John Daly says he lost $90 million gambling

By Dan Zinski | May 31, 2014

July 18, 2012; St. Annes, ENGLAND; John Daly (right) and caddy Peter VanDerriet (left) look at the green of the 4th hole during the practice round of the 2012 British Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports via USA TODAY Sports /

John Daly is addicted to goofy pants, cigarettes and beer. Oh, and gambling. Don’t forget gambling. That’s a big-time thing in John Daly’s life. In fact, Daly reckons that, between 1992 and 2007, he lost upwards of $90 million to the black hole of wagering.

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Yup, I’d say Daly had a problem.

Daly said he used tax returns to calculate exactly how much money he pissed away during his insane run as a gambling addict. According to the golfer, he was able to win $35 million during the same span, so his net loss was only $55 million.

Well okay, $55 million doesn’t sound so bad. $90 million, that would be a truly crazy number. That is only $10 million away from a tenth of a billion. To put it in other terms, if you had $90 million, you could buy like many many pairs of those hideous pants Daly sells. I can’t tell you exactly how many pairs because I’m not a math wiz.

Daly described some of his off-the-rails gambling activity to TMZ, saying he would take out million-dollar markers at casinos to play blackjack, sometimes playing up to seven hands at a time, and having up to $600,000 on the table at one time.

Nerve-racking? Yes. But that was the point, according to Daly. “It was more about the adrenaline than the money. I loved the action,” Daly said.

Daly says he never bet on golf but did lay down bets on basketball and football. But mostly it was cards. And now? He only plays slots.

Well, you have to wean yourself off slowly. Can’t go cold turkey. Plus, the slot machines sort of slow you down. You can only pull that handle so many times before your arm gets tired. Hard to lose $90 million at the slot machine. Though if anyone could do it, it’s probably John Daly.

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