We do not really have a way to know and personally I would prefer that it was not real, since in my case it would really pain me to lose so much money over such a short span of time, however we have seen people like Drake losing way more money than that before, with the difference he is incredibly wealthy, but this makes me think that even if the story of the OP was not true, there are probably many gamblers out there which have experimented those kind of losses before.
If one is financially stable, then I see no need to gamble because it's more regarded as stress to me. Severe losses are recorded daily in the system, just stick to one strategy and ensure to be able to maintain consistency, then one will see results positive results, that's how to win a game. But rushing from one strategy to another and copying other gambler's game won't help, that will only trigger more losses and they can be unbearable. We can't compare Drake heavy loss in gambling to ours because he's a celebrity and financially balance to stake with any amount he wishes.