Drake Mocks Gambling Addiction in Post After Heavy Losses

The rapper has reportedly lost $8 million gambling in the last month.

Ziv Chen

Last Updated: June 23, 2025 2:21 PM EDT • 3 minute read

Rapper Drake has made several posts relating to his gambling habits in the past few days, including revealing a massive bet on Game 6 of the NBA Finals, revealing his gambling losses over a month, and calling gambling addiction “a lie.”

God’s Plan rapper Drake revealed $800,000 worth of wagers on Game 6 of the NBA Finals between the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Drake bet $200,000 on the Oklahoma City Thunder to win the game by 6 to 10 points, while wagering another $600,000 on the team to win outright. Drake placed both bets at Stake.

The Pacers beat the Thunder 108-91 to send the NBA Finals to Game 7 and Drake to lose that money.

After revealing his $800,000 wagers, Drake posted another Instagram story showing his gambling losses in the past month. He commented, “Gotta share the other side of gambling... Losses are so fried right now. I hope I can post a big one for you soon cause I’m the only one that has never seen a Max these guys Max once a week."

The post revealed Drake spent almost $125 million on gambling within the month, walking away with $8 million in losses.

However, less than a day later, he posted another Instagram story of a video with the text, “When I realized that gambling addiction is a lie made up by platforms like Stake to prevent you from winning their money.”

Drake is an official brand ambassador for Stake, one of our best sportsbooks in Canada, and has participated in several promotional events for the company since partnering with the company in 2022.

The Drake Curse Continues

The “Drake Curse” is well known among sports fans and gamblers at this point, with the theory suggesting that if Drake publicly backs a team, that team will lose. For example, Drake lost $450,000 betting on UFC 305 after backing Israel Adesanya to beat Dricus Du Plessis. It was the first submission loss of Adesanya’s career.

Other examples of the Drake Curse include the Alabama Crimson Tide losing the College Football National Championship to Clemson in 2019 after Drake publicly backed them, and Kamaru Usman losing at UFC 278 after Drake bet $200,000 on him to win.

Drake has placed successful bets several times, but with each high-profile loss, the belief and hype in the Drake Curse increase.

Drake Mocks Gambling Addiction as Report Suggests Searches for Gambling Addiction Rise

While Drake made light of gambling addiction in his Instagram post, researchers at the University of California San Diego Qualcomm Institute and School of Medicine believe gambling addiction is growing in the US. The Growing Health Concerns Regarding Gambling Addiction in the Age of Sportsbook report found that gambling addiction searches have increased by 23% from 2016 to 2024.

Concerns over gambling addiction are a key reason lawmakers push back on attempts to legalize online casinos in more states. For example, an online casino bill in Hawaii died after officials raised concerns about gambling addiction, among other things.

Written by:
Ziv Chen

Ziv has over two decades of experience in the igaming and sports betting industry, having served in senior marketing and business development positions with both B2C and B2B companies, including Playtech and Microgaming. In 2019, Ziv decided to pursue his passion for writing and became a fulltime industry journalist, covering casino, sports, and gambling business news. He’s specialties include casino games and technology, US state gambling regulation, company performance, as well as gambling affiliates and marketing. As a Pitt graduate, Ziv is a diehard fan of all Pittsburgh sports teams, with the Steelers at the top of the list. In his free time, he enjoys reading crime fiction, biographies (mainly of sports personalities, but not only) and American history. Ziv’s Favorite quote: “We're going to pursue perfection, knowing full well we won't catch it, but we're going to relentlessly chase it," Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach.