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Charles Barkley Once Made a Generous $25,000 Tip Due to his Gambling Habit

Jeet Pukhrambam
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“Friends Say I am an Idiot”: Charles Barkley, Who Lost Over $30 Million in Gambling, Always Got Warnings When $6-700,000 Up

Michael Jordan’s influence might have rubbed off quite hard on Charles Barkley. The Suns’ legend is a known gambler and once, he won close to a million dollars! So what did he do? Naturally, he tipped the dealer $25,000! Talk about a big heart.

Barkley has always been notorious for being a good tipper and when he appeared on Conan O’Brien’s show, he was asked what he thinks about being called a generous tipper. And his response is worth the question.

It was always known that Barkley often leaves tips worth 20% of the bill, whenever and wherever he goes. Of course, he earns enough to be generous. $45 million in career earnings through the NBA and a huge deal with TNT means his net worth is close to 9 figures!

So, when he talked about how he practices tipping and the biggest tip he has ever given, the audience responded with rapturous applause.

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Charles Barkley, the gambler finally wins money!

Before we talk about how much Barkley gave away, let’s talk about the events that preceded the tipping. Barkley has a simple mantra, “The more successful you are, the more you should tip. I truly believe that.” 

So when he won a whopping $700,000 on a hand of blackjack, he was sure to give back to the dealer. And despite the substantial size of the tip, Charles still feels that he could have done more.

And of course, this happened at a casino. Looks like Charles’ gambling habits die hard. Charles also said that he could have given more and honestly, our hearts couldn’t be more full. So, how much exactly did Barkley tip?

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Charles generously tipped $25,000!

Charles gave away a whopping $25,000! Of course, he had also won a very cool 6 figure sum so naturally, a millionaire would tip this much.


But it is still short of Charles’ 20% rule, which meant that he should have forked out $140,000. And while in most circumstances he would have, there is a chance that he didn’t because he was intoxicated. Knowing Sir Charles, anything is possible.

The lesson here is to tip generously and Barkley’s example is a great one. And he has always been candid about his tipping habit saying, “Me giving them some extra money is going to have zero (e)affect on my life, but it might have a huge (e)affect upon their life.”.

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About the author

Jeet Pukhrambam

Jeet Pukhrambam

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Jeet Pukhrambam is The SportsRush's Lead Editor for Basketball. After freelancing for five years as an independent writer, Jeet created thousands of blog posts and articles. He now covers intriguing news reports and throwback stories on all things NBA. His interest in NBA started with the ascendancy of Giannis Antetokounmpo in the 2016-17 season. Since then, Jeet has managed to coalesce his knowledge of the game and his writing to create pieces that are reflective of the current state of the league. Now, he ensures that The SportsRush produces the highest quality of writing. In his free time, he enjoys playing football, cooking, traveling, and dancing to techno. Jeet takes pride in his critical thinking, music playlists, and his love for spaghetti.

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