You can always count on the Poker and gambling scene to provide entertainment when you need it the most. That’s why our Freaky Fortnight reports always have the most amusing tales in them. We’ve got even more of them for you to amuse yourself with today as well, taking their cues from the past couple of weeks.

So, if you’re ready to spend a bit of time reading about the entertaining happenings within the gambling scene from the first half of September 2023, you’re in the right place. We’ve got the stories that will put a smile on your face. And they’re waiting for you.

The “Drake Curse” Hits Once Again

If you know anything about famous people who also gamble, you’ll know that Drake is a serial offender in this area. As it happens, he has had his fair share of losses in the sports betting industry in recent years. He also appeared in our Freaky Fortnight article from June, which came about after he left a $499 tip to a woman who was lounging about on video while receiving a foot massage. The whole charade was also captured on camera, leaving Drake looking more than embarrassed.

He is in fact so active within the gambling world (and not always for the better) that the phrase the “Drake Curse” has been coined. Many bettors know it and know what it means.

Following another large financial hit towards the beginning of September, Drake found himself targeted by a top MMA gym on Monday, Sept. 11. Posting a message on their Twitter feed to the Canadian rapper, American Top Team gym said:

The Tweet from the MMA gym provoked some hilarious responses from the gym’s followers, although Drake did not respond to it himself. Perhaps he’s lacking in a bit of a sense of humor on this front?

Why would an MMA gym Tweet the rapper in the first place, though? Well, Drake has one of his own trilogies in action with the former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. He wagered more than $2 million on the fighter winning over Alex Pereira in November of 2022 at UFC 281. Yet the Brazilian mounted a surprise win over Adesanya with a fifth-round TKO.

Five months later, Drake recovered those losses when Adesanya achieved a second-round stoppage. This saw the Canadian star receive a $2.7 million payout.

Unfortunately, his trilogy of wagers came to a jolting finish with a loss on Adesanya the weekend previous to the MMA gym’s Tweet. While Israel was a big favorite to win in the defense of his middleweight belt, Sean Strickland overcame him in the main event of UFC 293 with a fifth-round victory, spelling doom for Drake's $500,000 bet.

American Top Team clearly want Drake to keep a hold of his money and resist betting on MMA fighters. Yet can he learn from his past mistakes?

A series of losses have found themselves coming Drake’s way over the years. A $250,000 bet on Nate Diaz to finish Jake Paul last year didn’t come to fruition, with the YouTuber dominating the fight and winning via unanimous decision. Being so impressed with Paul’s skills, Drake then chose to back him to achieve a knockout on Tommy Fury in a bout earlier on in 2023. Yet Fury acquired the win through a split decision.

Maybe it’s time for Drake to step away from the gambling world…at least where sports are concerned. That would surely satisfy with the MMA world, at least!

Poker Gets the Better of Nik Airball and Leaves Him with an $8M Debt – But Does He Care?

Poker is one of those games that many people enjoy around the world. While it can provide some people with big wins, it can also result in others losing massive amounts of money. Nikhil “Nik Airball” Arcot revealed in a recent interview on “The Nick Vertucci Show” podcast that he is in a downswing of around $8 million. The Hustler Casino Live regular spoke about a variety of topics on the show, including his relationship with poker.

It didn’t take long for Vertucci to get into the serious topics at hand, questioning Airball on how much he has lost in his recent downswing. His guest didn’t hold anything back, elaborating that it was closing in on the $8 million mark. He also confirmed that this was almost all the money he had ever made from playing poker rather than money coming from other avenues.

Yet it didn’t seem like the massive loss was bothering Nik Airball regardless of where the bankroll came from initially. He declined to give any more details on the downswing, although did confirm that he never had a bankroll of $20 to $30 million.

A $1 million loss came to Matt Berkey, which Airball said hurt emotionally. That much was clear, considering the “rivalry” between the two had reached a viral point on Twitter. Airball was already known prior to this for making kamikaze decisions. Yet in an interview on Doug Polk’s podcast, he said he wanted to challenge himself against the best in poker. He spoke of taking exception to Berkey’s comments about him being on Hustler Casino Live, so Polk proposed a match between the two.

Not only did Airball lose $1 million to Berkey in a heads-up challenge, he then lost another $1 million in the Hustler Live Casino $1 million buy-in cash game. It seems like he doesn’t make life so easy for himself, although he remains in good spirits over everything.

Then again, Nik does also operate as an investment banker, so it stands to reason that he has little to worry about when you look at the big picture. If the emotional pain is what is affecting Airball the most though, he may want to reduce the stakes he’s competing for.

Sports Men and Women Appear Naked to Promote Sports Betting!

In the world of sports betting, being able to market and promote your company is just as important as what the platform provides overall. That’s why it is important to have a proper advertising campaign in place. Seemingly, the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) in Canada knows exactly how to capture the attention of potential bettors by parading several sports stars around in the nude!

Or at least, that’s what the commercial featuring several stars suggests. Fortunately, the advertisement doesn’t break any watershed rules, with pixels appearing in all the right places to cover the sportsmen and women up and protect their modesty.

During filming, they all stripped down (mostly) to play sports including soccer, football and ice hockey. The implied nudity in the marketing campaign has the tagline “Picture Them Naked”, and it labels the PlayNow gambling site as the most transparent one for sports betting in Canada.

Created by the One Twenty Three West company, the agency creative director Kate Roland said that sports betting ads are pretty much all the same. “They’re flashy, loud, and often not super clear”, she noted. “We wanted to turn that intimidation factor on its head and lighten up the experience,” she continued, highlighting that PlayNow Sports has nothing to hide. Exactly like the players in the ad!

”Men had on flesh-tone underwear and women had the same, with either a tube-top or pasties”, commented Roland on the idea that the players were all naked. She also noted that the hockey pucks being fired at the naked goalkeeper were made of Styrofoam – protection is always necessary! Even more so if you’re almost stripped down to your birthday suit.

The campaign is due to run locally through the fall, and will appear across television, digital channels and on social media. Time will tell if the advertising campaign is a successful one for Canada’s betting demographic.

European Poker Tour Barcelona Sees Influx of Soccer Players

The European Poker Tour Barcelona occurred towards the end of August and into the beginning of September. Always a favorite event for European poker players (as well as those from overseas), the 2023 edition witnessed several soccer players attending its tables.

Gerard Piqué, former professional centre-back for Manchester United and Barcelona, was one of the players taking part. So too was Argentinian former professional striker, Sergio Agüero.

Piqué suffered a bad beat at a table in the €50,000 High Roller event after calling all-in with a hand featuring ace-jack of spades. He was a healthy favorite when playing against his opponent’s ten-four, yet he lost out to a straight. Despite walking away from the table with €65,000 in his pocket, the former soccer pro was still defeated in the tournament.

It shouldn’t really have mattered that much to Piqué, considering he took home a similar amount every few weeks while he was at the peak of his powers at FC Barcelona. Yet it was his pride that took the beating more so than his bank account.

It’s not the first time that Piqué has participated in the European Poker Tour Barcelona. He made his debut there in 2011, and it was in 2019 that he recorded his best outcome, taking home €352,950.

Sergio Agüero had worse luck in the €25,000 tournament that he entered. Sergio made it to the final table but only had five big blinds in his stack, and he was quickly eliminated in ninth place outside the money.

It isn’t a surprise to see so many sports stars entering the Barcelona edition of the Poker Tour either. PokerStars went to great lengths to ensure the tour there is about much more than poker. Included in this year’s event were boat trips and tours of a vineyard. Casino Barcelona – the location for the poker gameplay – is also very close to the beach. It serves as the third of five stops on the 2023 schedule, with Paris occurring back in February and Cyprus due to take place in October.

Could soccer stars in Europe be looking to achieve extra fame for their poker gaming skills? Well, Piqué may have done alright for himself in previous years. Others may need a little more time honing their talent at the European Poker Tour Barcelona, though. In the end, do they really need more money than what they have made from playing soccer over the years?