kevmath) October 25, 2018
So did David Long.
Bobby Baldwin — two days ago had a heated discussion with a young feller as to who was the best PLO player. I cited Lamb, Galfond and then “but the best I ever saw was BB, and he probably still is.” He answers in his snottiest voice “no way an old man could keep up.”
— David Long (@DavidLongPoker) October 26, 2018
The question we had in mind was what was Kirk doing on the same table as Baldwin, given the fact that the duo has been embroiled in lawsuits over their previous encounters on the felts in Las Vegas? Looks like Tsoukernik managed to convince both to get together for a good ‘ol game of poker!
Vancouver Casino Refuses Service to Rapper Drake
Three-time Grammy Award winner rapper Drake is used to people flocking around him and jostling for autographs, so when Drake was rudely shrugged off and rather refused service at the Vancouver-based Parq Casino, he was in for a big shock!
Rapper Drake
The Canadian singer was performing at the Rogers Arena as part of his Aubrey and the Three Migos Tour. After the show, he decided to visit the ParqCasino and play a few hands of poker. But evidently, he couldn’t.
“Parq Casino is the worst run business I have ever witnessed! Profiling me and not allowing me to gamble when I had everything they originally asked me for,” Drake claimed at a post on Instagram. However, he later deleted the post, though not before many from the poker fraternity chanced to see it.
What had really happened is not clear, but Drake’s statement shows that he was quite disgusted with being denied permission to play poker. As the storm blew on Instagram, Parq Casino management responded by saying that they were trying to reach out to Drake and were investigating the incident. Later the Casino tendered an apology as well.
“You may be aware of a situation at our casino last night. On behalf of Parq Vancouver, we would like to apologize for the experience our customer had. We are operating in one of the most complex, highly regulated industries and are always looking to better our communication and customer service. We are constantly improving our communications process to ensure that these new regulations are better understood by all guests. We categorically stand against racism of any kind. We are committed to providing a safe, secure and enjoyable experience for all,” the official statement by the casino read.
We don’t know what Drake had to say about the casino’s apology yet, but its clear that it will not be the place of choice for the rapper the next time he’s in Vancouver for sure.
So here it was, the drama, the high-octane action and the glitter that keeps railbirds like us entertained always. We’ll return with more of the interesting stuff that goes around the poker world soon enough, so stay tuned!
- Categories Latest News,Feature
- KeywordsTags: MIPL, Aamir Khan, Sarah Herring, Shilpa Shetty Kundra, Leon Tsoukernik, Minissha Lamba, Raj Kundra
