National Basketball Association

Charles Barkley says he's learned to gamble in moderation

Published Jan. 15, 2015 4:04 p.m. ET

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Jimmy Traina

It's all about moderation.

At least that's Charles Barkley's current philosophy when it comes to gambling.

In a new interview with CampusInsiders.com, Barkley explained that he took a two-year break from gambling, but is now back to enjoy the casinos.

"I was gambling for too much money," Barkley said. "You can never break the casino. I went to Vegas a bunch of times and won a million dollars in a weekend. Probably 10 times. But I also went to Vegas and lost a million three times that much."

With those figures leading to a $20 million loss, Barkley knew things had gotten out of control.

"Every time I went to Vegas, my goal was to win a million dollars, so I'd get up $300,000, $400,000, $500,000, and then lose it all and the million, so I quit for two years. I was like, 'This was getting out of hand.'"

Despite that reasoning, Barkley said he never had a gambling addiction. He just thinks he was betting too much money.

"When I go to Vegas now, I try to win a couple hundred-thousand dollars," he said. "If I lose a couple hundred-thousand dollars, I quit and still have a good trip. It's like anything. If you do it in moderation, it's all right. Now with my gambling, because I love the action, I love the juice, I just learned to do it in moderation."

So, to sum up, Barkley now is OK with losing hundreds of thousands of dollars instead of millions.

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