World Cup betting: Drake bet on Argentina, but still lost $1 million

Canadian rapper Drake has been involved in the sports world for years now. He’s best known for being a superfan of the Toronto Raptors, but he’s also friends with plenty of athletes and is often seen at all manner of sporting events. He’s developed a reputation as a bit of a jinx or mush, as teams and players he associates with often start to struggle. 

With the explosion of sports betting, it’s no surprise that a man Drake’s means has dabbled in throwing money at games. On Sunday, it was reported that Drake bet $1 million on Argentina in the World Cup Final. Argentina won the game, but Drake lost his bet. 

Drake bet the regular time line

If you’re not used to betting soccer, it can be a bit confusing. In most sports, you can bet on either team to win the game. If the game goes to overtime, whichever team wins in overtime is the winning side of the bet. In the rare event there’s a tie in football, moneyline wagers are refunded. 

When betting on soccer, there are three options when betting pregame. You can bet on either team to win or the “regular time” part of the game to end in a draw. In the knockout rounds of tournaments, if the game goes to extra-time, “draw” is the winning bet. 

Obviously, odds are different as a result. Before the World Cup Final, both Argentina and France were +175 to win in regular time. The draw paid out at +200. When Kylian Mbappe scored two late goals for France to force extra time, the draw ended up being the correct side. Any wager on Argentina or France was a loser. 

Drake bet on Argentina to win the game in regular time. That’s why his $1 million bet would have paid out a profit of $1.75 million. As soon as the game went past 90 minutes and stoppage time, his bet was a loser, no matter what happened in extra time. 

Of course, there’s also a different market where you can bet on “team to win the Cup.” In that market, Argentina was -125 to win the World Cup while France was a +100 underdog. If Drake bet this market instead, his $1 million wager on Argentina would have paid out $800,000 in profit. While that’s quite a lot less than the $1.75 million he would have won in his bet, at least this wager would have won. 

Unfortunately for Drake, sometimes being right takes too long. 

Drake has a history with sports betting

While the Argentina wager is Drake’s latest foray into sports betting, it certainly wasn’t his first. 

Drake bet on the Los Angeles Rams to win Super Bowl LVI and Odell Beckham Jr. to score a touchdown in the game. He won $559,000 on those two bets. 

He lost $275,000 when he bet on Jorge Masvidal to defeat Colby Covington at UFC 272 back in March. 

In early April, he lost $80,000 betting on Duke to beat North Carolina in the Final Four. He made that back and then some later in the month when he profited $184,000 off a $78,000 wager on Drake London to be the first receiver selected in the 2022 NFL draft. 

Drake had a nice payday when the Golden State Warriors won the NBA’s Western Conference this past season, profiting nearly $650,000 on a $159,000 wager. 

One of his more impressive wins came in May when he hit a three-leg parlay featuring three Game 7s across two sports. He had the Dallas Mavericks beating the Phoenix Suns, the New York Rangers beating the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Calgary Flames beating the Dallas Stars. The $309,000 parlay paid out nearly $2.7 million.