Thanks to the massive media exposure and millions of fans around the world, playing sports at a professional level falls into the category of the highest paid jobs of the modernity. Top sports players quickly become millionaires at a very young age, often going from very poor to ultra-rich in a matter of several years.
- And honestly, if he still has gambling problems, that just means he's still a child. Mature men do not let an addiction bring down their life. Jagr is essentially the Manny Ramirez of hockey.
- On Saturday afternoon, when the NHL finally dropped the puck on its 2012-13 season, 40-year-old Jaromir Jagr accounted for all four goals for his new team, the Dallas Stars, in a 4-3 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes. His two-goal, two-assist performance kicked off his 19th NHL season in typical Jagr fashion, simply piling up the points at 40.
Making millions of dollars on a yearly basis at such a young age can be quite challenging, as many athletes have experienced over the years. Big pressure and expectations from fans and peers come along with the big money, altogether leading promising sports players to making major mistakes at the dawn of their careers.
Jaromir Jagr acknowledged Wednesday that he made mistakes when he lost $500,000 betting through an Internet gambling site, but he insisted he paid the debt four years ago and did nothing illegal.
Alcohol, drugs, and gambling are dangers that players often fail to avoid. While the majority of addiction incidents happened over drugs and other illegal substances, gambling has also taken its fair share of young players and experienced superstars to financial ruin.
Whether it is sports betting, paying visits to Las Vegas or even gambling online, the consequences of gambling addiction are often catastrophic. Unsurprisingly, the fastest growing category among those is web-based gambling. Thus, online casino sites now present an even greater threat to sports players worldwide, providing a fast and easy way to gamble without any prying eyes.
We’ll take a look at the stories of some of the most popular names in sports who were involved in major gambling incidents during their careers or once they retired from sports.
Michael Jordan (Basketball) Street dice game.
Now retired, Michael Jordan remains one of the all-time greats of the NBA and basketball in general. Despite his massive success in sports, Air Jordan was quite the gambler himself back in the day, and by all accounts remains one even now.
Jordan was a common visitor to Atlantic City, where he played casino games and bet on sports on many occasions. Once he lost over $150.000 at an AC casino back in 1993, while Richard Esquinas claimed that MJ lost over $1.2 Million to him playing golf.
Over his illustrious career, Michael often played golf for big sums of money and gambled in other ways. Despite being a man of action who loves some gamble, Jordan apparently knows how to keep his vice under control as he continues living a lavish lifestyle and his bank accounts appear to be quite healthy.
Wayne Rooney (Soccer)
The ex-Manchester United superstar and one of England’s best goal scorers ever had a fantastic career at the very top of European football. During his time with Manchester United, Rooney helped the team win the Champions League and numerous domestic titles and carved his name into soccer’s list of all-time greats in the process.
Despite his prowess on the pitch, Rooney was always rumored to be a somewhat troubled person, with gambling and infidelity incidents putting a stain on his career. Wayne’s gamble of choice was sports betting. He was known for betting six-figure sums on football matches, horse and dog races and other sports at a very young age.
At the age of 22, Wayne Rooney lost over £65.000 in a Manchester-based casino, which upset his fans. However, Rooney never allowed his gambling issues to affect his play nor did he ever get into too much financial trouble, as his massive weekly wages at United kept him in the black the whole time.
Floyd Mayweather (Boxing)
Floyd Mayweather is one of the highest-earning sportsmen in the world and a boxing superstar. Mayweather made the headlines many times over, perhaps the most for his boxing match with Connor McGregor.
The fight made the boxer millions but this did not deter him from trying to bet as much money as possible on himself. Of course, this was not the first time Floyd made a wager, as he is a well-known sports bettor and blackjack player.
Over the years, Mayweather has posted many massive betting slips on his social media accounts. He even hosted a $300,000 blackjack tournament in the Bahamas at one time. While it is well known that he won six-figure scores on many occasions, it is likely that his losses reach well into the millions, although most of his action remains undisclosed.
Charles Barkley (Basketball)
Often referred to as Chuck or Sir Charles, the Alabama native was one of the top NBA players of his era. After being selected as the fifth pick of the 1984 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, Barkley proceeded to have an illustrious career which unfortunately never resulted in an NBA title.
The 1993 NBA MVP was a superstar on the pitch, but in personal life, he had a great problem of controlling his gambling addiction. In a 2006 interview with ESPN, Barkley admitted to losing over $30,000,000 on gambling during his career, including Super Bowl bets and blackjack sessions at Vegas-based Wynn hotel. Despite such massive losses, Barkley claimed he does not need to quit since he can “afford to gamble”, unlike most people.
Jaromir Jagr (Hockey)
Czech-born Jaromir Jagr is the most productive European player who ever played in the NHL. During his career, he has won the Stanley Cup, Ice Hockey World Championships and the Olympic gold medal, ending up as one of 28 players in the Triple Gold Club.
Jaromir Jagr Wife
His incredible career as a hockey player was somewhat clouded by his immense losses at online gambling sites as well as massive debts he incurred toward the IRS that once claimed over $3,000,000 in back taxes from the player.
Jagr accumulated his massive gambling debts at two online casinos over the course of several years but was unable to pay the entire amount at once. Treasure island jackpots mobile casino. Since he hadn’t made any payments for some time, casinos broke the story to the press and made the player eventually pay his debts.
As years go by and sports players continue accumulating greater wealth, the vice of gambling becomes ever more present in their lives. While gambling may not be as harmful to players’ careers as drugs and alcohol in a physical sense, the mental pressure caused by numerous losses has been enough to hurt many careers. Hopefully, the superstars of tomorrow will learn their lessons from their predecessors and avoid falling into the same pitfalls.
Check out the infographic and if you want to know more about celebrity gambling, read the article below.Celebrity Gamblers and Celebrity gambling addicts
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Floyd Mayweather
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Floyd Mayweather is probably the best-known and best boxer of the last couple of decades. He can boast a total of 50 wins and not a single defeat. He also managed to defeat the world-famous MMA fighter, Connor McGregor. But according to the media, he does not seem to be able to win over his gambling addiction. Between 2012 and 2015, he regularly exhibited photos on social media of betting worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
According to the latest news, the famous boxer owes around $50 million to Las Vegas casinos. This information began to spread shortly after he announced that he would refight Manny Pacquiao, even though he had announced several times that he had quit boxing.
Matt Damon
Hollywood star Matt Damon, whom you could have seen, for example, trying to survive alone in the movie “Martian”, also enjoys a visit to the casino in addition to the movie’s space visits. For example, he often participates in the biggest World Series of Poker event, where he likes to play with his good friend Ben Affleck. However, according to some media, Matt Damon, although he is a good actor, is not a good poker player.
At least he has not yet won any of the official tournaments yet, despite being actively interested in playing poker. Once he even played a poker character in the movie “Rounders”. While doing research for this role, Matt went to the World Series of Poker in 1998, where he quickly dropped out after losing $20 000.
Michael Jordan
Rapid wins and adrenaline rushes from gambling have even lured one of most famous ever American basketball players. The winner of a number of sporting awards, including two Olympic Gold medals, he was well known in casinos at the time, and has been involved in a number of wild stories.
In 2007, for example, during the NBA All-Star weekend, he played craps so passionately that he did not want anyone else to go to the thrower post. Which was obviously a mistake because he had allegedly lost more than $5 million that night. After this giant loss, Jordan went on to “celebrate” at a nearby strip bar, where he and his friends got involved in a fight that even ended up in a shooting.
Pamela Anderson
Another celebrity that we present today is the famous American actress, most well-known for her amateur sex recording and subsequent role in the profiled series “Baywatch”. According to our information, Pamela Anderson likes to play the slot machines, but her favorite game is poker. Sadly, she is not a good player.
According to the information provided by the actress during the Ellen Degeneres show, she lost at least $250,000 one evening in a Las Vegas casino. However, this debt was never paid off. Apparently, she was “forgiven” by Antonis Esfandiari in exchange for unspecified sexual services. Interestingly, after this affair, according to Pamela, they fell in love and, after a few months, announced their engagement.
Allen Iverson
The higher he jumped, the harder he fell. This is how you could sum up the life of Allen Iverson. This sporting legend, who grew up literally in the ghetto, and, before the end of high school was imprisoned for four months for assault, eventually got things together and started an incredible career. Iverson is considered one of the top five basketball players in history and is estimated to have earned over $200 million in his career.
All this money, however, is gone. And all this, largely because of his alcohol and gambling addiction. “Iverson will either drink himself into oblivion or lose the rest of his life in the casino,” wrote journalist Stephen A. Smith, who worked on his life story.
The final straw was the divorce from his long-term wife, Tawanna, which happened in 2012. According to witness testimonies, Iverson even literally turned his pockets inside out in court to show that he had no more money.
Jaromir Jagr – gambling like a pro?
The famous hockey player Jaromir Jagr #68, in addition to the legend of a hockey god, also has the reputation for not being a good gambler (celebrity gamblers).
According to the US online magazine, Complex, Jagr is even among the top ten biggest gamblers in sporting history. The Golden Olympian from Nagano once lost $950 000 in a year in an online casino. Jagr also likes to spend time in brick-and-mortar casinos. In his words, that is the only place where he really feels at peace.
Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods is one of the most famous golfers. Besides that, he became famous in the gambling world as a high roller at blackjack tables. He is renowned for playing blackjack with the highest limits, which can be up to $200 000 per hand. However, he mostly does not win.
According to a British daily, he could have lost over $50 million. And this is just in the first seven years when Woods entered professional sports. The figure will actually be much higher, because Woods has played blackjack longer than he has played golf professionally. When he was 20 years old, he got caught in a casino with a fake ID.
Tobey Maguire
Hollywood actor Tobey Maguire is best known as the superhero in Spiderman’s first trilogy. In private, however, Maguire does not behave like a hero and role model for the next generation. Among his colleagues and in the tabloids, he is known for his passion for poker and bad behavior. According to Molly Bloom, the famous organizer of poker tournaments, Maguire was one of the best players, but one of the worst people she had ever worked with. Europa casino review.
In her book, for example, Maguire offered her a $1 000 chip if she barked like a seal that wanted to fish. Bloom refused to bark, to which the famous actor said, “I’m not kidding. Are you so rich that you do not bark for a thousand dollars? ”
Another scandal figuring that popular comic character happened in 2011 when the court ordered him to pay an $80 000 fine for participating in an illegal poker tournament.
Jennifer Tilly
Jennifer Tilly is a Canadian-American actress and poker player. As one of the few on our list, she is successful in both of these fields. As an actress, Tilly is best known as Olive in “Bullets over Broadway”, for which she was nominated for an Oscar. You can also see her together with the unbelievable Jim Carrey in the movie ”Liar Liar”.
In addition to glory on the silver screen, Jennifer Tilly was named as a top poker player. In 2005 she won $158 000 at the Ladies Night No Limit World Series. She won third place at the World Poker Tour Ladies’ Invitational Tournament in the same year. Tilly has won several tournaments and in 2008 announced the end of her poker career.
But she apparently missed poker more than she thought, because two years later she returned to the gaming tables. It is estimated that she has earned about $900 000 in her poker career.
Charlie Sheen’s gambling addiction
One of the most famous celebrity gamblers – surely none of you will be surprised that controversial Charlie Sheen has also emerged amongst the gambling celebrities. His gambling only complements the collection of addictions that this famous actor suffers from. Charlie can definitely afford to bet. In the days of his greatest glory, when he starred in the “Two and a Half Man” series, Sheen was earning $1.8 million per episode.
Charlie did not save on his gambling addiction. According to his former wife, he regularly lost up to $ 200 000 a day in casinos and sports betting.
Ben Affleck
Like Jennifer Tilly, another Hollywood star on our list is among the players who hold the reins of the bet tightly in their hands. The star of movies such as “Good Will Hunting”, “Argo” and “Justice League”, says he has no problem with gambling. One could say that gambling has a problem with him. Literally.In 2014, he was banned from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, where he was caught counting cards at blackjack. Affleck doesn’t deny that he can play blackjack on a professional level: “I took some time and learned to play pretty well. Once I became good, the casino asked me not to play blackjack. I think the fact that being good in something is against the rules tells more about casinos than about me, ” Affleck commented on the affair.
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In addition to blackjack, Ben Affleck also plays poker. In 2004, he managed to win $356 000 in a $9 900 + 100 No Limit Hold’em Championship.
Shannon Elizabeth
Shannon Elizabeth is a renowned American actress, poker player and former model that you will remember from her most famous role in the 1999 comedy “American Pie”.
Beautiful and talented Elizabeth is also one of the regular poker tournament visitors. She even claims that poker is her second job. Several times a month, she can be seen in Las Vegas and other casinos all over America.
Although Elizabeth has not won any big tournament yet, her earnings from playing poker are estimated to exceed $200 000.
50 Cent
50 Cent, with his civilian name of James Jackson, is a well-known American rapper who has led a rather controversial life. He was shot once, stabbed and jailed several times. For part of his life, he also made money as a drug dealer. Although it would not be known that he was also gambling, he would bet on some rare occasions. The biggest bet he ever made was half a million dollars for the match between the New York Giants and San Francisco.
Ray Romano
Ray Romano is an American actor, known above all as the main character in the TV show “Men of a Certain Age”. He also played the role of Joe Tranelli, a pathological gambler and addicted player. Interestingly, Ray Romano himself is a passionate player. Since 2007, he has been regularly participating in the World Series of Poker, in which he finished third in 2013.
In addition to poker, Romano also plays craps or online betting. In the past, his problem was so great that Romano decided to seek help from Gamblers Anonymous.
George Clooney
Danny’s representative in the “Ocean’s Eleven” film series, as well as the main movie character, has a very close relationship with casinos. Clooney is a regular visitor to top poker events and likes to play blackjack or craps. He himself attempted to open his own casino and invested more than 200 million dollars in that venture. This plan, however, did not work out.
John Daly
John Patrick Daly, his full name, is an American professional player and multiple golf champion. In his autobiography, he admits that he had a very serious gambling problem in the past. He said he could have lost $50-60 million in 15 years. His biggest loss was apparently in October 2005, when he lost $1.5 million in one month.
Charles Barkley
Charles Barkley was a leading American basketball player. From 1984 until the end of his active sporting career in 2000, he played for the Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns and Houston Rocket. After he left basketball, Barkley was particularly passionate about gambling.
In an interview with ESPN, Barkley said he could have lost about $10 million in his lifetime. He also admitted that he had lost 2.5 million dollars in a 6-hour blackjack session. He ended up in court in 2008, when he was sued by Winn Casino for $400 000 in unpaid losses. Barkley acknowledged the amount and immediately paid up. After this trial, he said on several occasions that he had stopped gambling.
Pete Rose
Club Manager and player for the MLB Reds and enthusiastic baseball gambler is not exactly the most uncomfortable combination. Pete Rose was in the club as a player and as Manager after his retirement. His career, however, ended the allegations of sports betting that he had long vehemently denied. However, according to the commission of inquiry, he would have made at least 52 bets on the Reds and in some cases, bet away about $10 000 a day.
Rose admitted in 2004 that those allegations were true. He adds in one breath that he has never bet against his own team.
Antonie Walker
One of the greatest talents of the American NBA has managed to spend more than most people earn in their whole lifetime. By the end of his professional career in 2008, he could have made about $110 million. Two years later, Walker announced personal bankruptcy. The former player himself admitted that he spent most of his fortune on expensive cars, luxury houses and jewelry for himself and his friends.
He famously gambled away much of his wealth, even with another former baseball player, Michael Jordan. Walker was certainly a better basketball player than a gambler. He ended up with a total debt of $880 000 to three Las Vegas casinos and three lawsuits for listing bad checks.
Celebrity Gamblers – Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton
This pair of basketball players is behind one of NBA’s biggest scandals when these players pulled out weapons against each other in the locker room. It all concerned a dispute about winnings from a card game that both players had played in a few days before this incident. Neither of them eventually shot, but even so, this event made big news at the time.
Jaromir Jagr Wikipedia
Both Areas and Crittenton were immediately suspended, and they also were put on probation after pleading guilty to misdemeanor weapons charges. Arenas returned to basketball later and played until 2012. Critterton never played basketball professionally again and in 2015 was sentenced to 25 years in prison for manslaughter.