How Rapper Young Thug Lost $800K Gambling in Vegas

Posted on: February 25, 2021, 09:58h. 

Last updated on: February 25, 2021, 12:38h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More

Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

Rapper Young Thug revealed to his fans this week that he lost a hefty $800,000 in Las Vegas while on the gaming floor.

Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Lamar Williams, is 29 years old. He has won Grammy and MTV awards. The BBC describes him as the “21st Century’s most influential rapper.”

“Man, Vegas just won $800,000 from me, man,” Thug said in his Instagram Stories on Sunday. “Man, I threw liquor everywhere in the mother****er.”

Upon hearing about the loss, one fan, identified on Instagram as grassofaith, told Thug to “drop the name of the casino so we can boycott it and they lose 800 thou…. Best way to get even.”

So far, it is not clear which casino or casinos were the site where he lost the money. But given the cost to get the rapper to appear on stage for a single show, Young Thug is far from hurting. He let it slip in the Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast that he gets $1 million a show. And it is likely to be higher after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I went down because of the pandemic,” he said in the podcast, quoted by Complex Media, an online site. “I ain’t did a show in so long because I want too much money, man.”

Discipline Needed When Gambling

When asked for comment, the Rev. Richard McGowan, a finance professor at Boston College who closely follows gambling trends, said the loss “certainly shows that anyone can have a gambling problem.

It also shows the amount of discipline one needs to have when you gamble,” McGowan told Casino.org. “You need to know when to cut your losses and not believe the tide will turn.”

It appears that athletes and young stars “think they have money to burn. But once they lose, they seem determined to make up for those losses,” McGowan added.

Young Thug’s experience in Las Vegas also may send a useful message to his fans.

“Hopefully, the fans will realize the old adage, ‘If you can’t afford to lose, then you can’t afford to win,’” McGowan said.

Lia Nower, a professor and director of Rutgers University’s Center for Gambling Studies, agreed.

The house always wins.  If you’re going to gamble in a casino or online or anywhere else, you should only bring what you can afford to lose,” Nower told Casino.org.

She explains that if celebrities have a lot of money, “They are able to accelerate the frequency and intensity of their gambling faster.

“Unlike substances, where you can only drink or use so much before you die or need hospitalization, there is no limit to how much money you can gamble away.”