10 Famous People With Gambling Addiction

Like some other habits, gambling can be addictive. And when you get into it, pulling out might be more difficult than you can imagine.

Around the world, people wager huge amounts of money and valuable items with hopes to get more money in return. However, the success of their stakes in left to chance.

Even though so many people lose things of great value to betting, the number of people who engage in this get rich quick scheme is increasing on a daily basis.

While most of us Know that Las Vegas is synonymous with gambling but just maybe if you take the spotlight off Las Vegas for a little bit, we would find out that gambling in other parts of the world is skyrocketing.

No other country in the world has recorded a higher gambling rate than Australia as over 80% of Australian adults are believed to be gamblers.

With the introduction of online betting, the industry seems to be growing larger and making more profits as gambling has become more accessible to engage in.

You might think gambling is a problem for people who are looking to double their money, but some people who already have so much money can’t let go of the habit.

Here is a list of 10 celebs who are known to have a gambling addiction.

1. Nelly

Known for his great voice and rapping skills, Nelly could easily pass for one of the most loved artists in the early 2000s. However, there have been rumours that the rapper might have gone broke, but we do not know how true that is.

What we do know is that in 2011, Nelly’s former promoter “Slim” accused the artist of throwing all of his money away because of his gambling habits. I guess we can connect the dots from that.

2. Shannon Elizabeth

Remember her pretty face from American pie? Shannon not only got famous for being a naked girl in a movie, someone somewhere has accused her of running an illegal gambling ring from her House, and that’s now viral news about her too.

Well, it’s possible she’s lost so much as a poker player and she just thought it would be a smart idea to not only bet, but make some more money off people who come to gamble in her house. It appears Shannon’s celeb status gets her more customers.

3. Michael Jordan

Tall, dark, and handsome NBA star is on this list for apparent reasons. You can’t talk about the most competitive athletes in NBA history and not mention Michael Jordan.

Jordan’s first retirement in 1993 was as a result of his gambling addiction, and it was going be a shame to his team and the league if he had been suspended for gambling.

However, he was back on the court a few months later still play as good as he used to, but his gambling habits were not reported to have reduced as at that time.

4. Ben Affleck

Ben Affleck’s acting career is what you can easily refer to as a successful one. He might have successfully managed his job, but his addiction doesn’t show that he is good at managing his money. In 2001 Ben Affleck checked into a rehab centre for his gambling and alcohol addiction.

Since gambling is a lifestyle he is familiar with, getting into character for the gambling themed movie “Runner, Runner” with singer and actor Justin Timberlake, wasn’t so much of a difficult task for Ben Affleck.

5. Charles Barkley

While other stars might want to hide their addiction, Charles Barkley has chosen to man up and share his problem with ESPN during an interview. The former NBA champion was asked to share his thoughts on golfer John Daly’s gambling habits.

Charles Barkley went ahead to talk about how he also has a gambling problem, and he has lost nothing less than 10 million dollars to gambling. Barkley said that he knows he has a gambling problem but he doesn’t see it as an actual problem because he can afford it.

However, Charles Barkley seems to be confused about getting help for his betting issues as he claims it is something he loves to do and nobody can tell him what to do with his money.

6. Tobey Maguire

It looks like spiderman got something else that feels just as important to him as saving the world from villains. Tobey Maguire who played the role of Spiderman has turned out to have a gambling problem and even got sued for it.

Just like a few other Hollywood stars, Tobey has been accused of participating in illegal gambling in a gambling ring that ran multi-million dollars underground poker games.

The actor allegedly won over $300,000 worth of illicit funds. I guess spiderman needs saving this time.

7. Pamela Anderson

Sometime in the olden days, fathers gave out their daughters in marriage to pay off their debts, but in the case of Pamela Anderson, she gave herself out to pay off her poker debts Rick Salomon in 2007.

Rick and Pamela had been friends for 17 years before the poker game, and Rick saw the debt Pamela had incurred from her loss to him as an avenue to get something started. The duo appeared to be happy for a while, but their union was later annulled

8. Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods is one of the world’s finest golfers, but he has become famous for some not so cool stuff too. One may think that his womanising habits were the worse to watch out for, but his gambling habits are just as bad.

One of his numerous mistresses confirmed that Tiger spends as much as $25,000 on a single bet when he plays blackjack.

Tiger Woods has a reputation of being one of the highest roller players at the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas where his bet spending has been limited to a max of 1 millon dollars. Tiger Woods is also friends with Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan who are big-time gamblers.

9. Floyd Mayweather Jr

Floyd has proven to be good at betting that he wins more times than he loses. Just recently he won $3 million from a bet he made on a college football team.

His betting problem has been on for a long time, and his ex-wife reported to have delivered  $700,000 to Floyd at one time so he could settle his debts at a casino.

10. Dana White

Of all the celebrities with a gambling addiction, Dana White is the most successful. Dana has become a threat to many casinos because of how often he wins large amounts of money that he has been banned from playing in some casinos.

Even though Dana White is a successful gambler, he is greedy and refuses to pay his UFC fighters what they deserve to earn for their fights.