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UFC president Dana White is not a man who is strapped for cash.
In 2016, he and his business partners won the lottery when they sold a majority stake in the mixed martial arts promotion to WME for an eye watering $4billion.
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White enjoys a life of luxury that allows him to rub shoulders with Floyd Mayweather owing to his hard work behind the scenes as UFC boss and to his exceptional skill as a blackjack player
It’s understood it earned him around $360million and he will get nine per cent of future profits. On top of that, he earns an undisclosed salary from UFC to remain their president, one you would be right to assume is a very healthy one.
But a little known fact about White is his remarkable blackjack skills. Here is a man who has been betting big and winning big for years – so much so that casinos even told him to stay away due to his habit for cleaning them out.
During a 2014 episode of UFC’s Embedded series, White gave fans a peek into the high roller status that has seen him banned from Vegas nightlife – nobody wants someone to keep winning millions, after all.
“This is crazy, but I’ve been on this winning streak,” White revealed to the camera as he entered the Palms in May of that year.
“I started playing cards, I took a year off, and then I started playing cards again December 21 [2013]. I have not lost a night of cards since December 21 and I just hit them again.
“This is like my part-time job,” he joked. “I work in the UFC all day and play cards at night.”
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White loves to gamble and has won millions on multiple occasions
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White’s winnings are so large, tipping the clerks $500 is not a problem
In the video, White is seen taking home a lot of cash. So much so that he is able to tip the clerk $500.
A few years later, when giving a tour of his office in Sin City, he revealed the story behind a couple of his prize possessions, which include a trophy he won playing blackjack and a belt the Palms gave him for winning more than $1m in one night.
“I told my wife and everyone that when I die, I want this thing buried with me in my hands,” he explained to Bar Stool Sports as he cradled the trophy, revealing he beat around 50 professionals to the prize.
“I entered the first ever tournament in July 2010 they invited me to play at the Rio,” explaining that $250,000 was up for grabs to the winner.
“So we make it to the last table, there’s five of us left. So this guy walks up to me and says ‘Oh, I’m a big fan’, you know, small talk s***.
“Then he hits me with ‘You know how this works, right?’ No, how does this work? ‘We split it. Everybody who makes it to the last table, we split the 250.’
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White joked he wants to be buried with his blackjack trophy when he dies given the fight he had to win it
“I’m like yeah, f*** that s***. I came here to win this thing [laughs]. When I tell you these people hated me, they f****** hated me.
“So at the last table, they all played to beat me and I won the thing, I won the whole thing!”
Sitting next to his blackjack gong is a UFC-style championship belt he explained was a present to keep him away from the tables.
“When the Palms was owned by the Maloofs, I had beat them for $1.6m. Then as soon as the Palms sold, the people who came in asked me to stop playing there.
“Listen, Vegas is all about losing, not winning, man. They don’t like people who f****** win!
“Then it sold again, the new ownership said we want you to come back and I beat them for $1.6 million again.
“Instead of just asking me to leave the way that they did, they gave me this [title].
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The Palms gave him this belt to acknowledge his GOAT status in the blackjack community – but also banned him
“Undisputed Blackjack champion. 24-0. This is a cool way to say get the f*** out of our casino and don’t come back.”
Joe Rogan, a longtime UFC commentator, believes White has lost as much as $1m in a night and won as much as $7m, which could be considered tipping money to him.
White, 52, has a net worth believed to be around $500m, which is only likely to increase with some huge fights on the UFC horizon.
Cash cow Conor McGregor fought twice in 2021 and is nearing a return again.
When the Irishman fights, people show up and pay big money to see him live.
Of the top 10 gates in MMA in Las Vegas, McGregor’s name features in six, with his fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018 top.
At the T-Mobile Arena, 17,835 paid to get in, with gross sales of $17,188,894.67.
Who needs blackjack, eh?
This content was originally published here.