The Gambling Life of Joyner Lucas, Who Thinks the Celtics Are Going for the Chip

Elsa/Getty Images

The last time the Celtics were in the NBA Finals, Worcester, Massachusetts-born and bred rapper Joyner Lucas put his money where his mouth is. He bet $50,000 on the Celtics—who were favored against an aging, less athletic, slightly battered Warriors team—with his friend and collaborator, Bay Area legend E-40. As the series went on, and the Celtics' fortunes slowly faded, 40 tried multiple times to call the bet off, looking out for his friend, but Joyner wouldn’t hear of it. Lucas even got to perform at halftime of Game 6, followed shortly thereafter by the Celtics losing the series, and Lucas losing the bet. Promptly after the series, Lucas wired 40 the money, which he told Billboard he used to “redo my swimming pool."

Perhaps that display of genuineness and integrity explains why Joyner Lucas has been able to secure so many impressive features in his career. In an industry filled with rappers sparing in their praise for peers, he’s an unabashed fan, which has led many times to the rapper in question reaching out to make music. Arguably, his biggest collaboration was with Will Smith in 2020, who contributed a rare verse to the remix of Lucas’ tribute, “Will”.

So this Finals—which, at 3-0 press time, has all signs pointing to the Celtics grabbing their 18th banner—is a big one for Joyner. It’s been a good couple of weeks for the rapper overall—Will Smith returned the favor, and gave Joyner what he calls his “second movie acting debut” in the blockbuster smash, Bad Boys: Ride or Die.

At GQ, we love to talk gambling with rappers, so a few weeks ago, the very chill and gregarious Joyner was kind and generous enough to spend some unfettered time talking Celtics odds, playing pool with DMX, and very nearly divulging his system for roulette.

GQ: How are you feeling about the Celtics this year?

Joyner Lucas: Celtics are looking good.

You think? Chip? Finals?

I talked to Tatum the other day. He said he was going for the chip. So I said, I hope so, because I lost $50,000 because of the Celtics.

Have you made that back yet?

[Long, incredulous glare from Joyner and his team]

Excuse me. Not in terms of income, in terms of gambling revenue.

Oh! Gambling. Have I made that back yet? Yeah, I believe we made that back.

Do you bet frequently?

I really be like—yeah, I do. I’ve slowed down a little bit because I be having some bad luck sometimes, but I do. I'm more like, going to the casino, playing roulette, shit like that.

So you're more of a casino guy?

Yeah, I'm more of a casino type of guy for sure.

So I’m assuming, or at least hoping, the Finals bet with 40 was the most you ever lost? What's the most you’ve ever made?

On a bet? I usually just be losing, to keep it real. I just be losing, bro. I don't even be winning like that. I'd be putting up 50K here and 50K there. That's like the second or third time I lost 50K on a bet.

What were the other two?

We put up for the Sterling fight. I put up, like, 50K. It was a five leg UFC parlay and I lost on the last leg. Yeah, that was bad. And then a couple of years ago, I bet—I think it was a football game, the Super Bowl I think. And I bet it the year that Tom Brady went crazy. I bet that they were going to win the Super Bowl, the Patriots, because the Patriots won, like, they had the perfect season.

They lost to the Giants. I need to confirm something—you put 50K on a five leg parlay?

Dhruv Joshi, Joyner Lucas’ business partner and manager: And he lost the last one, and he put it on Aljamain. The only reason he put down Aljamain is because he walked out to his music.

Yeah, exactly. How I look doing that, and it’s September 2022.

The same year as the Celtics final?

Same year, yeah. Close enough.

Wow. Besides E-40, any good stories about gambling with other rappers or celebrities?

Playing pool and shit. I was playing with G-Easy today.

Do you play pool with a lot of other rappers for money?

Yeah, I played with DMX, I played with Ty Dolla $ign, I played with Tory Lanez. I played ball with Chris Brown. I played ball in the Drew league, which was cool.

Who's the nicest rapper that you ever played pool against?

DMX. He's a phenomenal pool player. Like, you could tell he really does this shit.

I didn't realize how deep your history with DMX was. He’s featured on your new album. Where does your relationship with him come from? How did the track come about? How long have you had those vocals?

Yeah, man, I had the vocals for quite some time. Spent some time with DMX, played pool with him. Gave me a lot of good dope advice. Great guy.

How'd you meet him?

He was in a rehabilitation program around the way. Then I met him at the studio. Built a relationship. He gave me some label advice when I was on a record label, type of things to look out for, what not to do, what to do, certain things like that.

When you go to a casino, what’s your favorite game?

Roulette.

But only to lose, apparently.

Well, roulette, I don't lose all the time. Roulette is like roulette. I'm not too bad in roulette. I be coming up in roulette. I don't lose all the time. I'll come up, and then I'll lose it all the next time I go back.

Do you have any general philosophies or approaches to gambling on sports, table games, otherwise?

Do I have any advice for people that are trying to gamble?

No, existentially. Because, for instance, you said that you bet on that fight because dude walked out to your music. You bet on the Celtics when they were down and you had an out from 40 because that's your team. I think you could probably extrapolate a philosophy from that.

I don't know what you mean by philosophy from that. You want me to give you a quote or something about that? What do you mean?

So, some people would play the odds, right? If their team is down in the finals, three-two, and they had a chance to get out of the bet, they might take it. But it sounds like you bet with your heart, what you believe in.

Well I can’t just give my formula away, but I got a certain little formula. But I switch my formula when shit ain't working. I don't have just one formula. If shit ain't working, I got to switch to a new formula. Although this one time, when we was in Vegas and I had that one formula, and I won like, $15-16,000, bro. I was like, 45 straight wins on the table. Everything I put down, it was just a win. And I only put up a couple hundred, but I took it to, like, $16,000, and just kept doing the same thing every hand.

To refer back to a previous question, that sounds like a pretty good win. That counts.

I be getting hot on roulette for sure.

DJ: He was using the single line, what’s it called? The one and the third—

Lucas: Come on, stop! Because then people are going to do it, and then they're going to catch on. And then when I go and do it, it's not going to like—come on, Dhruv.

So it sounds like if you have an approach, it's don't get married to one approach.

Yes. Don't get married to one approach. That's a good way to say it.

Originally Appeared on GQ