Former Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner reveals he once gambled away £400,000 in 90 minutes

Nicklas Bendtner has revealed he once gambled away £400,000 in a London casino in just 90 minutes, despite being on the brink of bankruptcy. 

The incident took place back in 2011, while the Danish striker was still at Arsenal. 

Looking back now he admits that the experience was ‘the wakeup call that helped break the spell’ as he battled with his struggles, having previously revealed he has lost almost £5.4m gambling on poker.

Nicklas Bendtner revealed he once gambled away £400,000 in a London casino in 90 minutes

Bendtner, pictured with partner Philine Roepstorff, says the experience was a ‘wakeup call’

Recalling the incident, Bendtner told The Guardian: ‘I’m way too drunk to sit at a table.

‘That much I get. But roulette is a different matter. Red, black, red, black. How hard can it be?

‘After 90 minutes I’ve lost £400,000. Money I don’t have. My bank account is overdrawn and I’m bankrupt if my luck doesn’t turn.

‘I stagger into the loos and splash water on my face. Then I find a cashier and get another £50,000 of chips.’

The incident happened in 2011, back when the Danish striker was playing for Arsenal

Bendtner last week opened up to Sportsmail over his struggles during his early career

Bendtner says he managed to win back £380,000 of the money he had lost that night, but admitted, ‘it was too risky – even for me’.

He added: ‘When you’re more or less broke it makes you think, “It’s got to stop.” I was down £400,000 but ended up winning some of it back, actually.

‘It was too risky – even for me. It was the wakeup call that helped break that spell.’

The 32-year-old spoke to Sportsmail last week about the extravagance of his off-field lifestyle in his early days at Arsenal, revealing that he has twice been blackmailed.

‘The key thing was that I had no one in my life saying “no”,’ he said. ‘Everyone I knew was just saying what I wanted to hear.’   

Bendtner, pictured in action for Copenhagen in 2019, said he was on the brink of bankruptcy

The frontman accepted a joke bookmaker’s offer of £200,000 to lower his shorts at Euro 2012

Bendtner also grabbed the headlines at Euro 2012 when he celebrated a goal against by lowering his shorts to reveal a bookmaker’s branded underpants.

He had accepted an offer of £200,000 to make the gesture, and was fined by UEFA for his part in it. 

He admitted to Sportsmail: ‘What I was earning had gone. But at the time I also thought it was quite a funny gimmick and it hadn’t been done before.

‘Of course, I didn’t think millions would be watching, that people would go nuts, that the fine would be higher than ones given to some players for racism.

‘Back then, I would have done it again and again and again. Right now? I’m not so sure.’