[ad_1]
Charles Barkley has never done anything quietly. As a player, he bulldozed through defenders on his way to 11 All-Star selections and an MVP award. As a broadcaster, he delivers sharp opinions, loud jokes, and the kind of honesty that makes headlines the moment it leaves his mouth. But off the court and off camera, Barkley has battled something more personal.
Throughout much of his adult life, Barkley poured time, energy, and an astonishing amount of money into gambling. He never hid it. In fact, he spoke about it with the same brash confidence that made him a fan favorite. For years, he insisted the habit was under control. But eventually, the stakes got too high and the losses became too frequent to ignore.
This is the story of Charles Barkley’s long, expensive relationship with gambling, how it almost spun out of control, and what finally made him step back.
Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images
“I Love the Juice”
Barkley’s gambling goes back to his playing days. After games or off days, he often found himself in casinos chasing the next thrill. He has said repeatedly that it was never about the money, but about the rush.
It became part of his identity. Unlike other athletes who tried to hide their vices, Barkley leaned into his. And for a long time, no one could really stop him. He was making millions, living large, and enjoying himself. The idea of winning big excited him, and the idea of losing never scared him enough to stop.
Barkley has admitted that he hit it big more than a few times. He walked away from casino sessions up a million dollars four or five times. The problem, he has said, is that he walked away down a million even more often. His biggest single loss came during a six-hour blackjack session where he blew $2.5 million.
What made things worse was how he approached the game. Barkley created a mental benchmark for himself. He decided that every trip to the casino should end with a million-dollar win. So even if he was up hundreds of thousands, he would keep playing until he either hit a million or lost it all. More often than not, he lost it all.
The Lawsuit That Changed Everything
In 2008, Barkley’s gambling went from private entertainment to public trouble. Wynn Las Vegas filed a civil suit against him for failing to pay back $400,000 in casino markers. The debt itself wasn’t catastrophic, but the lawsuit made headlines and put his gambling back in the spotlight.
Barkley didn’t fight the claim. “I owe them the money,” he said at the time. “It was my fault. I let the time lapse.” He paid the debt and later admitted that the situation was a wake-up call. After that, he stopped gambling entirely for nearly two years.
During his hiatus, Barkley came to terms with how unrealistic his expectations had become. In an interview with Campus Insiders, he said he finally understood that winning $200,000 was okay. Losing $200,000 was okay. But pushing every session to try to win a million had become a problem.
“There was this point where I had to realize, man, you don’t have to win a million dollars. That’s just not a healthy mindset,” he said. He learned to walk away while he was ahead and began thinking more like a recreational player instead of a high-roller chasing a jackpot.
Barkley has always resisted the label of “gambling addict.” He insists that he never lost control because he took breaks whenever he needed them.
“Nah, I was never worried about it because I’d take breaks here and there if I had lost on a couple of trips.“
Instead of quitting gambling entirely, Barkley now says he simply learned to manage it better. He still gambles from time to time, but the amounts are smaller and the expectations are more reasonable.
“You know, it’s like anything, if you do it in moderation it’s alright,” Barkley said. “And now with my gambling, ’cause I love it. I love the action, I love the juice. But I just learned to do it in moderation.”
Even in moderation, Barkley is still very much a gambler at heart. He has described risk-taking as part of his personality, and that applies to everything from basketball to casinos. “You can’t be great at something unless you’re willing to take risks,” he once said.
The key difference now is that he understands when to walk away. “You’ve got to know when to stop,” he said. “You can’t be afraid to lose. But you also can’t keep thinking you’ll win it all back every time.”
So, How Much Did He Lose?
The exact numbers are hard to pin down, but it’s generally understood that Charles has lost as little as $10 million to as much as $30 million during his gambling life. Keep in mind, he only made $40 million during his NBA career from salary alone. He also earned around $40 million from his endorsements. But after taxes, between the two sources, he probably netted around $35 million. So, losing $10 to $30 million gambling was not insignificant to his finances.
Thankfully, thanks to his thriving post-playing announcing career, Charles has more than made up for those losses and remains a very wealthy man. By our estimate, Barkley’s net worth is $90 million. He currently makes $10 million a year for his announcing duties.
Barkley’s story serves as a reminder that even the richest athletes can find themselves in dangerous territory if they don’t know when to walk away. If you want to know more, here’s an interview with Charles in which he talks about losing millions and millions of dollars gambling:
[ad_2]
Source link
