Charles Barkley is a retired professional basketball player who is well-known not only for his skills on the court but also for his gambling habits.
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Over the years, he has openly discussed his love for gambling and has been involved in a number of high-profile incidents related to his betting activities.
Barkley has been known to gamble large sums of money on a variety of games, including poker, blackjack, and roulette. He has admitted to losing millions of dollars over the years, but he has also won large amounts at times.
In one incident, he reportedly lost $2.5 million in just six hours while playing blackjack. In addition to his love for traditional casino games, Barkley has also been involved in sports betting.
He has said that he often bets on football and basketball games and has even placed bets on his own games when he was playing professionally.
This has caused controversy at times, as it raises concerns about the integrity of the games and whether players are motivated by their own financial gain.
Charles Barkley swore off gambling for 2 years after being sued for $400k
A regular visitor to Las Vegas over the years, Barkley once got into a legal soup with the famed Wynn establishment. Barkley owed the casino $400,000 in chips, and they came to collect in 2006.
After a protracted legal exchange, Barkley paid the requisite sum of money and the lawsuit was dropped. Chuck released the following statement after the incident, swearing off gambling for a couple of years:
“I like to go into Vegas, it’s a fun place, but you know what, I’ve got to stop gambling. That’s the bottom line. I am not going to gamble anymore. For right now, the next year or two, I’m not going to gamble.”
“I have no, no money problems whatsoever. Nobody’s coming after me for money. I screwed up and didn’t pay them. Could they have handled it differently? Yes. But it was my fault.”
“Just because I can afford to lose money doesn’t mean I should do it.”
Chuck lost a lot of money betting on the Eagles during this year’s Super Bowl
The Hall of Famer celebrated his 60th birthday during the All-Star Break earlier this year. His celebrations could’ve been a bit more lavish had his well-laid gambling plans come to fruition.
Barkley placed $100,000 on the Eagles winning the Super Bowl against the Chiefs. Given their halftime lead, he chose to increase his stake for lower odds. However, the Chiefs ended up winning the contest after scoring on every second-half drive.
Charles lost a huge amount of money for this bet, as well as for betting on Jalen Hurts as the Super Bowl MVP.
