PHOENIX -- Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley admits
he has a gambling problem, but said Monday that he's several
thousand dollars richer after returning from Las Vegas.
Charles Barkley dished on a number of hot topics Monday, including his gambling and winnings from the Colts' victory in Super Bowl XLI. More
In an interview with Phoenix television station KTVK, Barkley
said he won "about $700,000" over the weekend.
"That was all profit [from] blackjack and I bet on the Super
Bowl. I had the Colts," Barkley added. "I played a lot of
blackjack."
Barkley did not say how much he bet on Sunday's game in which
Indianapolis beat the Chicago Bears 29-17 in Miami.
In an ESPN interview in May 2006, Barkley estimated that he'd
lost about $10 million gambling over the years.
He said Monday that he lost $2.5 million "in a six-hour
period" one night last year.
"It's a stupid, bad habit. I have a problem," Barkley said of
his gambling. "But the problem is when you can't afford it. I can
afford to gamble. I didn't kill myself when I lost two and half
million dollars Â… I like to gamble and I'm not going to quit."
Barkley, who lives in the Phoenix area, was elected to the Hall
of Fame last year.
He averaged 22.1 points and nearly 12 rebounds in a 16-year
career that included stops in Philadelphia, Phoenix and Houston. He
was the league's MVP in 1993 with the Suns, and he won gold at the
1992 Barcelona Olympics as part of the original U.S. Dream Team.