Rap icon Drake has suffered another monumental sports betting loss, this time to the tune of £150,000 (approximately $200,000), after placing a huge wager on internet sensation Jake Paul to defeat former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.
The Costly Wager in Miami
The high-stakes boxing match, which took place in Miami on Friday night, saw Anthony Joshua secure a decisive victory over Jake Paul in the sixth round. Prior to the fight, Drake, whose real name is Aubrey Drake Graham, publicly shared a screenshot of his bet on Instagram. The post showed he had wagered the enormous sum, with the caption "Jakeyyyyy boy. Lock tf in". Had Paul pulled off the upset, the Canadian superstar stood to win a staggering £1.2 million ($1.64 million).
This defeat marks the second professional loss for Jake Paul, the YouTuber-turned-boxer. For Drake, however, it is merely the latest in a long and expensive line of unsuccessful sports bets, reinforcing the bizarre phenomenon fans and pundits have dubbed 'The Drake Curse'.
The Infamous 'Drake Curse' Explained
The so-called curse refers to a peculiar pattern where athletes or teams seemingly suffer bad luck after interacting with the 'One Dance' singer. It typically involves Drake posing for a photograph with a sports star or wearing a team's jersey shortly before a crucial game or fight, after which they proceed to lose.
The curse has an extensive and notorious history:
- March 2019: Paul Pogba took a photo with Drake; four days later, Manchester United were knocked out of the FA Cup by Wolverhampton Wanderers.
- April 2019: Former Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha met Drake, after which Palace lost 3-1 to Manchester City.
- October 2018: UFC star Conor McGregor was pictured with Drake before his title fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov, which he subsequently lost.
- 2019: Manchester City's Sergio Aguero missed a penalty in the Champions League shortly after meeting the rapper.
Intriguingly, Anthony Joshua himself has previously fallen victim to the curse. In 2019, he was photographed with Drake days before his scheduled fight with Jarrell Miller was cancelled after Miller failed a drug test. Andy Ruiz Jr. then stepped in as a late replacement and scored a stunning knockout victory over Joshua. Joshua has since acknowledged the superstition, joking in an interview with ESPN that he had banned Drake from his dressing room, stating, "I know I shouldn't. You know about the Drake curse? It's real, though."
A History of High-Stakes Gambling Losses
Drake has been surprisingly transparent about his gambling fortunes, often sharing details of both wins and, more frequently, significant losses on social media. Earlier this year, he posted a screenshot revealing he had lost a jaw-dropping £5 million (around $8 million) in a single month. Accompanying the post, he wrote: "Gotta share the other side of gambling... Losses are so fried right now..."
Other notable losses include:
- A £596,400 ($800,000) bet on an NBA game that did not pay off.
- A £750,000 ($1 million) loss in April on a bet for the Toronto Maple Leafs to win an NHL playoff game against the Florida Panthers. After the Leafs lost 6-1, Drake humorously blamed pop star Justin Bieber's presence at the arena for bringing bad luck.
While the 'Drake Curse' remains a popular and entertaining theory among fans, the rapper's recent betting activity confirms a simple, expensive truth: his luck when wagering on sports outcomes continues to be remarkably poor. The £150,000 loss on Jake Paul is just another costly chapter in his gambling chronicles.
