Akshay
Kumar
loves
a
good
gamble,
which
is
why
he
always
hits
casinos
on
his
holidays
abroad.
The
Khiladi
is
known
to
be
quite
the
player.
But
last
week,
the
Khiladi
lost
to
Riteish
Deshmukh
while
playing
at
a
casino
in
London,
where
the
duo
is
shooting
for
Housefull.
Says
a
source
from
the
unit
of
Housefull,
"It's
been
like
a
huge
picnic
for
the
entire
cast
of
this
Sajid
Khan
film.
There
would
be
masti
on
the
sets
while
working,
and
later
Akshay,
Riteish,
Arjun
(Rampal),
Randhir(Kapoor),
Boman
Irani
and
the
two
Sajids
would
all
sit
around
in
a
group
and
play
cards.
The
bets
were
small
—
one
to
two
pounds.
Akshay,
Nadiadwala
and
Khan
are
very
aggressive
and
are
excellent
players
while
Riteish
is
more
casual.
Come
lunchtime,
the
sets
would
resemble
a
mini-casino."
Continues
the
source,
"In
the
evenings,
however,
things
got
more
serious.
Everyone,
barring
Lara
and
Deepika)
would
have
dinner
and
later,
head
to
a
Park
Lane
casino.
Here,
the
stakes
were
much
higher
and
they
were
joined
by
Akshay
and
Nadiadwala's
wives
—
Twinkle
and
Wardha."
Adds
the
insider,
"At
the
casino,
all
of
them
would
play
a
couple
of
hands
of
poker.
At
one
such
game,
Riteish
beat
Sajid
Nadiadwala,
Akshay,
Sajid
Khan,
and
Wardha.
Riteish
won
more
than
5000
pounds
(over
Rs
4
lakh).
"The
funny
thing
was
Riteish
and
Nadiadwala
are
not
too
fond
of
casinos
and
Ritiesh
is
not
a
regular
player.
Though
Akshay
was
shocked.
He
took
his
defeat
in
good
humour
and
very
graciously
—
like
a
sportsman.
He
even
ribbed
Riteish
about
his
good
luck
and
quizzing
him
since
when
he
became
such
a
good
player," notes
the
source
Currently,
the
Housefull
unit
has
shifted
to
Bari,
Italy.
Story first published: Monday, August 31, 2009, 11:31 [IST]