According to Roland Lazenby’s book, Michael Jordan once lost $500,000 while gambling but then stayed up all night to make it back and earn $600,000 more.

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Michael Jordan is best known for being the GOAT of the NBA, the man that never lost in the NBA Finals. But if there’s one hobby of his that many people talk about even now, it’s gambling. And in Roland Lazenby’s book, ‘Michael Jordan: The Life’, he shared a pretty epic MJ gambling story. 

“During exhibition season in late October, Leahy’s running account of the comeback tracked Jordan up at Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun casino the night before a game,” Lazenby wrote. 

“Jordan, down $500,000 at the gambling tables, stayed till the sun came up and he had won his money back, plus about $600,000 more, all the while unaware that Leahy was providing a running play-by-play of the event for readers back in D.C.”

That is an incredible story and it also serves to point out that those sums of money are no big deal to someone like Michael Jordan. MJ was on track to be a billionaire by the time the mid-90s came around, and so what might have been huge sums to other people, would end up being alright for him. 

On the basketball court, Jordan was known for being competitive, and that part of his personality came out off the court as well. The stories of him taking golf losses personally are also legendary, and it stands to reason that he would try to win back any losses he had on the same day while gambling as well. 

Michael Jordan Once Explained Why He Enjoys Gambling, And Why It’s Not A Problem

Naturally, for someone like Michael Jordan to be gambling, there were those that questioned whether it was okay for him to do so. There was also lots of speculation about his gambling and the supposed consequences of it. But the man himself spoke about it and cleared it up, describing his penchant for the activity as a ‘competition problem.’

“I never bet on games. I only bet on myself, and that was golf,” Jordan said. “Do I like to play blackjack? Yeah, I like playing blackjack. There’s no laws with that. The league did call me, and they asked me questions about it, and I told them exactly what was happening.”

When asked if he had a gambling problem the 57-year-old said: “No, because I could stop gambling. I have a competition problem, a competitive problem.”

While he wasn’t regularly ending up with massive wins while gambling, the story mentioned shows that he won quite a few times, explaining why he enjoyed it so much. No one would want to face prime Michael Jordan on the basketball court, but it seems like he would be a scary opponent at the poker table as well.

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