Celebrities work hard and like to play hard. For some, playing hard means engaging in a little betting with some of the wealth they’ve grafted to accumulate. Drake is one and is well known for betting huge amounts of money on sports. The Canadian rapper got into this during a residency in Vegas. He was performing at a hotel and somehow started betting. Although he applied the mantra that gaming was just business, really, it was a personal thing. He loved it.
Unfortunately for Drake, who has had hits with “One Dance,” “Nice for What,” “Childs Play” and a host of other tracks, his fondness for large bets has witnessed him experience mostly big losses in some cases. Below is a look at his losing streak and his betting preferences.
“The Drake Curse”
If you study any form of betting or iGaming and hear Drake has bet on an event, you might consider betting the opposite of what he predicts. If he thinks a team or individual is going to lose, you might feel they’ll be good for the win.
Why’s that? It’s because of something known as the “Drake Curse.” In a lot of cases, sports stars, especially in combat sports, tend to lose when the rapper bets on them. Sean Strickland lost his UFC middleweight championship to Dricus Du Plessis when Drake put more than half a million dollars on the fighter. Israel Adesanya, “The Last Airbender,” was another fighter Drake backed. The Nigerian suffered a shock defeat against Strickland.
Other fighters who have experienced losses in the Octagon when Drake has bet on the event include Jorge Masvidal, whose loss against Colby Covington in March 2022 meant that Drake missed out on just over a million dollars. Jose Aldo and Kamaru Usman have also let Drake down, as has Charles Oliveira who cost Drake money when he beat Justin Gaethje (Drake had predicted the fight would go Gaethje’s way).
Faring little better with boxing
Switch to boxing, and it doesn’t get much better. MMA fighter Francis Ngannou looked like a threatening prospect and had every chance of causing an upset when he faced British heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua. Drake believed he would and bet on the fighter in March 2024. The British heavyweight wasn’t going to let that happen, however, and put the Cameroonian on the canvass in the second round, leaving Drake out of pocket yet again.
Drake had backed Logan Paul to win his bout against Dillon Danis. Paul did win the event, but less through his boxing prowess and more through getting Danis himself disqualified and the bout degenerating into chaos. When Tyson Fury and Olexander Usyk met for the first time, however, “The Gypsy King” did Drake no favors with a loss that cost the rapper $565,000.
Is he really jinxed, though?
Although sports fans have pointed out that Drake is cursed when it comes to betting on combat sports, the curse itself could be just fiction. The Canadian may not have understood the ins and outs of the sports. He may not have studied the right data to make a prediction.
They still might not be far wrong, however. Although he’s experienced some massive wins, Drake has also been on the wrong end of some massive losses when betting on other sports.
Not just combat sports
Drake gambling is nothing new, and besides boxing and the UFC, he’s shown a taste for gambling in a wide variety of sports, including basketball, American football, ice hockey, Formula 1, and soccer.
Crypto is another area he’s gotten into and wagering huge amounts of money on, as is casino gaming. Roulette appears to be his favorite casino game despite a whopping $25 million loss on one occasion.
Big bets on the NBA
In 2024, Drake posted on Instagram that he’d wagered $500,000 on the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA finals. The reason behind his wager was that he’d bought himself a home in Houston, Texas, and he considers himself a Texan. The Mavericks were underdogs across the series and would have netted him $1 million. Unfortunately for Drake, the Celtics defeated the Mavericks and went on to win their 18th NBA final.
Big bets on the NHL
The Edmonton Oilers compounded the betting misery for Drake when they missed out on the Stanley Cup against the Florida Panthers. Frustratingly, Drake had already lost $500,000 on the NBA finals and was hoping his $500,000 wager on the Oilers would bring in more than $1 million. They came close, rallying against a 3-0 deficit, but couldn’t sustain the comeback.
Drake clearly loves to wager, possibly more for the thrill of betting than for the actual wish to win money. Although he hasn’t been very successful in the combat sports betting arena, he did bet successfully on Logan Paul. He’s also bet successfully on the NFL in the past. But still, he loses more than he wins, in general.
