Football Club Owner Loses $1.5m At Casino In Two Hours
January 31, 2011 11:08 amThe multi-millionaire owner of a football club has lost a staggering $1.5 million (£970,000) over the period of just two hours at a casino.
Newcastle United football club owner Mike Ashley was out with team manager Alan Pardew at Aspers casino when he apparently decided to have a gamble at the craps table.
According to the Sun newspaper, the duo appeared at the casino at 11pm and by 1am, Mike Ashley was up around £130,000 at the dice game when he banked a £100,000 profit and gambled with the remaining £30,000. A source for the Sun newspaper then continues:
“At around 2am they were back at the craps table and Ashley started playing again. He was placing bets all over with £1,000 and £5,000 chips. It only took him about ten minutes to lose that first £30,000, so he had to get some more chips.
“He bet thousands at a time, tens of thousands sometimes – covering the table with bets. They finally left at 4am and by that time he had lost £970,000.”
Despite his huge loss, the Newcastle owner remained in good humour throughout his wagering and even took time to tip the surprised dealer £700 before leaving the club in the early hours.
However, Ashley won’t be losing any sleep over his expensive night out, though as he is well known for his flamboyance and love of gambling. One of his famous gambling antics in the past include playing a game of spoof with a City banker to settle who would pay a £200,000 legal bill, which Ashley lost.
Also, the English millionaire founded the UK’s largest sporting retailer Sports Direct and after its flotation still controls around 71% of its stock. At one stage Mike Ashley was even ranked 25th on the Uk’s rich list with £1.9bn, but now his wealth is conservatively estimated at around £700 million.