Arriving at his charity poker tournament Wednesday night, the much-maligned slugger insisted he wants to stay in New York rather than be traded to a town where the fans might not be so hard on him.

In Texas Hold 'em terms _ forget it, he's not folding.

``My choice is to play for the New York Yankees,'' said Rodriguez, who got in a bit of trouble with poker last year. ``My family now is beginning to really get comfortable here _ my wife, my daughter. And I love New York. I love the challenges New York brings.''

Rodriguez has a no-trade clause in his contract, and general manager Brian Cashman has said the two-time MVP isn't going anywhere.

After next year, however, A-Rod can opt out of the record US$252 million, 10-year deal he signed with Texas before the 2001 season. He wouldn't rule out that possibility, but said his desire is to win with the Yankees.

``There's no question that last year was a very challenging year for me personally,'' Rodriguez said, ``but I think New York wants to see people go through a tough time and kind of come out of it and fight through it. And one thing is, I never gave in to how difficult the moment got at times.''

The all-star third baseman went 1-for-14 during a first-round playoff loss to Detroit. He was dropped to eighth in the batting order for the first time in a decade, and is 3-for-29 (.103) in his past two playoff series.

Add up his last 12 post-season games and Rodriguez is 4-for-41 (.098) without an RBI. He has yet to reach the World Series.

It didn't seem as though A-Rod was particularly popular in his own clubhouse last season, but Yankees stars Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada were among those who showed up for the event at rapper Jay-Z's trendy 40/40 club in Manhattan. So did former teammate Gary Sheffield, recently traded to the Tigers.

``I might not be on your team, but I still got your back,'' Sheffield said as the two hugged and posed for pictures together.

Rodriguez appreciated the public support he recently got from Rivera.

``Mo is one of my best friends. I know the way guys feel about me,'' A-Rod said. ``Guys are going to write what they're going to write. You can always make out I'm a villain. I'm always a great villain. But I know exactly how my teammates feel. I know how I feel about my teammates. And it wasn't surprising. Guys don't always have to say things, I guess, to be supportive, but it was nice. It was a very nice gesture.''

Rodriguez said he's spoken to Joe Torre since the season ended and is ``very happy'' the manager will be back with New York next year. A-Rod said he wasn't bothered by batting eighth, he just wants to be in the lineup.

As far as pleasing all those demanding Yankees fans, Rodriguez said all he can do is prepare and play hard _ and if that's not good enough, so be it.

Pretty good poker face, too.

Last fall, the Daily News reported that Rodriguez attended games at an underground New York poker club. Playing at such clubs is not illegal, though it can be against the law to operate them, the newspaper said.

A-Rod later acknowledged ``it wasn't the right thing to do.''

This time, he said he checked with Major League Baseball and the tournament was OK'd because it was all for charity.

``I felt I got in trouble for poker last year, so why not turn it around and raise some money for the children,'' Rodriguez said. ``Poker's hot. People are excited. It's a way to raise a lot of money. I hope it does well.''