Drake is a massive name in the music industry as a writer, recording and performance artist. The streaming age made him a dominant artist, with few others being able to pull numbers like him. He became the first ever person to get one hundred billion Spotify streams, which occurred on June 18th, 2024, just two months after it was reported that he had ninety-seven billion!
While those are incredible numbers and bring in fortunes for the Canadian musician, you could say that money for him is ‘easy come and easy go’. He loves to gamble and has racked up some eye-watering gambling losses over the years, and there is now even the term ‘the Drake curse’ in some gambling circles. Many believe that any athlete wagered on by Drake will suffer defeat, and Kendrick Lamar recently accused him of being a gambling addict, but is that the case, or is he just foolhardy or incredibly canny?
You could argue that it is because he gambles from his heart rather than his head that he is not luckier. His bets have included a $300k loss because he bet on Canada’s soccer team to beat Argentina in the semi-finals of the Copa America. It wasn’t as if he did not have forewarning. The Canadian squad had only scored one goal and already lost to Argentina in the group stages.
Whatever way you look at it, there is no denying the fact that Drake is gambling at levels unimaginable to most. He is not the first mega-wealthy person who has been attracted to the thrill of gambling. The earliest gaming houses were set up for the rich and glamorous in society. Marie, Antionette, and Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, were legendary society figures whose love of the games tables is well documented.
However, Drake does appear to be in another league altogether. Unlike earlier society figures, he is not limited to private gaming halls or exclusive casinos
He has gambled millions on varying sports with varied degrees of success. He lost $2 million on one UFC bet in 2022 but then bagged the same back by betting on the NFL and NBA. His punt on The Kansas City Chiefs winning the Super Bowl VVII was one of his successes.
It is not only sports betting that attracts him. The spinning roulette wheel also fascinates him, and in 2022, he won over $12 million on one roulette spin. For most of us, these numbers are so vast that we cannot imagine gambling on this scale. While it is documented that the Canadian rapper bet and lost over $1 billion at the crypto casino Stake.com in two months, many believe there is more to this than meets the eye.
Drake has a stake deal with the crypto casino, and some people have intimated that the casino deposits the money he gambles here, and the deal with Drake is to enhance the casino’s allure. He hosted five live-streamed events under the banner “Drake vs Stake,” which saw him hand out Bitcoin packages worth up to $75,000. His luck, as ever when gambling, has not been consistent. One day, he won nearly $25 million. However, on another occasion, he ended the session with less than $2,000 after starting with $8.5 million.
Drake’s Stake username is DeepPockets6, which probably says everything we need to know about how he positions himself in the gambling world. He has never been coy about sharing his love of gambling with the wider world and frequently posts on social media what he has been up to. In February 2022, he posted a photo of himself courtside at a Toronto Raptors game while simultaneously playing online live high-stakes roulette.
According to his social media feed, the live-streaming events where he dishes out prizes allow him to “share the love’ with his people. While he claims to be sharing the love, there is no doubt that the deal brings a significant share to his every accumulating fortune. The deal is reportedly worth $100 million annually and is one of the most lucrative in the gambling world. Even for someone of Drake’s stature, that is a staggering figure.
Whatever form it takes, his deal with Stake seems to benefit both parties – as any great influencer/affiliate relationship should. If he posts about gambling, you can bet your bottom dollar that Stake will have been tagged or that its logo will be included in the post. And remember that courtside Raptors photo? Well, guess what? Stake’s logo appeared large and clear. Having been a Raptors’ global ambassador since 2013, he effectively killed two birds with one stone.
He is a master at monetizing whatever he does. While some fans have expressed concern over his gambling habits, many punters claim that he is all about product placement and milking any deal to the max. He does seem to have an extraordinary knack for turning up pots of gold wherever he goes.
His estimated net worth in 2024 was $250 million, and he continues to accumulate wealth through various revenue streams even if gambling is not his most consistent! Most people realize that gambling is a form of entertainment and not an income stream, and it seems to be keeping him entertained while money flows in from his personal brand, music, and endorsements.
Drake seems to have turned entertainment in every form into income. While he is not a billionaire, he is undoubtedly far wealthier than most can imagine. Who knows what we might do with that sort of money and a somewhat cast iron guarantee that we could continue to monetize our brand and ventures as he is able to do?
His global tours, including “It’s All a Blur” and “Aubrey and Three Migos,” grossed him hundreds of billions of dollars, and he can sell out arenas worldwide. His OVO (October’s Very Own) brand brings significant revenues from a record label and clothing line. His 2021 tie-up with Nike was the first of its kind for the sportswear firm, which had previously only launched sub-brand partnerships.
He is also somewhat of a real estate mogul with a portfolio of luxury properties. His Toronto mansion is valued at over $100 million, but he is reportedly struggling to sell his Beverly Hills mansion! But he probably is not losing too much sleep over that.