Jay-Z’s favorite card game is a three-card version of Guts; he is a highly proficient and feared player. It was a staple pastime among the Roc-A-Fella Records crew, and you would see it being played anytime they were together. “You can’t stop,” Jay has said of the game, “it’ll claim your life.”
At one point the amount of money Memphis Bleek owed Jay-Z reached over $3 million. In 2003 Kevin Liles lost a $10,000 bet during a game, and when he tried to send payment via an assistant to Baseline Studio Hov refused to accept it and told him to “come pay him in person” and serve his debt with honor. When Hov was in the studio recording his verse for Cam'ron’s song ‘Welcome to New York’ he and a few friends were playing several hands of guts while the beat played. After about an hour of playing cards, Jay walked into the booth and knocked out his verse in one take; he had been writing the verse in his head while playing the high-stakes game.
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