While many rich folks take on gambling as a pastime, others like Dana White, the UFC CEO, consider it a part-time job. Dana White is an avid gambler who has publicly admitted his love for the game. He is known to sit at the casino tables for long hours gambling, and he is no small-time gambler but a massive high roller. The beauty of White's gambling is that he doesn't just do it for the love of the game but for the money. It is said that White has been seen on a number of occasions walking out of casinos with trash bags of money. In one instance, Dana White reportedly won $7 million in a single night.
Perhaps it's because of his high stakes and frequent lucky winnings that got him hustling to play at some casinos. He admittedly said at one point that certain casinos didn't want him playing at their venues because they're afraid to lose. He boasts that very few casinos can accommodate his high-stakes game – maybe the next time he has a UFC event in Canada, he should check out casinos on casinojungle.ca for live dealership games with high-stakes VIP rooms.
Apparently, Dana White also has a story to tell when it comes to losing.
Dana White, who currently lives in Las Vegas, splits most of his time between stringing up MMA events and testing his luck at his local casinos. If that luck is not on his side, as it hasn't been on a few occasions, he ends up with some painful losses — they're always painful anyway.
The UFC CEO recently told a story about how he lost $1 million in betting on a boxing match, but that wasn't the last or heaviest gambling loss the MMA mogul would suffer. His heaviest loss came at his favorite game, Blackjack. The irony of this recent loss is that the CEO had to be reminded about it the next day, as he had even forgotten about the total sum he lost.
Talking about the loss on Lex Fridman’s podcast, White recalled the 7-figure dent his bank account took after a drinks-inspired night of gambling.
Calling it his biggest loss for various reasons, White added, “You live, and you learn in life; you figure things out as you go along. One night, I’m over at the Rio, and they’ve got big suites over there, so I go over there with some buddies and we got one of the suites, and we have some dinner and we start drinking. So we’re having some drinks, dinner, and blah, blah, blah. It starts to ramp up. I’m having a good time and I make my way down to the high-limit room, and we start gambling. I continued to drink, having a blast. I ended up leaving to go home that night, and I lost, like, 80 grand."
“So I wake up the next morning, I’m like, ‘F***. Those m*********** got me for 80,000 last night."
The next day, while at work, the CEO received a call from the host at Rio (Hotel & Casino), who asks him if he was still going back for another night of gambling and if he wanted their previous room to be reserved. "No, I don’t need the room, but don’t get too comfortable with my f****** 80 grand; I’m coming back for it." He replied. He then goes ahead to recalling the conversation with the host. "Dead f****** silence on the other end of the phone.
“And he’s like, ‘Dana. You lost $3 million last night.’”
Not believing any word he had just heard, Mr. White queried the 7-figure loss, especially considering that his credit card had a limit to it. Being a responsible gambler, the CEO had placed a limit on how much he could spend at this specific casino.
Tapping into his combatant spirits, which he also shortly afterwards found to be his undoing that particular night, White questioned, “‘What the f*** are you talking about? I only have a million-and-a-half dollar credit line.’ “He goes, ‘Yeah, you made us call the GM of the hotel and you started calling him ‘a f****** p****,’ and I went, ‘Yeah, no, that sounds like something I would do.’”
Eventually, White had to absorb the loss which may appear like a small dent for someone with a huge stake in a $4 billion combat sport company. Still, whether huge or small, the hit to his bank account was a painful one to swallow and he admits to have learnt a lesson from it. A lesson that has had him change his approach to gambling to ensure that he never drinks and gambles.
Reflecting on other folks who have suffered losses under similar circumstances, White said “You know, there’s been a lot of cases where people are in Vegas and they’re like, ‘I lost all this money. They were giving me free drinks and I drank too much and I was taken advantage of,’”. “No, you stupid m***********. Man up, You got f****** drunk. Alcohol is free, but you don’t have to f****** drink it, he said, concluding his story.
