Lil Baby has said he asked to be banned from “every casino” after losing “like $8 million, $9 million” gambling in a single session.
The 30-year-old rapper, real name Dominique Armani Jones, rose to fame in 2017 with his mixtapes Harder than Hard and Too Hard. His second studio album, My Turn (2020), went quadruple platinum and became the best-selling album of that year. It included the George Floyd protest-inspired single “The Bigger Picture,” which he performed to acclaim at the 2021 Grammy Awards.
His success brought with it massive wealth, and he says he eventually developed a gambling problem.
During an appearance on Lil Yachty’s A Safe Place podcast on December 18, the host asked him about the most he’d ever lost gambling at once.
“$8 million,” replied Lil Baby. “In one day. Probably like 40 hours. In 40 hours straight I lost like $8 million, $9 million.”
He went on to say that he has since stopped himself gambling or going to casinos, with the help of his friend, billionaire entrepreneur Michael Rubin (CEO of sports platform Fanatics).
“I made myself stop gambling,” said Lil Baby. “I had Mike Rubin write a letter to every casino and ban me from the casino. Because I’ll just do s***.”
“I don’t gamble no more,” he added.
Among those who responded to Lil Baby’s revelations was fellow rapper 50 Cent, who shared a clip of the Safe Place podcast to his Instagram on December 22.
In the post he referred to Lil Baby as “crazy” and added: “8 million Gambling. I thought only Floyd do shit like that. LOL come out the joint looking distraught. I’m just glad he didn’t kill no body.”
Lil Baby announced his upcoming fourth solo studio album, WHAM (Who Hard as Me) earlier this week. It is set to be released on January 3 and will feature collaborations with Future, Young Thug, GloRilla, Rod Wave, Rylo Rodriguez, Travis Scott and 21 Savage.
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The star was taken to the Clark County Detention Center on August 26, where he was held on $5,000 bail for allegedly carrying a concealed weapon without a permit. He was later released.
In a joint statement shared with The Independent, attorneys Drew Findling and David Chesnoff said: “To be clear, Dominique Jones has a valid Georgia Carrying a Concealed Weapon (CCW) Permit. On his behalf we are actively investigating the facts and circumstances surrounding his arrest in Las Vegas.”
