Popular boy band, One Direction proved to be not so popular with their management after losing a ‘substantial amount of money’ at a Las Vegas casino. The ‘Kiss You’ hitmakers, consisting of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles, received a ‘dressing down’ from management for their irresponsible behavior.
One Direction - Photo credit: VIrgin Records
Niall took time out to explain to We Love Pop magazine, “Like most of the stupid things we do, it seemed like it was a good idea at the time. We just thought, ‘We’re 18, this is the first time we’ve been able to spend a bit of money in weeks because we’ve been on the road.” He went on to say that he won £100, which seemed reasonable, and then he stopped. When it came to his fellow band members Niall was tight-lipped and all he would offer was, “No comment”. He continued to say that things ‘got a bit ugly’ and a large amount of money was lost.
Thankfully the boys, who are now all 18 and old enough to legally gamble, all seem to have learned a valuable lesson and are unlikely to be dropping sizable amounts at casinos anytime soon. However some celebrities learn the hard way.
Take Gladys Knight, known as the “Empress of Soul” and former queen of The Pips, who once had a $40 000-a-night baccarat addiction. Knight was in the grips of this addiction for over 10 years, but finally managed to find help and kick the habit after losing $45,000 in one night!
But some stars never seem to learn. It is alleged that at some stage long time gambler, Ben Affleck, owed $400,000 to a movie mogul, Ron Meyer and that he even ‘hosted’ his very own underground poker game in Beverley Hills at the well-known high-end cigar club, the Grand Havana Room, although his publicist firmly denies it. However, it isn’t only celebrities who make the headlines when it comes to casinos.
Just last month a South African casino confiscated a banner gambler’s winnings after he hit the jackpot, and then proceeded to charge him with trespassing. The man in question had voluntarily banned himself from all casinos in South Africa in 2012, but decided not to keep his resolution and continued to gamble. He was promptly arrested and had to pay an admission of guilt fine at a nearby police station. Clearly the temptation was too much for this man who had withdrawn from gambling but then decided to visit a South African casino!
The moral of the story? If you can’t control your gambling, don’t gamble. If you still decide to gamble – don’t get caught.
