LeBron James’ friend and long-term agent Rich Paul is one of the highest-profile sports agents in the world as of now. The co-founder of the Klutch Sports Agency alongside LeBron James, Paul is now worth $120,000,000 but was hanging out with rich NBA superstars long before he made his fortune. During a recent appearance on the Old Man and the Three podcast alongside JJ Redick, Paul revealed that he would habitually gamble with a range of players.
Advertisement
This would lead to expansive bets, with some of the pots rising up to over $100,000 in value. Specifically, Paul revealed that one particular card game ended up with a pot value of exactly $126,000.
Rich Paul details expansive gambling escapades with NBA stars
Paul is known to be a regular gambler right from the start of his career. Even before he made it as an agent, Rich Paul considered gambling his biggest vice and often splurged big money.
This remained true even after he started hanging out with NBA players apart from LeBron James. Paul talked about one particular game that occurred before a Playoff series between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Detroit Pistons. Players of both teams had apparently gotten together to play cards one night before the game,
“Pistons are playing Cavs in the Playoffs in 06,or 07. It was in the moment, said we are gonna go play cards. We end up having two card games in one area and it’s the Pistons and the Cavs together. They have to play together. It’s Chauncey, it’s DeShawn. I said, this was crazy, we are in the Playoffs. At the same time I am telling myself, this is your Playoffs. This is your f***ing Finals. Don’t take no chances. Don’t try to be cute. Don’t pull up on a 3, or a 1-on-1 fast break because these guys have a lot, and are going to have a lot. You though, you need it.”
Rich Paul also spoke about another game, which he played with the likes of Gilbert Arenas and Drew Goodman:
Probably a small property. The heaviest action I have had was with Gilbert Arenas, Drew Goodman. We were playing at Larry’s house. The minimum pot was $10,000. Now the pot is $126,000. It’s insane, and not only is it insane, I had to be the craziest guy in the world, because, they all (had money) But, I am such a gambler.”
Paul talked about how he was worried, considering the fact that all the other players already had big fortunes. However, the sports agent had to be careful and did not want to lose big. He claimed that the minimum pot was $10,000, and one specific play saw the value rise to exactly $126,000.
Paul, who was intent on not “being too cute”, revealed later that he came back with a “small fortune” from the game. Claiming to be a natural gambler, Paul claimed that he wanted to be careful, but could not help himself despite not having the same kind of money.
Of course, Paul’s expertise as a gambler was a recent of his childhood back home in Cleveland, Ohio. He would spend hours playing cards every day, an experience that eventually led to gambling with bonafide celebrities such as Jay-Z, Will Smith, and Alex Rodriguez.
Paul would win $5000 a day while gambling as a kid
It is a known fact that Paul has been a gambler right from the initial years of his career. The agent would habitually gamble on a daily basis during his teenage years, after the demise of his father. He claimed that while he would win a lot, the experience taught him how to take losses:
“You gain a resilience here. We won majority of the time. But you also had to learn how to lose.”
Rich Paul revealed that he was making as much as $5000 a day simply by gambling on a daily basis. That means that apart from enjoying the activity, he was also quite skilled at it, despite only being a teenager back then.
