Gambling at casinos is a popular pastime for many celebrities including actors, singers, elite sportsmen and even politicians. People who are used to success and have a lot of money are often lured into the glitz and glamour of casino gaming. This is very beneficial for casinos as these celebrities are usually high-rollers, and besides more people are attracted to establishments where Ben Affleck or Leonardo DiCaprio might be spotted!
In this article, we are going to name a few celebrities who are known gamblers, have been spotted in casinos or might have admitted to their gambling habits in interviews. We are going to look at two of the most popular casino games: poker and baccarat as these two games attract real high-rollers. Dominic Andreasson, a Swedish iGaming professional helped us make this list and you can read more about Dominic if you click here.
Poker
Poker requires both luck and skill and many celebrities take playing poker as a challenge. Apart from spending a few hours and winning or losing a few grand, some of these guys compete in tournaments or make playing poker part of their living. Let’s see who are celebrity poker players!
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the most successful football players in the world. The Portuguese forward has played for some of the best clubs of Europe including Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Juventus. Ronaldo is not only excellent at football but also as a businessman, having his hotel in Madeira, his line of underwear, spectacles, and more. His net worth is approximately $500 million.
Cristiano is the brand ambassador of PokerStars which is the most popular poker site in the world. But he not only promotes playing poker to regular people – he plays the popular card game himself and in fact, his fans are eagerly awaiting in queues for poker tables at PokerStars for a chance to play against the champion.
You can also play poker at PokerStars or in dozens of other casinos you will find on Cvasino and they all accept players from Sweden.
Tobey Maguire
The Hollywood actor who is best known for his role in the Spiderman movies is a compulsive gambler. He started playing poker professionally in 2004 and his tutor was none other but Canadian poker professional Daniel Negreanu. He participated in the World Series of Poker Main Event Championships several times. He was one of the other celebrities along with Leonardo DiCaprio and Ben Affleck who participated in Molly Bloom’s high-stakes poker games at The Viper Room.
Tomas Brolin
Tomas Brolin might not be well-known outside of Sweden, but international football fans may know him as a former professional football player. He played in teams such as Parma, Leeds United, Crystal Palace and FC Zurich. After retiring from football he became a businessman and a very successful poker player. He many times competed in PokerStars.com European Poker Tours and once came 38th at the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo.
Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck is often spotted in Las Vegas casinos as he is one of the Hollywood stars who play poker. He has lost and won hundreds of thousands of dollars in Vegas casinos and apparently the Hard Rock casino banned him for counting cards. Funnily, Affleck starred with Justin Timberlake in a movie – Runner, Runner – that is about the dark side of online gambling in Costa Rica.
Matt Damon
Matt Damon also loves a good game of poker and the movie star often wins at the table. He is a regular at many Las Vegas casinos and he has been spotted playing the game alongside his poker buddy, Ben Affleck.
Baccarat
Baccarat is the favorite casino game of many high-rollers and particularly Asian ones. This is the biggest hit in Macao casinos but you can come across celebrities at the baccarat tables in casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City as well. So, who are they?
Gladys Knight
The 76-year-old Empress of Soul has a serious baccarat addiction that she picked up in the 80s. The addiction lasted more than a decade and in the late 80s, she lost $60,000 during one night at the baccarat table. After this incident, she joined Gamblers Anonymous and this seemed to have helped her.
Ian Flemming
The author of the James Bond book series is a passionate baccarat player. In his book, the 007 agent has many of Flemming’s traits and one of those is gambling. The 2006 movie, Casino Royale features the gambling scenes differently than the book and Bond plays Texas Hold’em poker instead of baccarat, but now we know the truth!
Jackie Chan
The Hong Kong actor and martial artist is a fan of baccarat and he has used baccarat scenes in his movies more than once. For example, in Rush Hour 3 there is a scene around the baccarat table where a man tries to impress a woman by playing at the baccarat table – only he doesn’t know that 3 kings is not a winning combination in baccarat.
Conclusion
If you spend enough time at the biggest casinos in Las Vegas you have a great chance of spotting Hollywood film stars who play casino games. Or play online at PokerStars and you might play against football legend Ronaldo.
