Ja Rule had a meteoric rise to fame in 1999 when he released his debut full-length album ‘Venni Vetti Vecci’. He followed that album with another five in the space of four years, and it seemed that Ja Rule could do no wrong in the music industry. However, his productivity wouldn’t be so prolific during the next 10 years, with the rapper only released three albums, the last being ‘Pain Is Love 2’ that he released in 2012. Since then Ja Rule, who was born Jeffery Atkins has been a bit of an enigma when it comes to his celebrity status.  Ja Rule has also been known for his many feuds including one well-publicized spat with 50 Cent where they supposedly got in an altercation earlier this year according to MTV. He’s also been reported to have fallen out with a host of other music industry artists including Foxy Brown, Aftermath and Lil’ Mo.

There are also the many legal battles that the rap star has had to endure lately including a gun charge where he had to serve time behind bars. The rapper was released earlier this year after only serving a fraction of his proposed sentence.

A life change was in order for the troubled star, and thankfully he found it near the end of 2013 when he befriended poker sensation Phil Ivey. The two proceeded to gush over their love of poker and the two became inseparable, so much so that Ja Rule joined Ivey at many of his cash games. In an article with Bluff Magazine, Ja Rule discussed how his love of poker has kept him away from trouble and has begun to change his outlook on life.

Ja Rule isn’t the first rap star to love casinos and he definitely won’t be the last. Tupac, Biggie and more recently Jay Z have proclaimed their love for casino gaming, spending vast amounts of money living the high life. But Ja Rule isn’t wasting money like the rap icons before him. He learned his craft online, like many other professionals since the first online casino portal launched in 1996 entitled InterCasino many saw this as a calling to help them hone their craft ready for the big time.

Ja Rule was no different he had been playing for years before he met Ivey but it wasn’t until this meeting that he decided he wanted to pursue the sport for intensively. And although it’s unclear whether Ja Rule will join the professional ranks anytime soon, his detour from the music industry seems to have got his mind in the right place, at least for the time being.