Celebrity Poker: Nelly

The poker world is flooded with sportsmen and celebrities from other arenas aiming to make an clash on the poker world. Rappers have yet to fully storm the poker world, although there are signs that things are changing.

Hip-Hop Star, Pimp Juice, Hot in here, Party people and multiplatinum recording artist is part of the changing face of poker that sees more and more celebrities and ex-sportsmen look after into its ranks every year.

Nelly took part in Rolling Stone's celebrity poker tournament, part of the magazine's 40th anniversary celebration. And luckily, won the championship, Nelly showed that he loves poker for the game's sake. He's not in it to get paid. Well, the generous rapper donated his winnings to charity.

Nelly also was invited to be a host to Pokerstars party along with actors Jason Alexander and Lou Diamond Phillips, joined World Series of Poker Champions Peter Eastgate, Joe Hachem, Greg Raymer and Chris Moneymaker on a glittering red carpet.

The great rapper, who has participated in several 2009 World Series of Poker events himself, led the festivities at the Rain Nightclub at the Palms Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

With a packed guest list, huge crowds and a live performance by Nelly, all following last year's stellar appearance by Dita Von Teese, PokerStars has once again proven that not only does it provide more players than anyone else to the World Series of Poker, but it also throws the best party in Las Vegas.

About Nelly: Born Cornell Haynes, Jr., on November 2, 1974, in St. Louis, Nelly moved with his mother from the inner city to suburban Universal City as a teen.

He became convinced that his gift for rap could be parlayed into a career. He has his own style of rap which he likes to describe as a jazz form of hip-hop.

The first song that Nelly and the St. Lunatics made was Gimmie What You Got. The song "Gimmie What You Got" sold 7,000 units regionally and dominated airwaves, rising to the number one spot on St. Louis' number one hip-hop station.

After that song the St. Lunatics encouraged Nelly to go solo and he did. He signed a record deal with Universal Records. His first album, Country Grammar, was an incredible success, selling 8 million plus copies. "Ride With Me" because one of the most memorable hip-hop tunes of 2001, and in 2002 Nelly repeated his magic with "Hot In Here" off the Nellyville album.

His popularity peaked in summer 2002, when he topped seemingly every Billboard chart possible with his Nellyville album and its lead single, "Hot in Here".

In all, Nelly impressively held the number one spot on ten different Billboard charts the week of Nellyville's release. Few rap artists could boast such numbers, and Nelly surely savored his number one status, particularly after being dismissed as a novelty two summers earlier when he debuted.