Canadian rapper and music icon Drake lost $700,000 betting on the UFC this week – but what are Drake’s top 10 biggest bets ever?
The 37-year-old has won and lost a crazy amount of money while betting in recent years. With huge wagers on all kinds of sports, he’s not afraid to put his money where his mouth is when it comes to picking a winner.
Just this week, he watched on from cage-side as Sean Strickland lost his title fight with Dricus du Plessis, costing Drake a massive $700,000.
But while he’s probably not the best guy to listen to when it comes to UFC betting tips, it’s certainly entertaining seeing the huge sums he bets.
Aside from sports betting, Drake has been known to wager millions of dollars on roulette tables and online casinos.
For this article, though, we are sticking to his sports betting record. Honourable mentions go to his $300,000 bet on Jake Paul to knock out Tommy Fury, which he lost, as well as his $287,000 stake on the Miami Dolphins in November 2022, which won him $2 million.
Incredibly, neither of these wagers make it on to the list of Drake’s top 10 biggest bets.
Drake’s Top 10 Biggest Bets
10. $319,000 on Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix
We start off our list of Drake’s top 10 biggest bets with his love of motorsport. In 2022, he picked Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to win the Spanish Grand Prix, with the Monegasques driver starting from pole position.
Unfortunately for Drake, he would lose his $319,000 stake, as Leclerc retired with engine problems on lap 27. World champion Max Verstappen would win the race on the way to retaining his crown.
9. $328,000 on the NBA & NHL
Drake isn’t afraid of a multi-sport bet, either. With a stake of $328,000, he picked the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks to win alongside both the Calgary Flames and New York Rangers in the NHL.
Unlike his Formula 1 stake, this time he would get lucky, pocketing a cool $2.5 million.
8. $427,000 on Charles Oliveira Vs Justin Gaethje
But when he backed Justin Gaethje against Charles Oliveira in UFC 274, he would lose $427,000.
Drake is a regular bettor on mixed martial arts, but seems to pick the loser just as often as he does the winner.
7. $478,000 on the NBA & NHL
In June 2022, Drake made another huge bet on the NBA and NHL, this time losing out. He backed both the New York Rangers in the NHL Eastern Conference Finals and the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Championship Series.
Unfortunately for Drake, the slip was doomed from the start and saw him miss out on almost $1.7 million in potential winnings.
6. $638,000 on Soccer
It’s not just American team sports that interest the rapper. In October 2022, he bet $638,000 on both Arsenal and Barcelona to win their respective soccer games.
Arsenal would come through, beating Leeds United 1-0, but Barca would let Drake down, losing La Liga’s El Classico 3-1 to Real Madrid.
5. $700,000 on Sean Strickland Vs Dricus Du Plessis
As mentioned, Drake was right next to the action this week as Dricus du Plessis won a knife-edge battle on a split decision from the judges.
With the scorecards of two judges reading 48-47 in favour of Du Plessis, Drake lost his $700,000 stake, having backed Sean Strickland to defend his title.
UFC president Dana White shared the betting slip before the fight, with Drake missing out on a $1.4 million payout.
4. $1 million on Super Bowl LVII
And things were even worse at last year’s Super Bowl. With a combined wager of around $1 million, Drake placed seven different bets on the match between Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs and Jalen Hurts’ Philadelphia Eagles.
With just one of his seven wagers coming in, he lost almost every penny he bet. No doubt Drake will be hoping for a better outcome if he bets on this year’s upcoming game.
3. $1 million on FIFA World Cup 2022
With Drake so often backing the wrong side in major events, some have coined the term “Drake Curse” for when the Canadian inevitably bets big on the loser.
In the 2022 FIFA World Cup Final, he did at least pick the winning team. Drake chose Lionel Messi’s Argentina as the winners as they faced off with reigning champions France in Qatar.
Unfortunately for Drake, while Argentina did eventually lift the trophy after an incredible period of extra time and a penalty shootout, he had picked them to win inside the regulation 90 minutes.
Argentina were two goals ahead with minutes to play, only for Kylian Mbappe to rescue France and send the game into extra time late on. Drake would miss out on $2.75 million.
2. $2 million on Israel Adesanya Vs Alex Pereira
And in another huge loss, Drake bet $2 million on Israel Adesanya to beat Alex Periera at UFC 281. He would eventually win back his money by betting on the rematches, but still lost the huge sum in the first place.
1. $2.2 million on Paddy Pimblett and Molly McCann
But while there have been far more losses than wins on this list, Drake’s biggest ever sports bet did come in for him. At UFC London in 2022, he would stake $2.2 million on wins for Liverpool duo Paddy Pimblett and Molly McCann.
Drake was so impressed that he bought each of them a Rolex watch to celebrate their joint victory.
Is Drake A Good Gambler?
There’s no doubting how much Drake enjoys placing bets, but he’s not exactly known for being successful with it.
If the “Drake Curse” is anything to go by, you should probably keep an eye on who he picks, and put your money on the other option.
Clearly, Drake bets for the thrill of it, and has plenty of money to play with. He’s had better luck with casinos than sports betting, but still loses vast amounts.
Drake is definitely not someone the average gambler should try and imitate. That is, unless you’re able to bet $1 billion in two months like he can.
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