NEWSHigh Stakes and Hot Messes: The Juiciest Celebrity Casino Scandals of 2025
May 23 2025, Published 1:25 a.m. ET
Celebrities sometimes appear above law and order or the general rules that affect the common man. They seemingly tend to behave recklessly or flout laws, for which they hardly get a hit.
However, some celebrities push their privileges to the extreme and ultimately get banned from certain activities, including gambling. These tendencies never seem to end with celebrities, as they continue even this year. Here are some of the juiciest celebrity casino scandals of 2025.
Conor McGregor’s Casino Endorsements
Brand endorsement deals are the norm for a UFC superstar athlete like Conor McGregor. However, in a sector like UFC with strict gambling rules, some athletes with personal gambling histories may well cross the line onto the wrong side of the law.
Incidentally, McGregor has had several legal troubles around gambling and a controversial image that just seems to justify further his marketing appeal in the legally grey sector of American gambling.
“The Notorious” once publicly boasted of winning a $1.2 million bet over a UFC fight, posting the wager slip via his Instagram handle. While the UFC allows fighters to sign endorsement deals with gambling firms, they cannot bet. His sponsorship deals with casinos like Duelbits aren't illegal, but his “notoriety” seems to be spreading to illegal betting as well.
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Bruno Mars Alleged $100M Gambling Debt
Rumors began to circulate of Bruno Mars owing up to $100 million in gambling debt at MGM Casino while he lived in Las Vegas. The stories added more intrigue, claiming he potentially faced legal proceedings over excessive credit.
First, a fact check: The allegations are false. Both Mars and MGM have denied the claims. However, the story has failed to get buried on social media and tabloids as X users and other casino reviewers kept buzzing about his financial decisions.
Bruno himself has chosen to keep the allegations fresh in people's minds. In a January 2025 Instagram Stories post celebrating becoming the first Spotify artist to reach 150 million monthly listeners, Mars humorously penned, "KEEP STREAMING! I'll be out of debt in no time." Added to the post is an emoji of someone dancing, highlighting the humor in the post. Mars decided that for this rumor plaguing his records, laughter is the best medicine.
Shohei Ohtani’s Interpreter Scandal
The next gossip heads to the US Major League Baseball (MLB) and Los Angeles Dodgers baseball star Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter. Ippei Mizuhara, who interpreted for the Japanese baseball player, bagged a jail term of nearly five years after being convicted of fraud and gambling schemes.
He was ordered to pay back nearly $17 million that he reportedly stole from Ohtani to pay off debts owed to a southern California bookmaker. Rumors circulated that Mizuhara lost $6.6 million over 80 days, alongside His ties with the athlete threatened to derail Ohtani’s career – currently one of the sport’s biggest global names as rumors grow about his potential involvement in gambling activities. The involved platform, Resorts World Casino, was eventually fined $10.5 million for lax oversight over Ohtani’s interpreter and gifting private jet flights to a bookmaker with ties to Mizuhara.
The scandal raised questions surrounding Resorts World Casino, the oversight of private jet travel, and its potential connection to illegal activities. Responding to the events, Ohtani simply stated that he was "very saddened and shocked that someone who I trusted has done this."
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Ben Affleck’s Blackjack Ban
Ben Affleck was banned from Blackjack in 2014 in what’s considered one of the juiciest casino scandals of the last few decades. This time, it wasn’t about doing anything wrong; it was about doing it too well. While the event occurred in 2014, 2025 chatter has reignited the story alongside other gist surrounding the ban.
Ben Affleck was too good a blackjack player that Hard Rock Casino, a Las Vegas casino, banned him from ever playing blackjack there anymore. He recanted the story many times, including during a Vanity Fair interview. Reflecting on the event, Affleck admits to perfecting the game, "That is a true story. I took some time to learn the game and became a decent blackjack player. And once I became decent, the casinos asked me not to play blackjack."
Reports began to surface that Affleck had been banned for life after security officials caught him counting cards at a high-roller table.
Here's the gist. First, card counting is never illegal, it's a skill. However, casinos see it as a threat to their bottom lines. Despite knowing this, Affleck went all in. He turned blackjack into a calculated game rather than a gamble.
He confessed at Vanity Fair, “I knew with blackjack that there’s a way you can improve your odds. And so I started trying to learn. And then I just got to a point in my life where I’m like, ‘If I’m going to do something, I’m going to try and do it really well.’
In reality, Hard Rock Casino only banned him from blackjack and permitted him to play other titles like craps or roulette. But Affleck had no interest in playing luck-based titles.
Meanwhile, Molly Bloom wrote about him in her memoir, "Molly's Game," affirming Affleck's smartness. She disclosed that Affleck was a visitor at her underground high-roller poker rooms. She described him as a polite and charming gambler who was often at the table and knew when to quit.
What Else Could Be Ahead for Celebs in the Casino World?
Celebrities, like other humans, could get on the wrong side of the law at times. For the celebrities here, only time will tell if they’ll manage to keep away from the activities that got them into shocking gambling controversies.
Talking about shocking gambling controversies, tell us which scandal shocked you the most, which intrigued you the most, and which didn't surprise you at all. Provide your comments in the comments below and get the conversation going.
