Charles Barkley has by no means finished something quietly. As a participant, he bulldozed by way of defenders on his option to 11 All-Star picks and an MVP award. As a broadcaster, he delivers sharp opinions, loud jokes, and the form of honesty that makes headlines the second it leaves his mouth. However off the court docket and off digicam, Barkley has battled one thing extra private.
All through a lot of his grownup life, Barkley poured time, power, and an astonishing sum of money into playing. He by no means hid it. Actually, he spoke about it with the identical brash confidence that made him a fan favourite. For years, he insisted the behavior was underneath management. However finally, the stakes bought too excessive and the losses grew to become too frequent to disregard.
That is the story of Charles Barkley’s lengthy, costly relationship with playing, the way it nearly spun uncontrolled, and what lastly made him step again.
Picture by Brett Deering/Getty Pictures
“I Love the Juice”
Barkley’s playing goes again to his taking part in days. After video games or off days, he usually discovered himself in casinos chasing the subsequent thrill. He has mentioned repeatedly that it was by no means in regards to the cash, however in regards to the rush.
It grew to become a part of his identification. Not like different athletes who tried to cover their vices, Barkley leaned into his. And for a very long time, nobody may actually cease him. He was making hundreds of thousands, dwelling massive, and having fun with himself. The thought of profitable massive excited him, and the concept of shedding by no means scared him sufficient to cease.
Barkley has admitted that he hit it massive quite a lot of instances. He walked away from on line casino periods up one million {dollars} 4 or 5 instances. The issue, he has mentioned, is that he walked away down one million much more usually. His greatest single loss got here throughout a six-hour blackjack session the place he blew $2.5 million.
What made issues worse was how he approached the sport. Barkley created a psychological benchmark for himself. He determined that each journey to the on line casino ought to finish with a million-dollar win. So even when he was up a whole bunch of 1000’s, he would preserve taking part in till he both hit one million or misplaced all of it. Most of the time, he misplaced all of it.
The Lawsuit That Modified All the pieces
In 2008, Barkley’s playing went from personal leisure to public bother. Wynn Las Vegas filed a civil go well with towards him for failing to pay again $400,000 in on line casino markers. The debt itself wasn’t catastrophic, however the lawsuit made headlines and put his playing again within the highlight.
Barkley did not struggle the declare. “I owe them the cash,” he mentioned on the time. “It was my fault. I let the time lapse.” He paid the debt and later admitted that the scenario was a wake-up name. After that, he stopped playing fully for practically two years.
Throughout his hiatus, Barkley got here to phrases with how unrealistic his expectations had turn out to be. In an interview with Campus Insiders, he mentioned he lastly understood that profitable $200,000 was okay. Shedding $200,000 was okay. However pushing each session to attempt to win one million had turn out to be an issue.
“There was this level the place I needed to understand, man, you do not have to win one million {dollars}. That is simply not a wholesome mindset,” he mentioned. He discovered to stroll away whereas he was forward and commenced pondering extra like a leisure participant as an alternative of a high-roller chasing a jackpot.
Barkley has all the time resisted the label of “playing addict.” He insists that he by no means misplaced management as a result of he took breaks each time he wanted them.
“Nah, I used to be by no means nervous about it as a result of I might take breaks right here and there if I had misplaced on a few journeys.”
As a substitute of quitting playing fully, Barkley now says he merely discovered to handle it higher. He nonetheless gambles once in a while, however the quantities are smaller and the expectations are extra affordable.
“You realize, it is like something, in the event you do it moderately it is alright,” Barkley mentioned. “And now with my playing, ‘trigger I find it irresistible. I really like the motion, I really like the juice. However I simply discovered to do it moderately.”
Even moderately, Barkley remains to be very a lot a gambler at coronary heart. He has described risk-taking as a part of his persona, and that applies to the whole lot from basketball to casinos. “You’ll be able to’t be nice at one thing until you are prepared to take dangers,” he as soon as mentioned.
The important thing distinction now’s that he understands when to stroll away. “You have to know when to cease,” he mentioned. “You’ll be able to’t be afraid to lose. However you can also’t preserve pondering you may win all of it again each time.”
So, How A lot Did He Lose?
The precise numbers are laborious to pin down, but it surely’s typically understood that Charles has misplaced as little as $10 million to as a lot as $30 million throughout his playing life. Have in mind, he solely made $40 million throughout his NBA profession from wage alone. He additionally earned round $40 million from his endorsements. However after taxes, between the 2 sources, he in all probability netted round $35 million. So, shedding $10 to $30 million playing was not insignificant to his funds.
Fortunately, due to his thriving post-playing saying profession, Charles has greater than made up for these losses and stays a really rich man. By our estimate, Barkley’s web price is $90 million. He at the moment makes $10 million a 12 months for his saying duties.
Barkley’s story serves as a reminder that even the richest athletes can discover themselves in harmful territory if they do not know when to stroll away. If you wish to know extra, here is an interview with Charles during which he talks about shedding hundreds of thousands and hundreds of thousands of {dollars} playing: