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2 Bizarre Gambles on Musicians

When gambling was on the decline, casinos thought up of a few things that could help keep their sales up. One of the ideas that came to be was inviting musical acts to head to Vegas and perform. This would attract more people, especially gambling games. However, in some weird twist of fate, these musical […]



3 Must Hear Songs About Gambling

They say that visual art like drawings and paintings is how we fill space. On the other hand, songs are how we paint time. Let’s check out several must hear songs about gambling that you can listen to and paint your time with. Shape of My Heart The first song we’ll be tuning in to […]

2 Comparisons Between Gambling Historians and Music Critics

Every topic is fascinating to somebody. Be it about bees, flowers, summer loves, and even the gambling industry, someone will always be interested in these. That is why gambling historians came out and studied the fascinating topic. When people think of history, specifically the history of gambling, people usually act one way. They usually roll […]

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2 Musicians Who Gambled Too Much


Gambling is always something different for each and every person. There are a lot of reasons why people can like gambling. The competition. The winnings. The risk of the loss. The one thread though that ties through these are that if the interest continues at an unchecked pace, it could end up costing people way […]


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The Roll of the Dice Through Time

two musicoan playing guitar on street for performance - 2 Musicians Who Gambled Too Much

2 Musicians Who Gambled Too Much

Gambling is always something different for each and every person. There are a lot of reasons why people can like gambling. The competition. The winnings. The risk of the loss.

The one thread though that ties through these are that if the interest continues at an unchecked pace, it could end up costing people way more than they bet in the first place.

Let’s take a look at several musicians who rolled the dice too hard and didn’t know when to just fold and leave.

Gladys Knight

Gladys Knight – Wikipedia

Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the “Empress of Soul”, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, businesswoman, and author. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight is known for the hits she recorded during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her group Gladys Knight & the Pips, which also included her brother Merald “Bubba” Knight and cousins Edward Patten and William Guest.

She is considered one of the greatest artists in history. Her power, range, and emotion in singing have given her the title of Empress of Soul. It’s Gladys Knight who fronted the Pips. She had famous songs like Midnight Train to Georgia and Heard it Through the Grapevine.

In her book about her life though, she stated that she had a problem. A gambling problem that is. She admitted that she was caught up in the simple game of baccarat.

In the game, people need only try to add their cards to 9. The simplicity allows for a lot of people to get into the game. It also allows for people to get addicted.

Moreover, she was way into sports betting too.

In one night, she binge-betted more than $40,000. It may not sound like a lot, but keep in mind that this was in the 80s. Back then it was a lot.

She admitted that she needed help when she realized that she was neglecting the care her son needed.

50 Cent

50 Cent – Wikipedia

During his career Jackson has sold over 30 million albums worldwide and won several awards, including a Grammy Award, thirteen Billboard Music Awards, six World Music Awards, three American Music Awards and four BET Awards. He has pursued an acting career, appearing in the semi-autobiographical film Get Rich or Die Tryin’ (2005), the Iraq War film Home of the Brave (2006) and Righteous Kill (2008).

Another musician who got a bit deep by the gambling bug was 50 Cent. Early news found that 50 had made a series of good sports bets. Previously he had bet a million dollars on Floyd Mayweather Jr. to beat Oscar de la Hoya.

He also bet half a million on the New York Giants to beat the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship, making the New Jersey gambler one of the biggest bettors from the state.

Despite any gambler’s success though, it doesn’t take much for luck to go away. Thus, even though he won numerous bets, soon he filed for bankruptcy.

Let this be a lesson to everyone who is interested in gambling. And may it be one that you don’t catch the Zs too.

If you want to learn more, why not check out this post that compares music critics to gambling historians.

mobile phone with gclef wallpaper with headset on side - 2 Comparisons Between Gambling Historians and Music Critics

2 Comparisons Between Gambling Historians and Music Critics

Every topic is fascinating to somebody. Be it about bees, flowers, summer loves, and even the gambling industry, someone will always be interested in these. That is why gambling historians came out and studied the fascinating topic.

When people think of history, specifically the history of gambling, people usually act one way. They usually roll their eyes and get as far away as possible from the topic. This is a common reaction to history. Perhaps most people have had negative experiences with their history classes.

The thing that they don’t realize is that there is so much to learn from any history really. It is interesting and always has something that people can learn from.

The truth is though that gambling historians aren’t that far off from music critics. Let’s take a look at several reasons why that is.

Everyone Has a Favorite

band black and white blur concert taking mobile photo 1024x678 - 2 Comparisons Between Gambling Historians and Music Critics

Much like every critic or person who understands the subject a lot, they each have a favorite. For gambling historians, it would make sense to study its history as a whole, but it is a really deep topic that if put in books would span so many books that couldn’t fit in a single book shelf.

This is really because there are so many gambling games out there. Blackjack, poker, and craps are only the staple ones. However, what about games like the Philippines’ Pusoy Dos? Russia’s Durak? And so much more.

Naturally, historians would gravitate – at least initially – to the things that interest them the most. They go write about the gambling games that they like the most.

This applies even much more to music critics. There are currently so many genres of songs out there. Soul, Classical, Country, Rock, Rap, and even specific ones like K-pop. With everything out there, it just isn’t realistic to find a music critic that can currently encompass and critique all of the genres.

Within those specific genres, there are so many groups and artists that perform and make songs. And each of those artists make a plethora of songs that could fill several thousand iPods (or would it?).

Again, it would make the most sense that these critics only listen to genres and artists that they are mostly interested in. While most music critics endeavor to review as much music as possible, I’d likely trust a critic that is interested in a specific type of music I have.

Interpretations

man smiling while listening to music while walking on street 1024x682 - 2 Comparisons Between Gambling Historians and Music Critics

Finally, come the interpretations. Historians do have facts to draw from. Written accounts and the like. However, the lessons behind these facts are subject to different interpretations.

It is much the same with music critics. Depending on their ability and the criteria they apply when they review pieces of music, their review of a song may largely differ from how you feel about it.

The best piece of advice we can give is judge for yourself. You can take what they say, but don’t take it as gospel. Whatever works for you really.

Gambling historians aren’t that far apart right? An interesting thing to think about when you meet historians again.

You can also try out books, as there are great casino gaming stories you can learn from and enjoy.

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