Famous Athletes With History of Gambling

Sports and gambling in the US have always gone hand in hand. Naturally, you are probably aware of the fact that sports betting is incredibly popular today. However, did you know that so many famous athletes in the US and the rest of the world love gambling as well?

In this article, we will give you a comprehensive list of many famous athletes who enjoy this popular pastime. Let’s take a look at their names and history with gambling.

Michael Jordan

Most of his die-hard fans know this already, but in case you don’t, allow us to inform you that Michael Jordan is an avid gambler. He was especially interested in gambling when he was in the prime of his career. Back then, he used to bet on sports heavily, and it wasn’t uncommon for him to place as much as $100,000 on a single game. 

As if that weren’t enough, he is also known for making some incredibly ridiculous bets, like betting $900 on his bags being the first ones to come out on the conveyor belt after arriving from the Olympics. Of course, there are many other similar stories, including countless rumors, which clearly shows how much Jordan enjoys gambling. 

Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Floyd Mayweather may be practically unbeatable in the ring, but his nickname, ‘Money,’ mostly comes from him being a distinguished gambler. 

He is mainly known for his sports betting habits, and it’s not uncommon for him to post pictures of slips with up to hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bets. Naturally, he is probably keeping some of his biggest wins and losses to himself, so there’s no way of knowing how much he has actually made from gambling. 

Jaromir Jagr

The famous Czech ice hockey player Jaromir Jagr is known as one of the biggest gamblers in the sports community. Some would even say he may have developed an addiction. 

For instance, there are claims about him owing almost $1 million to two online gambling platforms. He even owes several million to the IRS. However, this is virtually nothing for the guy, as he is still considered one of the highest-paid NHL players of all time.

Antoine Walker

The former basketball player is known for filing for bankruptcy in 2010, and his gambling habits are certainly one of the biggest reasons for that. 

Antoine is so big on gambling that he was even arrested because he had accumulated more than $800,000 in gambling debt. He owed money to both Harrah’s Casino in South Lake Tahoe and Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. 

John Daly

John Daly, a famous golfer, is basically a serial addict, with gambling being just one of his many addictions. He himself has stated that his losses at casinos amount to $60 million. 

At one point, he drove to Las Vegas to play slots and managed to lose $1.6 million in only five hours. Since most people don’t even see that kind of money in a lifetime, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he has faced some serious criticism. 

Alex Rodriguez

One of the greatest baseball players of all time, A-Rod, is also known for his love of gambling. However, he’s never done it in the open. Most of what we know involves his participation in numerous illegal poker games. 

He reportedly played poker with the likes of Ben Affleck, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, and Tobey Maguire. It’s unknown with whom exactly he played, but he is said to have lost a couple of thousand dollars in just one night. The things got pretty bad at one point — an MLB investigation was launched, and he was warned repeatedly that he needed to stop.

Charles Barkley

Charles Barkley, the basketball juggernaut, is one of the few famous athletes who have opened up about their gambling problems. He stated that his gambling adventures had cost him around $10 million throughout his life. Even though Barkley shared this with us back in 2006, he has continued gambling. 

His view of gambling is also quite unique. He knows he has a problem — still, he doesn’t plan on stopping, as he can afford it.

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