Charles Barkley’s love for golf and gambling is well known. Over the years, Chuck has been made fun of for his poor swing on the links. However, after rigorous practice, the NBA legend got over that problem. While the swing was a problem for him, betting has never been one, at least he doesn’t think so.
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The problem is that the combination of the two doesn’t always end well for Chuck. This time, it definitely didn’t. Chuck hit the course with former coach and host Dan DaKich, and the two went head-to-head in a friendly (but costly) game. As always, Barkley brought the energy and the confidence.
Before they teed off, he told Dan straight-up, “Hey Dan, so I’ll be in Indy and I can’t wait to kick you’re a**.” Chuck would go on to regret his words. DaKich, on the other hand, told Chuck that he would ‘take his f***ing money’ and he lived up to his promise.
Chuck got off to a poor start. His shots weren’t clicking, and DaKich wasn’t letting him forget it. But slowly, his confidence grew, and at one point, Barkley called himself “the best putter in the world.” Moments later, Chuck actually drained a putt and celebrated like he’d won The Masters.
His opponent wasn’t having it. “Guy wins one f***in hole and now he’s Tiger goddamn Woods,” he quipped. Chuck got him for $25 in a game early on. But that was the end of it for the NBA legend. By the end of the day, Barkley was down a whopping $1,400. A brutal loss, but not shocking if you’ve followed his golf journey.
Despite the shortcomings, Chuck loves golf and has gotten a lot better at it over the years because of his dedication. As per SI, he once said, “Golf is interesting. It’s fun. It’s exciting. It’s one of the few sports you can play as you get older. I’m not stupid enough to try and play pickleball. That’s just stupid. But golf is one of the few sports you can play as you get older.”
While his love for golf is admirable, Barkley needs to do something about his habit of losing money. Not that a $1400 loss is going to make a dent in his net worth, this wasn’t the only time he has lost money. The Hall of Famer has lost millions of dollars on bets and has even admitted that he has a problem.
In 2006, Barkley told ESPN that he had lost “probably $10 million” on gambling. “It is a problem for me… Do I have a gambling problem? Yeah, I do have a gambling problem, but I don’t consider it a problem because I can afford to gamble,” he added. Despite admitting that he gambles “for too much money,” Chuck said that as long as he’s under control, it wouldn’t lead to something disastrous.
