In case you missed it, Drake (aka Canada’s unofficial sports betting ambassador) lost $400,000 on a three-leg parlay on Monday night.
Had he won, the bet (which had the Nets winning against the Celtics, the Blue Jays over the Red Sox, and the Mavericks over Utah Jazz) would have snagged Aubrey a cool $2.2 million. But thanks to a Nets loss, his Stake wallet was $400,160.77 lighter by the night’s end.
(Here is where we remind you that Stake is not a legitimate and regulated sportsbook, according to his own province’s regulator, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.)
Now, I don’t know about you, but I can think of a whole whack of things I’d rather spend $400 on, never mind $400,000, that aren’t making a losing bet.
Off the top of my head? I could take 62.5 (😬) friends on a luxury vacation to Portugal. I could give 400 of you each a $1.000 ‘why the heck not’ tip. On a more philanthropic note, $400K would pay for 367 emergency shelters for the unhoused in my hometown of Halifax, NS.
The alternate choices are truly endless, but here are 5 more ways you (and Drake) could spend $400,000 that don’t include choking on a bet.
Number 5: 8.85 Model 3 Teslas
According to research, you can get a Tesla Model 3 for around $46k around these parts, which means for $400,000 myself and 7.85 of my BFFs could start an electric car club. You’ll never hear us coming.
Number 4: 2666 regular season Raps or Leafs tickets
At an average of $150 a seat, you could buy nearly 2700 tickets to see your Toronto faves in action. If baseball is your poison, you’re putting 5,333 butts in seats. The only question is whether you want to horde these riches for yourself or share the wealth among your friends.
Number 3: 1,111 pairs of new roller skates (and protective padding)
This one might seem random, but roller skates made the list for a good reason. I just bought new wheels and limb protection this past weekend. While it’s true I gave roller derby a go in the early aughts, this purchase was all about something different. Namely, jumping on the roller dancing trend currently all over Instagram and TikTok.
While I certainly recommend anyone new to the roller arts also get a helmet, I already had one. So, if you were buying an entire kit, you wouldn’t get quite as many, but sticking to just wheels and padding, you could outfit a 1,111-strong roller army.
Number 2: 57, 142 healthy, balanced meals for the food insecure
Every day in Vancouver, A Better Life Foundation provides East Van residents with 1,000s of free, healthy, balanced meals.
Dartmouth, NS native Mark Brand founded ABLF in East Vancouver in 2013. Another former Halifax local, Ash MacLeod, handles daily operations as a managing partner. In addition to education and training, A Better Life aims to combat food insecurity for society’s most vulnerable. And they aim to do it in a dignified, inclusive way that prioritizes climate action. They go about it by diverting from landfills and raising money and awareness through unique community-driven culinary events.
Since 2013 they’ve served over 3 million meals. And their Waste Not, Want Not program, which started in June of 2020, has (so far) diverted more than 22,650 lbs of food waste from landfills and kept 43,037 lbs of CO2 out of the atmosphere. And ABLF is expanding to include more cities in Canada and the US (like NYC).
That’s pretty frickin’ cool (and planet cooling), in my opinion. You can also donate to support ABLF’s work.
Number 1: 0% of Twitter (0.000726474419%, actually)
‘Nuff said.
Drake at it again for Thursday’s NFL Draft
A surprise to none, Drake is at it again for Thursday’s NFL Draft, according to his Instagram stories.
‘champagnepapi‘ revealed he put $100,000 worth of Bitcoin down on Drake London of USC to be the first wide receiver taken in the draft. The 3.35 odds payout at $335,000, according to the post.
“Drake betting on Drake just feels right,” he remarked below the stub.
And wouldn’t you know it, Drake was a win for Drake. London went No. 8 to the Atlanta Falcons, starting a run of receivers.
Drake was likely monitoring the draft from courtside of Thursday’s Game 6 between his Raptors and the Philadelphia 76ers.
We’re betting so.
