Charles Barkley has been very open and honest with his gambling issues over the years. And that included quite the reveal while appearing on a truTV Stanley Cup Playoffs altcast on Thursday night.
The NBA on TNT was off with the Western Conference Finals being played over on ESPN between the Thunder and Timberwolves. But TNT was airing the NHL Eastern Conference Finals with Game 2 of the series between the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes. On truTV, Paul Bissonnette and comedian Will Arnett hosted an altcast with friends making appearances much like you would see on the ManningCast.
One of those was Charles Barkley, who we know is a dedicated hockey fan. And in talking to Biz and Arnett, he revealed that he placed a sizable bet on the Toronto Maple Leafs to beat the Panthers at home in Game 7 of their conference semifinals series.
Just how much? Large enough that he called up his bookie to place a bet so substantial that it would not be accepted on FanDuel. Of course, it was a losing bet as the Panthers won the game and the series.
Charles Barkley’s gambling is apparently too much for FanDuel to contain.
“FanDuel only lets me bet so much so I gotta have a bookie on the side.” pic.twitter.com/FTLLpX2odG
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 23, 2025
FanDuel and DraftKings can place betting limits for online wagers, but usually they will crackdown on folks who are consistently beating the books. So we’re not sure if FanDuel has a limit in place for Sir Charles or if there’s a max amount that Barkley has placed himself for his online wagers (if so that’s healthy!) so that he needs to go and use an outside bookie when he wants to bet more (not so much!).
Charles Barkley has admitted to losing tens of millions of dollars gambling over the years, so hopefully there’s some restraint involved, even if his betting activity is too great for FanDuel to contain. It’s hard to believe it could get any worse after seeing him go 1-21 on his same game parlay picks throughout the NBA regular season. But betting on the Maple Leafs in a Game 7? Someone needs to schedule an intervention.
About Matt Yoder