Self Confessed ‘Degenerate Gambler’ Dana White, Comes Clean on His Biggest Problem

Dana White not only makes headlines for organizing the most grand UFC events but is also in the limelight for his gambling habits which he is notorious for all over Las Vegas. White might not fight inside the Octagon but he does try his luck inside the casino frequently. From joining the Nelk Brothers for their live gambling sessions to being unofficially banned from casinos for winning ridiculous sums of cash, White’s gambling obsession has shown him many adventures.

But it is not as if the UFC head honcho is unaware of his gambling obsession. White recently claimed that he is pretty aware of his problem and even pointed out what happens to ‘degenerate gamblers’ like him.

Dana White calls himself out on his gambling habit

While speaking to Noah Kara about UFC’s beginnings and the challenges to success, White also spoke of his love for gambling. He spoke about taking Caesars Palace for a huge chunk of money earlier this year while also touching upon his ‘bad habit’ of gambling at casinos. White estimated that between January and March, he won $26 million to $27 million playing baccarat at Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip.

Even though it was all sunshine and rainbows, he also expressed regret in one instance of gambling. The UFC boss said, “I played last night at Caesars.” Noah asked him, “How much did you clip them for?”, to which the UFC head honcho replied that he won $300,000. Not bad right? However, the boss was angry at himself, saying, “I was pissed off at myself last night because I don’t know what the fu** my problem was. But I was being super conservative last night.”

He blamed himself for being ‘conservative’ and chalked out his lack of sharpness to his fasting. He continued, “I should have left Caesars last night with a million dollars. I should have won a million last night. This is the problem with degenerate gamblers, okay? You’re never happy with what you won. You’re thinking about what you should have won.”

So what he learned was that he should be happy with the amount he won rather than desire for more. He explained that if a person wins $1000 while also walking in with $1000 then they made a double of what they gambled and should be happy with their win. White’s takeaway is that you should be able to walk away with your gains after gambling, or you risk losing everything if you play too much.

Meanwhile, Dana White is not the only one who realizes his ‘degenerate’ habit of gambling. Guess who else pointed it out? None other than Joe Rogan, who also said the same thing about the UFC head honcho previously.

Joe Rogan had secondhand anxiety because of White’s gambling habits

Dana White claims he realizes he has a problem with gambling but believes it isn’t really that bad since he has won several million dollars in the casino as well. However, Joe Rogan has a different perspective on White’s gambling habit. In Joe Rogan Experience # 2216, the UFC color commentator sat down with country singer/songwriter Luke Bryan as he revealed a moment that gave him anxiety at watching Dana White gambling.

He started by tagging White as a ‘real degenerate’ for his gambling obsession. Then the UFC color commentator said, “I’m good friends with Dana White, and uh, Dana’s a.. he’s a real degenerate.” He added that he visited the boss while the latter was gambling, and much to Rogan’s shock, White was losing $600,000. However Dana White did not quit and asked Taylor Lewan to join the table, and within minutes their losses were down to $120,000.

The JRE host continued, “Well, Jamie and I went to visit—we went with Shane Gillis and a bunch of other guys to visit Dana while he was gambling. When we got there, he was down $600,000, and I was like, What is happening here? I was getting anxious just sitting there watching.”

No matter how many times Dana White wins or loses, he is someone who isn’t afraid to take risks. After all, he risked everything buying UFC in the early days and has now scaled the promotion’s worth to billions of dollars. So clearly, Dana White knows what he is doing. What do you think about the UFC head honcho’s habit of gambling? Share your thoughts in the comments below.