9 Celebrities Who Are Also Gamblers
Ever wonder whether the famous people you see on screen share the same love for gambling as you do? Well, turns out there are too many of them to mention in one article. But here are 9 prominent figures who are both super famous and fond of gambling, some of whom may surprise you.
Queen Elizabeth
Even the royalty loves to gamble. Queen Elizabeth, for example, is a passionate fan of horse betting. She also put her own horses into the race and they were so good that they made her a fortune of $9.4 million. As a result, Queen Elizabeth was officially the 11th most successful owner of flat-course racing horses.
50 Cent
Some rappers don’t practice what they rap about but you can bet 50 Cent does when he said: “I got a gambling problem.” The world doesn’t know how much he’s lost that made him write that line but ironically, 2 of his huge wins are public. He won a 2-million-dollar bet on Mayweather vs Pacquiao and made $500,000 on the New York Giants versus the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Final.
Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan is famous for his basketball skills and infamous for his many antics, some of which are related to gambling. He loves blackjack to the point of losing half a million in a single night on some occasions. His friend Richard Esquinas wrote in a book that Michael owed him $1.25 million in golf bets.
His gambling habit was so troublesome that many people believe he was suspended in 1993. Michael, however, claimed that he wanted to retire yet came back just 2 years later. Perhaps no one will ever find out the truth.
Ben Affleck
Who could have known, your favorite superhero Batman is also a gambler? Ben Affleck is quite a jack of all trade: actor, writer, producer and professional poker player. In 2004, he snatched the California Poker Championship prize of $350,000.
The actor’s love for poker is well-known, poker money is nothing compared to his gigs in Hollywood. He also hosted a poker tournament to raise over $1.7 million for charity — talk about a down-to-earth celebrity.
Tiger Woods
You don’t have to look any further than his self-hosted Tiger Jam to see Tiger Woods’ love for gambling. In the annual event, he plays exhibition golf for VIP guests and they also party with some poker playing. Tiger Jam even managed to attract 13 times World Series Poker winner Phil Hellmuth, who went on to be good friends with Woods.
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Tobey Maguire
Maybe gambling is a thing for superheroes, for Spiderman — Tobey Maguire is also very fond of gambling. He is known to frequent private poker games in Hollywood but rumour has it that he’s not very pleasant to play with.
Tobey has been described as a big jerk who likes to provoke other players. He was once sued for participating in illegal gambling rings.
Derren Brown
Derren Brown is a special case of a celebrity who likes to gamble because he hardly ever gets to do it. Why? He is banned from most casinos in the UK.
The bans are a result of Derren’s unimaginable winning streak. He was reported to never lose a hand of blackjack in a whole session. Since Derren is an illusionist, casinos probably feared that he was using trickeries so it makes sense why they banned him.
Matt Damon
Matt Damon, most famous for the Jason Bourne franchise, is quite a mysterious gambler. He’s known to have played in some tournaments but there’s no record to prove how much he wins or loses. However, one thing is for sure: Matt Damon is reported to have lost about $25,000 while he was preparing for a role as a reformed gambler in Rounders.
Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt, in contrast to other actors mentioned above, had never cared for gambling. But in 2001, he got a role in Ocean 11: a film about a heist against a casino owner. From that point on, Brad had a newfound appreciation for all kinds of gambling including poker, blackjack and slot machines.
