Charles Barkley always had an extravagant lifestyle in his days as a professional athlete. After retirement, most of the Suns’ legend’s luxurious tendencies went away. But before they did, one of Barkley’s biggest vices was gambling.
In a recent interview on the ‘Pardon My Take’ podcast, Barkley dropped a major revelation on his prime gambling days. He still gambles to this day, but not at the same level at which he used to when he was earning millions from the NBA.
Barkley admits that he had an imaginary target of $1 million, and he would gamble until he hit that amount. He claims he hit that amount ten times, but 30 times he lost the same amount.
“So I love gambling, but I became a total crazy person. Because I won a million dollars probably 10 times. I’ve lost a million dollars, probably 30 times,” showing that he went at least in a $20 million deficit at one point.
“So every time I went to Vegas, I’d be up 300, 400, $500,000. My friends would be like, ‘Dude, you’ve got to quit. We up. Let’s go. Let’s go get drunk and have some fun.’ I’m like, ‘No.’ In my mind, I was like, ‘I want to win a million.’ Cuz I’d done it a few times. And then I just kept losing.”
“And I lost a lot. Millions and millions and millions. And I quit for like two years. And I was out with my friends one night. We like to smoke cigars and drink. I said, ‘Man, I sure miss Vegas, miss casinos.’ And one of my things I demand out of my friends, man, be honest with me at all times. Just tell me the truth. I can deal with it. He says, ‘Yo, man, gambling ain’t your problem. Being a f***ing idiot is your problem.’ Explain,” said Barkley in shock.
“They’re like, Dude, gambling is peaks and valleys. We have to sit there with you. You’d be up $300-$400,000 like Chuck, let’s go get drunk for the night. Quit. But you want to get to the imaginary million. Then you lose that, and then you lose the whole million credit line you got.”
As a solution, Barkley decided to start putting a cap on his betting amounts and forego the imaginary target of $1 million every time he steps into a casino. He started betting on football games and nearly put money on himself while playing golf until he realized it was illegal and he couldn’t do that.
Gambling can be a dangerous habit to have, but also a thrilling ride for some fortunate individuals. Professional athletes like Michael Jordan enjoy it as it satisfies the competitive streak in them. Barkley has seemingly seen both sides of that coin and decided that moderation is key.
