Online gambling has been on the rise over the past decade and no rapper has been blowing money fast in the computer betting space like Drake.
The Canadian rap star has been placing high-stakes sporting bets for years. So much so, that the “Drake Curse,” which refers to the rapper’s rooting interests losing more often than not, has become a running joke as the bets stack. A $1.3 win here, a $2 million loss there. It all adds up to astronomical numbers.
The 6 God’s gambling has increased in recent years. But it seems that is largely due to his 2022 partnership with the multiple-billion dollar, crypto-based Australian-Curaçaoan online casino Stake, which also boasts other celebrities as sponsors. Since the deal, Drake’s posts about his bets are always accompanied by the Stake logo. He even has his own page on the company’s website. This past Christmas, he partnered with the company to give away over $1 million in cash and prizes. In October of 2024, online gaming site casino.org reported Drake had bet over $1 billion in cryptocurrency in a two-month span.
While Drake has won and lost millions, it is unclear if the money he is betting is even his or part of the overall sponsorship ploy to draw in more customers. Hell, the betting receipts may be photoshopped for all we know.
Drake recently took his betting antics to the next level when he reportedly rented out a club so he could play slots on Stake.
One thing is for sure, Drake has real money, gambling obsession or not. While he might thumb his nose at losing millions of dollars in bets, the average person can’t. According to a 2024 study by the medical journal The Lancet, gambling is having adverse effects on public health.
“We’re not talking about people playing a game with cards around the table anymore,” said the commission’s epidemiology lead, Louisa Degenhardt, a professor at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. “Many people might be really experiencing harms from gambling — we think that it’s probably around 72 million people globally. That number is likely to increase, as we are seeing the increase in commercial organizations targeting people to gamble more.”
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, please call the National Problem Gambling Helpline Modernization Project at 1-800-GAMBLER or visit npcgambling.org for additional resources.