For many athletes, competitive spirit goes way beyond the sport that made them famous. Some of them like to be the best they can in every sphere of life. This is nothing strange. Even many of us, average Joe’s, love to be better than our friends and family, regardless of the activity we partake in. No one likes to lose, and that’s the truth of this world.
One of the biggest competitive pastimes in the world is without a doubt, gambling. Many of us have been to casinos, and gambled a bit. But, what happens when a high competitive spirit meets a casino’s ground? Well, plenty can happen. For the few of the selected athletes we’re going to list below, many things happened when they went to the casinos carrying their competitive spirit.
Most professional athletes are forbidden from sports betting involving their sport, or from sports betting in general. But, there are no or very few restrictions to casino games such as slots for example. Thus, we had plenty of household names across all sports publicly showing their love for gambling for better or worse.
In this article we’re going to cover the names that not only exceeded the expectations in their respective sport, but were also true athletes at the casino ground.
Pete Rose
When it comes to sports and gambling, rare are those that can sit at the same table as Pete Rose. This man is a peculiar example of what can gambling do to a person for all the bad and all the good reasons. He broke the golden rule and bet on his sport. Yet, before he was exiled from MLB, he was arguably one of the best baseball players of his time. During his career, Pete Rose was an MVP, World Series winner, had three batting titles and is the all-time leader in hits with 4,256 among many other accolades. Quite a career, right?
Yet, all of it was put in the shadows of his exploits outside of sports. Gambling scandals followed one after another when it comes to Rose. During his career with Cincinnati Reds, where he was player/coach it was discovered that he wagered on Major League Baseball. While this happened in 1989, he was found guilty of it by an independent ESPN investigation in 2015. Rose himself admitted as much in 2004 that he was betting on MLB and that he did everything possible to win every game. While one of the greatest baseball athletes of all time, an exiled Hall of Fame player, and the man who is banned from all MLB events for quarter of a century, with a profound mark on the game, he will always be a gambler first.
Michael Jordan
Arguably the basketball GOAT found his passion in a few other things outside of basketball. His passion for golf and gambling was never a secret. The global ambassador for the sport, it was Jordan who made the NBA a global brand with his exploits in late 80s and the 90s where he won 6 NBA rings, was the 10 time scoring champ, and MVP of both regular seasons, and NBA Finals. A one of a kind athlete who transcends sports.
Yet, when the Internet became a thing, television grew, and social media came our way, it was easy to peek inside the private lives of our favourite athletes no matter how secluded from the public they were. As far as Air Mike goes he didn’t even try to hide the fact that he’s an avid gambler. He wagered on everything from golf rounds with his friends, to casino slots, to poker games on the highest level. Jordan wanted to make every game more competitive than it had to be.
It was no secret that Jordan wanted to spend most of his free time in Atlantic City, and he liked to push the boundaries of the gambling game. For conspiracy theorists, Jordan’s surprise retirement in the 90s after which we saw one of the biggest comebacks in the history of the game was in fact a suspension given to MJ for his gambling exploits that broke the NBA rules & guidelines. That’s only a theory, but one that many people decide to believe even to this day.
John Daly
Daly is one of the biggest names in the history of golf. He is also one of the biggest names in the world of athletes who loved to gamble. He’s famous enough in both senses that he’s third on our list. John Daly was quite successful in golf winning the PGA, and 1995 Open, which accumulated to $12 million earned during his golfing career. Daly was also successful as a businessman, and many of his ventures outside of the sport were successful.
Yet, none of it managed to keep him away from his primary passion – gambling. Daly was quite frank with his life and described his gambling issues through his autobiography titled My Life In and Out of the Rough: The Truth Behind All That Bull**** You Think You Know About Me. It is estimated that Daly gambled away between $50 and $60 million during his life. The best part is that the famous golfer claims that he enjoyed every second of it.
Wild Thing, as Daly is nicknamed, claims that he no longer plays as much as he did in the past but that he enjoyed the action and the adrenaline that comes your way with gambling. These days, Daly admits that he’s no longer going all-in with stakes as high as $5,000 or $15,000 which was his pocket money for gambling back in the day, but that he now only plays $25 slot machines. Tell us that you’re a fan of Sweet Bonanza slot machines without telling us you are, John Daly.
Charles Barkley
Michael Jordan’s rival both on the court and in the casino. Funnily enough, Barkley and Jordan share more than a few passions. Both were some of the most competitive athletes in the 90s, fans of gambling, and avid enjoyers of the game of golf. Barkley is not ashamed of his casino exploits. Back in the day, athletes weren’t as followed as today through social media platforms and stuff, so it was way easier to be a regular at the casinos. During his gambling sprees it is estimated that Barkley spent more than $10 million according to his own admission.
Barkley was quite frank with his approach to gambling. The former Phoenix Suns superstar stated that as far as vices go, gambling is far from being one of the worst. He also added that as long as it doesn’t affect his livelihood, he will continue to do it. After a successful NBA career, Charles found his footing in broadcasting, and has made millions from his TNT show. It is clear that Barkley has more than a few bucks to spare on casino games.
Joe Namath
As far as NFL players go, Namath is not just one of the household names of the league, he’s also full of the stuff that legends are made off. If you didn’t know, and we bet that you did, it’s not easy to carry the nickname Broadway Joe around without having something to show for it. Joe had plenty to show, and during his career he won the Super Bowl and entered the Hall of Fame. His legend lives to this day, which is quite a feat considering how ancient the NFL of his days is to the one we have today. But, that’s what happens when you win the Lombardi for the New York Jets.
Due to becoming a household name in New York during the 70s and the 80s, Joe was not one to hide from vices. He was the first modern NFL rockstar. To this day, Namath remains well known as a womanizer, and as a man who loved to gamble. You understand his passions right? Add to being one of the best QBs of his time, and you get a prototype of a person every young American wanted to be in that era.
What makes Joe Namath stand out in this crowd of athletes that loved to gamble away some of their money, is the fact that Broadway Joe took a different approach to gambling. He was an owner of a nightclub aptly named Bachelor III, where after a while mobsters started to gather around Joe. Allegedly, Joe was no stranger to playing casino games with members of the mafia. After a while he was forced to sell his club in order to be able to play and compete in the NFL, as things started to drift away from casual card games with friends as far as Joe Namath is concerned. It’s a shame that online casinos such as Stake weren’t a thing back in the70s, 80s, and 90s, which would enable players to keep their habits to them. We’re truly blessed that we live in this tech savvy era.
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
One of the standout boxers of his generation, Floyd was aptly nicknamed Money. Trust us when we say it, this nickname didn’t come out of nowhere. Mayweather Jr. made a fortune in boxing, and it wasn’t rare that he received 8 figures for his 12 rounds in the ring. Funnily enough, he often finished before the last round. Money on the table was his formula, and the opponent on the ground. We can say that he was quite a mathematician. While some of the names on this list kept their best secretive, Floyd approaches betting from a different angle.
It is a known fact that Mayweather Jr. loves betting on the NBA and NFL. He won millions betting on these sports, and even a couple of hundred of thousands betting on the UFC. It is a public secret that Floyd has put money on some of his fights. Considering the fact that he won all of his bouts, we can say that he invested in himself rather than gambled.
While Mayweather Jr’s exploits seem amazing, it is not all wine and roses. According to Maxim magazine, Floyd has accumulated quite a few losses during his betting career too. Some estimates claim that he lost $50 million only during one year in 2017. Considering that Mayweather Jr. Brags that he’s been betting since he was a kid, we can expect that he continues in the same manner as time goes on. After all, he has enough money to burn.
Michael Vick
Now, here’s a divisive person. For some people Vick is the most electric QB to ever grace the gridiron. For others he’s the worst person in the world. Michael Vick set the NFL on fire starting with his rookie season with the Atlanta Falcons, before he threw it all away. Touted as the first real dual-threat QB, who was to pave the way for Lamar Jackson and the likes, Vick took a different approach to his career. While on the field he was an standout player who put the people in seats in every arena where he played, his off the field decisions were subpar to say the least.
Vick was not only a gambler, but he also was one who ran an illegal dog fighting ring. At the backyard of one of his houses, Vick organized dog fights and allowed people and himself to place bets on this brutal and illegal sport. Luckily for Vick, the NFL, and for the poor dogs, this notorious scheme was quickly discovered, and Michael Vick, as much power as an NFL QB has, had to do his time for his heinous crimes. He spent 21 months in jail, after which he was able to continue his NFL career. Today, he serves as an advocate for animal protection, and has truly shown us how a redemption arc should look like.
As you can see, these big-name athletes are no different than us. Every person loves to gamble or bet on sports, even if it’s just for a little bit. Some have bigger and some minor consequences. As long as you do it responsibly and well within your means you have nothing to worry about.
