Bellagio Poker Room Nudist Gets Short Shrift From Security

The poker phrases limp, flop and raise were put to the test in the Bellagio this week when a naked man walked into the poker room, his posterior (and pretty much everything else) caught on camera for posterity by amused and bemused players alike, YouTube and Twitter bearing the brunt of the images…

It’s not clear whether the nudist was sleepwalking, drunk, or just looking for a game of strip poker…

…but security were taking no chances…

The busy card-room almost came to a standstill as the heavily-tattooed nude was persuaded to leave, but for one player it sounded like a missed opportunity…

In a 40-second clip uploaded to YouTube by one of the Bellagio’s regulars, dealers and players can be seen laughing as the naked guest sits down in a corner of the cardroom, apparently waiting for staff to bring him something – a card protector and phone charger according to one Twitter user - although some underwear might have come in more useful.

It’s not the first time nudity and poker have mixed, of course, and I’m not talking about the strip poker we all know and love (!?) – recently poker pro Jason Funke, who cashed three times at the 2017 WSOP, including a 490th place finish in the Main Event for $24,867, was shot by police outside of a Vegas church.

Funke, who claimed he had been drinking, smoking weed, and using LSD prior to the arrival of police, was found wandering ‘stark naked in front of a church in broad daylight while wielding a gun’ and reportedly wanting to die because he kept telling police officers to "finish me," as Charles Retmuller reported in August.

After refusing to hit the ground when ordered to by police, Funke was shot and wounded in the shoulder when he started running towards his previously discarded handgun. Despite facing serious charges, Funke was bailed and this month vowed he was leaving Las Vegas for good.

In 2006, Cardschat.com reported that PaddyPowerPoker.com was planning to ‘break the record for the world's largest naked poker game’, a record held at the time by ‘the Naturist Society of Estonia where 104 poker players bared all.’

‘In a twist, the Estonian nudists started nude and put on clothing if they lost a hand’, wrote Bob Pajich, stating that ‘over at PaddyPowerPoker.com …players will be eliminated after they don 10 items of clothing.’

In 2008, the Hendon Mob forum reported that: ‘Up and coming poker star, Russian player 23yr old ‘Catgirl,’ was due to celebrate her birthday by playing poker in her ‘Birthday Suit’, at the televised PartyPoker.com World Open, ‘totally Naked bar a few Swarovski Gems to keep her modesty’.

When the TV channel banned this idea, the former gymnast came up with a new plan, as can be seen in this YouTube video…

The Bellagio have yet to comment on this week’s naked guest, with claims of a cover-up sure to hit the poker forums soon!