Posts tagged CharlesBarkley at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

You can tell how white-knuckled Charles Barkley is while discussing his gambling during the following interview; clearly he has been abstaining from hitting the tables. (If it's for a charity, it's called "donating".) He blames the media for it, because, goshdarnit, if we/they/us weren't reporting on him telling television cameras that he routinely loses hundreds of thousands of dollars, then it wouldn't be a problem.



Now, personally, I'm all for gambling whatever you want. As long as you're not destroying anyone else's life or becoming a danger to society, roll the dice all day. But Charles is only making himself look worse when he tries to blame other people for his gambling issue. The easy way out is to suck it up, let everyone know you're a millionaire, and spend your money however you want.

Wicked Chops via Deadspin

When something works (and by "works" I mean "gets a $400,000 debt paid off") you usually become pretty willing to use that method again. Which would explain why the Wynn Casino, who publicly shamed Charles Barkley into paying off a six figure debt, is getting busy in court again.

Wynn Las Vegas claims NBA Entertainment, NBA Properties and co-defendant Alonzo Mourning Charities have failed to pay a $50,000 bill for convention and meeting space and related services used during the 2007 NBA All-Star weekend.

[...]The casino claims to have entered into an agreement with NBA Entertainment for use of the resort's hotel and convention space during the February 2007 event.

NBA Entertainment then authorized the charity to use some of the convention and meeting space for a fund-raiser, according to the lawsuit.

But, in a vicious strike by karma, the casino quickly backtracked, stating that an "administrative error" led to the filing of the complaint against the NBA; they were only trying to sue Mourning's Charity organization. Which, while terribly stupid looking for the attorneys that represent the Wynn, is still just as embarrassing for Mourning.

Now, odds say that his charity organization either a) forgot to pay the bill or b) got crossed up with the NBA on who was going to pay the casino off. But that doesn't make it any less awkward for them, and you can bet the Wynn gets the 50k paid to them pretty fast. Or else they're coming to collect. And they don't take "no" for an answer. Just kidneys.

Via Ballhype

Charles Barkley appeared on NBC's Philly affiliate last night to talk with the sporting dudes and waxed Barkley-esque on the Sixers and Phils. He spent the first portion discussing the Sixers need to be frugal this off-season and then turned to talking about the treatment of Ryan Howard v. Chase Utley, to which he pointed out that "they always tougher on black guys here."



Barkley also went on talk about the Phillies' need to acquire a #1 "Josh Beckett" type of pitcher that would put them over the top. Aside from insulting Cole Hamels, who is a number one, I don't think Charles understands how this whole "acquiring-a-team" thing works. The Sox had to give up arguably one of the best players in baseball -- Hanley Ramirez -- in order to pull Beckett. These number one starters just don't fall out of trees (also see: Haren, Dan to the Diamondbacks).

Additionally, as one 700 level commenter pointed out, Pat Burrell has gotten far worse treatment than Howard and he's of the Caucasian persuasion, so maybe he's stretching a bit by calling the entire city of Philadelphia "biased". Or whatever he would inherently be saying with this quote.

Charles Barkley publicly gave up gambling after news of a $400,000 debt (which has been re-paid) came to light. Well, here we are not even two months later and he's already headed back to the tables ... but this time, it's for a good cause.

Along with a slew of other celebrities, Barkley is participating in next month's "Ante Up for Africa" poker tournament, co-founded last year by actor Don Cheadle and pro poker player Annie Duke, which will raise money and awareness for Darfur.

Last year's event (which Barkley also played in -- that's him in the picture stealing a smooch from Duke) raised more than $700,000. Participants are asked to give at least half of their winnings to charity, but last year's top two finishers donated their entire winnings. Barkley intends on doing the same this year, which is awfully generous considering the event's $5,000 entry fee.

I'm sure Barkley hasn't always been pleased with all of the attention his gambling has attracted in the past, but at least now his reputation is bringing attention to a good cause. For more information on the event, including a signup form should you be in Las Vegas with an extra five large next month, check out the event's official website.

NBA Essentials ranks our six favorite stories of the day.

1. Upside and Motor: The Ronny Turiaf movement is working!

2. BallHype: Everything you've ever wanted to know about the elusive Combo Guard.

3. Red's Army: Wondering about KG's energy in Game 4.

4. Lakers-Fans.com: Via BDL, another hilarious video featuring Sasha "The Machine" Vujacic.

5. FreeDarko: The book is finished, and available for pre-order!

6. Odenized: Charles Barkley (Pot), meet the city of San Antonio (Kettle).

I have little interest in tracking Charles Barkley's financial affairs, but when he announces to the world on Monday that he's re-paid his $400,000 gambling debt and is essentially called a liar the next morning by the Las Vegas district attorney's office, I think a follow-up post Wednesday morning is in order:

"True to my word, I sent a $400,000 cashier's check overnight to Wynn Las Vegas, which they confirmed they received," Barkley said. "I was unaware of the additional 10 percent processing fee from the district attorney's office and will make restitution on that promptly."

[...] "We've been paid in full," [Jennifer Dunne, a spokeswoman for Wynn Las Vegas] said. "The rest is the district attorney fee."

A Clark County district attorney confirmed that someone from Barkley's camp has gotten in touch with their office and promised a check in the next few days, at which point the case will officially be closed, the world can resume spinning and all of us media pundits will have to find some other athlete to preach about from our high horse.

Last night, Charles Barkley took the opportunity of a nationally televised segment before a rabidly anticipated Game 7 to swear off gambling, apologize for his debts, and announce he was all paid up with Wynn Las Vegas.

The promise to quit is likely dubious but irrelevant, the apology sincere but unnecessary. The assertion he's straight with the casino, though? A Las Vegas district attorney tells the Las Vegas Sun that Chuck wasn't telling the truth Monday night.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Bernie Zadrowski, who oversees the bad check unit, which is handling the case, said Wynn officials had informed him that, as of 5:30 p.m. Monday, about 15 minutes after Barkley's remarks, the casino had not received any money from Barkley.

And for prosecutors to drop the criminal case, Barkley must not only repay the Wynn, he must also pay a 10 percent fee - $40,000 - to the bad check unit. "There's no record of him having paid the Wynn, and he certainly has not paid the district attorney's office," Zadrowski said.

The Sun offers Chuck a few outs: maybe the check's in the mail, maybe he has assigned a money manager or casino host to deal with it and assumed it was complete. In either case, you'd imagine both the casino and the prosecutor would be notified restitution was on its way before Chuck told the rest of the known world. If this isn't fixed soon, Barkley's heart-to-heart might just add to the embarrassment of the whole ordeal.

Charles Barkley's $400,000 gambling debt made a lot of waves last week, so it wasn't too surprising to see him address it on TNT's Inside the NBA before tonight's Game 7 between the Spurs and Hornets.

As you can see above, he's not only paid the debt but sworn off gambling as a whole for the foreseeable future. Said Barkley, "Just because I can afford to lose money, don't mean I should do it. ... It was a pain when it broke last week, but it's going to turn into a good thing. I'm not going to gamble anymore."

It's his money, and by all accounts all that he's ever lost has been part of his discretionary income, but $400K is $400K. I don't think anyone can argue that he's not making a wise decision. (via Awful Announcing, BallHype)

Charles Barkley acknowledged his $400,000 gambling debt to the Wynn Casino on Thursday, suggesting it was all a misunderstanding on his part:

"My mistake," Barkley said in an interview at a pro-am golf tournament in Hoover, Ala. "I'm not broke, and I'm going to take care of it." [...] "I've been gambling 20 years. I've never had this happen before," the 45-year-old Barkley told WJOX. "It's my fault I let the time lapse. I screwed up."

The casino alleged in their lawsuit that they tried to get in touch with Barkley numerous times regarding the debt, but that's not the impression Barkley gave reporters:

"All they had to do is call and say, 'Hey, you owe us this money,"' he said.

It's possible Barkley is simply downplaying this as a big mistake to save face, but I like to think he just turns off call waiting every time he calls Dwyane Wade. Either way, I'm guessing he'll take care of this soon enough -- the guy enjoys Vegas too much to stand for his name being blackballed on the Strip. I'm sure Barkley took better care of his money than Latrell Sprewell, but still, he can't have quite as much disposable income as today's stars: he came from a different era, and thanks to long-term contracts signed before salaries absolutely skyrocketed, he only made $5 million or more in a season once.

Looks like Charles Barkley and gambling continue to be a losing combination for the outspoken NBA analyst. Barkley is said to owe the Wynn casino $400,000 from some markers (Vegas-speak for "loans") that he took out in October of last year, and unless he settles up, he could be facing felony charges.

A prosecutor says retired NBA star Charles Barkley will face felony charges if he fails to repay a $400,000 gambling debt to a Las Vegas Strip casino.

Clark County District Attorney David Roger says Barkley will get a chance to make restitution to Wynn Las Vegas to avoid felony bad check charges.

If that $400K number sounds familiar to you, that's because it's the amount that Sir Charles was said to have lost on the Super Bowl. Barkley should be glad that this is the new Vegas run by corporations, and not the old one that was (allegedly) run by the mob. I'm not going to do the math on what the weekly vig would be on $400K, but let's just say it would probably be an astronomical sum, and one that Barkley would be repaying with broken bones instead of American currency.

UPDATE: Charles says he's "not broke," and that he'll pay it.