Sunday, February 11, 2007

Charles Barkley said Monday that he won "about $700,000" gambling in Las
Vegas over the weekend. "That was all profit (from) blackjack and I bet on
the Super Bowl. I had the Colts," Barkley said in an interview with Phoenix
television station KTVK. "I played a lot of blackjack." Barkley did not say
how much be bet on Sunday's game in which Indianapolis beat the Chicago
Bears 29-17 in Miami. In an ESPN interview in May 2006, Barkley estimated
that he'd lost about $10 million gambling over the years. He said Monday
that he lost $2.5 million "in a six-hour period" one night last year. "It's
a stupid, bad habit. I have a problem," Barkley said. "But the problem is
when you can't afford it. I can afford to gamble. I didn't kill myself when
I lost two and half million dollars... I like to gamble and I'm not going to
quit." Barkley, who lives in the Phoenix area, was elected to the Hall of
Fame last year. He averaged 22.1 points and nearly 12 rebounds in a 16-year
career that included stops in Philadelphia, Phoenix and Houston. He was the
league's MVP in 1993 with the Suns, and he won gold at the 1992 Barcelona
Olympics as part of the original U.S. Dream Team.