Toronto-faithful Drake places $500,000 bet on Edmonton Oilers winning Stanley Cup

By Srihari Anand

Modified Jun 06, 2024 13:48 GMT

Canadian rapper and Toronto-faithtful Drake has bet $500,000 on the Edmonton Oilers winning the 2024 Stanley Cup. The five-time Grammy Award winner posted his bet, with an estimated payout of $1.05 million, on his Instagram handle champagpnepapi, which has over 146 million followers currently.

He posted screenshots of the two bets he's made on Stake, one being a $500,000 bet on the Dallas Mavericks winning the 2024 NBA Finals, which has a payout of $1.375 million. The other six-figure bet is on Connor McDavid and Canada's representative in the Stanley Cup Final, the Edmonton Oilers.

Drake captioned the post disclosing his bets,

"Dallas cause I'm a Texan Oilers are self explanatory"

On May 24th, Drake had made his first cricket bet on the Kolkata Knights Riders winning the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL). Despite, the infamous Drake curse, the Kolkata Knights Riders won the IPL Final, and collected their third title of the league.

In April, the Canadian rapper bagged an estimated $1.2 million after betting $675K on Alex Pereira winning in UFC 300 against Jamahal Hill. Drake wasn't so lucky when he bet $615,000 on Francis Ngannou besting Anthony Joshua in a heavyweight bout in March 2024. Joshua won after knocking out his opponent in the second round.

Another big win for Drake was earlier this year in February when he bet a massive $1,15 million on the Kansas City Chiefs winning the Super Bowl. He was estimated paid around $2.3 million after the Chiefs' win.

During the 2022 NHL playoffs, Drake won $1.2 million, 3-times his initial bet of $400K, after betting on the Toronto Maple Leafs-Tampa Bay Lightning series to go to seven games. Despite the huge payout, the Leafs lost the game 4-3, and were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Will Edmonton Oilers fall prey to the Drake Curse?

Before his Edmonton Oilers bet today, Drake has been sparsely involved in the NHL's proceedings this season. The infamous Drake Curse, a superstition among sports fans, wherein, any team affiliated with the rapper, end up with disappointing results, was jokingly in full effect this NHL season.

The first instance of the possible "Drake Curse" was in July 2023, when Drake posted an image of the then-No.1 prospect Connor Bedard, with a caption "Dialed in". Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks finished the season as the second worst team in the league, just behind the San Jose Sharks. But, Connor Bedard had a great rookie season,and is a lock-in for the Rookie of the Year award.

In October of 2023, Leafs' Max Domi and his ex-NHLer father Tie, modelled for Drake's OVO brand's "Original Six" collection, in collaboration with the NHL. Max sported a Toronto Maple Leafs hoodie while Tie Domi wore a varsity New York Rangers, and Maple Leafs jackets. NHL fans were unhappy with the pricing of the merchandise, with jackets going for $700 and sweatshirts for $200.

Drake was feeling left out when superstar icon and ardent Maple Leafs fan Justin Bieber attended a Leafs game with his wife, Hailey. Drake quipped in the comments,

"Wow guy doesn't even invite me to see puck bunnes eh"

In another instance, when Justin Bieber was the celebrity captain for Auston Matthews' team at the 2024 NHL All-Star player draft, Drake got emotional and said,

"Biebs and Pappy in the 6 in the Drew House jerseys this sh*t could make me cry so proud of my brother "

The Drake Curse has been hit and miss this year. The Oilers will go up against the Panthers for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday, and only time will tell if it will affect the Edmonton Oilers' chance of bringing back the Stanley Cup to Canada in more than thirty years.