Gambling after a professional athletes retirement

Gambling after a Professional Athlete’s Retirement

Tip Post

Gambling is an addictive disorder experienced by athletes, college and professional. Athletes tend to gamble during or after their sports career.  Gambling is a “drug” many athletes tend to get into. Gambling can be from playing Blackjack, poker, to betting on professional athletic games. Why do they do it?

      

            Gambling occurs for many different reasons such as athletes are retired so it’s another hobby to keep them busy, they want to win money etc. For example, Charles Barkley is a retired professional basketball player, he was known for his compulsive gambling. In an ESPN interview, he revealed that he lost approximately $10 million through gambling. He also lost $2.5 million in a six-hour period while playing blackjack. Barkley has admitted he gambles for too much money and stated it’s a bad habit but will continue to do it. Despite suffering some big losses, in 2008 after a casino filed a civil complaint after failing to pay a $400,000 debt stemming from 2007. Barkley stated he will not gamble anymore and said, “Just because I can afford to lose money doesn’t mean I should do it.”

                  My tip is a professional athlete should not get into the “gambling scene”. Like Barkley said, just because you have money doesn’t mean you should lose it. Odds are you will and it can be an addiction after wanting to play again and again.  You can end up broke and have debt that can last years. If a millionaire can lose tons of money then so can a middle-income person.