Joe Rogan Once Compared Gambling To Drug Addiction, Now He’s Promoting DraftKings

Joe Rogan has been circling one topic a lot lately: gambling. Not just as a hobby, but as a flat-out addiction that, in his words, hits like hard drugs. It connects to a movie he loves, people he knows, and a couple of eyebrow-raising stories that say a lot about how this stuff actually works in the real world.

Rogan on gambling vs. drugs: same compulsion, different packaging

In a YouTube clip, Rogan draws a blunt line between drug addiction and gambling addiction. With drugs, you see the damage on someone’s face. With gambling, you often don’t — which makes it easier to miss, and easier to excuse. He talks about people chasing losses, jacked on adrenaline, and not fully understanding why they can’t stop.

'It’s just like cocaine. It’s just like a drug abuse. It’s just like the opiate problem. It’s just like anything else.'

Worth noting: Rogan regularly promotes DraftKings as a sponsor on The Joe Rogan Experience. That tension is hard to ignore when he’s also describing gambling as a sickness with very real consequences.

Why 'Uncut Gems' hits him where he lives

On a July 2025 episode of JRE with country singer Charley Crockett (they bonded over movies, even though Crockett steers clear of gnarlier stuff like 'The Substance'), Rogan brought up Adam Sandler’s 'Uncut Gems' and got personal about why it rattled him. He grew up around gambling addicts, and the movie’s anxiety-rush energy — the constant risking and re-risking — felt familiar.

'Well, I grew up with a lot of gambling addicts. So that movie really hit home for me. I was like, Oh god, jeez, the anxiety.'

He also gave Sandler credit for the performance: a New York jeweler, Howard Ratner, spiraling through bets, scams, and delusion. Rogan said he always liked Sandler in comedies but was surprised at how sharp his dramatic turn was here. He called the gambling itch in that movie a 'wild sickness' and added, 'For some people, that’s their juice.' He even connected it back to his early 20s in New York, hanging around pool halls and betting culture — and summed up the vibe in one line: 'The only way it’s fun is if money’s constantly flowing.'

The Dana White story that stunned his listeners

Then there’s Dana White. In November 2024, Rogan told a story about visiting the UFC CEO at Red Rocks that stopped people mid-scroll. According to Rogan, White was already $600,000 down at the blackjack table when they got there. He stayed until about 6 a.m. and ended the night $600,000 up. Rogan’s takeaway was simple: gambling can be a 'real drug' and a 'really weird one.' Those are wild numbers, and the upshot is clear — when you win like that, the hook only goes deeper.

Rogan also said their friendship stretches beyond the tables and the Octagon. Case in point: he revealed that White was pushing to get Donald Trump on JRE back in 2017, calling Rogan to say 'the president wants to do your podcast.' The politics, the business, the friendship — it all overlaps.

Quick recap

• Rogan argues gambling addiction mirrors drug addiction: same compulsion, same fallout, just less visible. He said it in a YouTube clip and likened it directly to cocaine and opioids.
• In July 2025 on JRE with Charley Crockett (as recapped by The Sports Rush), he explained why 'Uncut Gems' hits so hard for him: he grew up around gambling addicts, praised Adam Sandler’s dramatic turn, and connected it to his own New York years around pool halls and betting.
• In November 2024 on JRE, he shared the Dana White story: down $600k at blackjack, stuck it out to 6 a.m., finished $600k up — and called gambling a 'real drug.' He also said White was the one pushing to book Trump around 2017.

So where does that leave us?

Rogan’s stance is complicated but honest: he sees gambling’s pull up close, he’s worked in and around it, and he still warns that the spiral is real. It’s also very on-brand that the movie he keeps pointing to is 'Uncut Gems' — a film that doesn’t judge so much as trap you in the same high-wire mindset as its lead.

Do movies like 'Uncut Gems' actually help people see how addiction works, or do they just make the adrenaline look cool? Tell me where you land.