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Renowned rapper Drake, known for flaunting his extravagant lifestyle on Instagram, recently placed substantial Bitcoin bets on the outcomes of both the NBA Finals and the NHL Stanley Cup Finals via his partnered betting platform, Stake. However, his $500,000 wager on the Dallas Mavericks winning the NBA championship has gone awry, and he could face a similar fate with his NHL bet on Tuesday.
On June 6, Drake shared a screenshot on Instagram revealing his $500,000 Bitcoin bet on the Dallas Mavericks, which would have yielded a payout of $1.375 million had the Texas team emerged victorious.
“Dallas cause I’m a Texan,” Drake wrote alongside the Instagram post.
Unfortunately for the rapper, the Boston Celtics clinched their record-breaking 18th NBA championship by defeating the Dallas Mavericks 4-1 in the 2024 NBA Finals. The Celtics dominated the regular season and playoffs, winning 15 of their first 17 postseason games. They took a 3-0 series lead, but Dallas avoided elimination with a historic 122-84 blowout in Game 4.
However, in Game 5 at home court, the Celtics secured the title with a 106-88 victory, fueled by a 9-0 run to close the first quarter and a 21-point halftime lead. This championship moves the Celtics past the Lakers for the most titles in NBA history.
To make matters worse, Drake’s Bitcoin wallet could take yet another L after his infamous beef with Pulitzer Prize-winning nemesis Kendrick Lamar, if his NHL bet on the Edmonton Oilers also falls through. In the same Instagram post, the Canadian rapper shared that he had placed an identical $500,000 wager on the Oilers to win the Stanley Cup Finals. If his prediction proves accurate, he stands to receive $1.025 million. “Oilers are self-explanatory,” Drake wrote.
Interestingly, Drake also wrote about another half a million dollars in one of his lyrics. In the chorus for “I’m Upset,” the fourth single he released in 2018, Drake said:
“I’m upset (‘Set, ‘set) / Half a million on my head I can accept, yeah / ‘Least it makes me feel like someone tried their best, yeah / Want to waste a half a million, be my guest.”
The lyric might have prefigured what Drake bet on this NBA Finals, and it confirms the rapper’s often high-flying lifestyle with this amount of spending.
As one of the most popular musicians in the world and an official partner of Stake, Drake is unlikely to be short on funds. However, losing $500,000 worth of Bitcoin, or potentially $1 million if both bets fail, is sure to sting, even for someone of his financial stature.
The outcome of Drake’s NHL wager will be determined in the coming days as the Stanley Cup Finals continue to unfold. Regardless of the result, the rapper’s high-stakes Bitcoin bets have certainly attracted attention, highlighting the growing intersection between crypto, sports betting, and celebrity culture.
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