gublis20140620Ernests Gulbis

Latvian player Ernests Gulbis, who reached the semi-finals stage at the French Open tournament, blew the $500,000 winnings on blackjack.

The world’s 10th player quickly ruined his excellent performance at the tournament with an unexpected second-round loss against Kenny De Schepper (ranked 66th) at Queen’s Club.

However, the earnings he could have made at the Wimbledon warm-up tournament were negligible compared to his immense loss at the blackjack table, which made in into the casino gambling news immediately.

Bad financial damage

Being a professional blackjack player and winning like one was definitely something Gulbis didn’t get a chance to enjoy.

He was already famous for his notorious party habits, when he went out to celebrate his performance in Paris and lost all the money – $558,479 – he won at the French Open.

Gulbis explained that the announced amount was exaggerated, but he admitted that the casino won quite a lot from his losing black jack strategies.

He told Gazzetta dello Sport: “After losing to Djokovic, I returned to Latvia with my cousin and I went to the casino: I bet all prize money won in Paris and I lost it. I like blackjack, but I lost. I lost a lot.”