[Closed] Gambling - is it an issue?

I'm consistently amazed by the endless stream of TV adverts for different online "casinos", bingo parlours etc. To support that amount of advertising spend it must be a gigantic industry - though I don't personally know [u]anyone [/u]who goes in for it (or talks publically about doing so at least).

Gambling addiction can be pretty serious. Life changingly so. Doesn't seem to be that uncommon either.

But I guess so long as the big betting companies keep donating to the Tories it should be fine.

Never had a bet in my life and never will so the adverts can't be that enticing.

I does feel like Gambling has exploded in recent years, I'm all for civil liberties but I also know how powerful marketing can be and whilst they're very careful to sell the fun element of having a 'flutter' people can an do get into real trouble over it.

My FB pages are full of people with screen shots of winning £30 on this or that, sometimes more, but I wonder how many times they lose - for most of my friends who gamble a tenner a week on the football isn't going to make much difference to their lifestyle and if they enjoy it, good for them, but and because I'm a bit of a economics nerd I've noticed the escalation - the amounts wagered are increasing to get the same buzz, because if it's just a flutter it shouldn't matter if you bet a £1 or £100, but I've noticed that the £1 a week, becomes £5 a week within months, then £10 - still pocket money for people in their 30s with good jobs, but if it is increasing, when does it stop - the point when it becomes part of your monthly budget, either because you want a set amount to play with, or worse expect a certain amount of return it has to stop.

Flutter at the races, night in Vegas, decent fun.
Furtively having a "cheeky dabble" on 'slots' in cubicle 3 of the work bogs, less so.

Online gambling is poison.

I bought a couple of lottery tickets when that first happened, just with all the hype. Other than that, I've never been able to reconcile the fact that the bookmakers all make huge profits yet folk expect to come out ahead against them.

Like many things I think the State has a role to play in looking after those persuaded otherwise.

loddrik - Member

Never had a bet in my life and never will so the adverts can't be that enticing.

You don't have the right / wrong mental mix for it.

I'm not exactly in the same boat, I've probably bet on the horses 3/4 times in my life - £10 on the National or something.

I used to play cards for money with friends - £5 a game, the speed we played at you might only get 2 games in a night, so it was a cheap bit of fun compared to going to the pub.

I went to a Casino once though, put me off for life - I'm pretty good at cards, better at working out outs and probabilities etc, but the brutal mechanics of it put me right off, £10 a hand to play poker, it wasn't fun any more it was stressful 'real money' when you're talking about £100 to really get up to speed, as much as the play was tastelessly but expensively decorated, it seemed a murky, shabby night out. Not for me, but some of my mates loved it - walk in with £300, come out 6 hours later slightly pissed and walking to the ATM for taxi fair, sod that.

Online gambling is poison.

I think so. Seems to me that the link between gambling and sport is becoming looser, rather than tighter - though I understand the point DD is making. With the rise of the betting exchanges, and the loosening of the markets enabling a bet on just about anything, the line between gambling and 'investing' is becoming blurred.
Gambling should be on course only, imo.

"when the fun stops, stop" is a very loaded tagline.

Round my way there are betting shops with bouncers, often full to the brim with blokes spending any spare cash gambling. They don't look like they're having much fun, and you can bet that some of them are taking their dole money straight to the Coral. I don't live in a wealthy area and I think it's a massive problem round here.

It ruins lives just as much as booze can but without any of the mitigating factors - ie often a pub is also a community hub, employs a fair few people, buys from local breweries and shops, yadda yadda. Bookies just whisk money out of the hands of the poorest and into a tax haven in the Caribbean.

I don't have a problem with people who can afford it having the occasional flutter.

But there's a reason that the major bookmakers seem to have lots of shops in poor areas, and that's because they are contemptible parasites.

Its just become a lot easier. And its image has changed completely

If you wanted to bet in the past, you'd have to go in a bookies. I've never been in one in my life. My perception is of smelly old alcoholic blokes, standing around silently with the Racing Post, staring at tellies with horse racing on, occasionally nipping out to smoke a rollie.Hardly an enticing image.

That image is now totally transformed

Now you've got an app on your phone, and flashy adverts on telly, using people like Ray Winstone, and logo's all over premiership kits and grounds, promoting as a fun pastime. The opposite of mouldy old geezers smoking rollies.

They've pulled off a marketing masterstroke

i think alongside the fact that its become more prevalent is that its also got more complicated, at least to me anyway!

bit like when i was a teenager id be happy to chuck a few quid in a 'snakes and ladders' fruit machine in the pub, nowadays they seem that complicated and swallow pound coins so quickly im not interested.

so now we have online casinos, asian markets(?), 'bet through 5X original stake to withdraw 10% within 5 working days as long as one days a wednesday in march' type rules, im too scared to bet properly! 😀

ive dabbled in the 'cant lose' matched betting and bet365 offers, but i never bet properly these days cos id just end up throwing it away by mistake.

Gambling isn't a problem for the vast majority of people. However, for a small proportion of people who have been enticed in by the relaxed rules, it's a massive problem that is ruining lives.

But I guess so long as the big betting companies keep donating to the Tories it should be fine.

Although the Tories are probably happy with the status quo, you should probably take a glance at which colour of government was initially responsible for this mess.

Although the Tories are probably happy with the status quo, you should probably take a glance at which colour of government was initially responsible for this mess.

Indeed. Guess where a lot of the gambling firms are based?

Clue: Its a big disputed rock, that's attached to Spain

You’d be surprised. Most of my male friends do it – personally I have never been interested but some of them have some bad habits developing.

We tend to meet up for a weekend every 4 months-ish for a night out. Now any night out is always preceded and followed by a trip to the bookies. I tend to wait outside as they are the most soul destroying places I have ever been into.

As per any gambler, you only ever hear about the wins, if I were a gambling man, I would put money on them all being at a net loss since they started, otherwise the gambling companies wouldn’t exist.

I've seen it destroy someone's life, so I do get a bit uncomfortable at the way it's marketed now and at the dizzying variety of short-term bets on offer.

It's the new smoking, something for the big corporations to make massive profits off of by preying on the weak-willed. Surely the government will have to weigh in eventually & crack down on the advertising, at the very least.

Even the National Lottery website has online "Scratchcards" now, which is totally wrong IMO.

I'm personally for peoples freedom to mess up their life in which ever way they choose(within reason obv, long as they aren't hurting others, self harm is fine by me.), but there's no doubt I think that curtailing advertising and campaigns aimed at educating people would have a reducing factor on the amount of people doing a certain activities. So while I wouldn't curtail or ban gambling, I'd be supportive of campaigns and advertising bans.

I occasionally have a wee bet now and then, just serves me as I reminder that it's just throwing money away.

Everytime one of my mates goes on about their wins, I ask them to show me their all time profit/loss spreadsheet. funnily enough, no-one has ever shown me one...

As per any gambler, you only ever hear about the wins, if I were a gambling man, I would put money on them all being at a net loss since they started, otherwise the gambling companies wouldn’t exist.

I have an online account but i only use it for football in the same way as i used to do the pools[edit - not pools, I meant fixed odds! At uni we used to get a FO coupon on a Saturday am, pick six, pool our cash and on the occasions we won it went into the kitty for the Saturday night post-match drinks], so generally 'daft' accumulators on a number of matches.

Started during the Euro's (or was it the World cup) and added a bit of interest to games that otherwise I had no reason to take a favourite in.

I've just checked my account and over time I've deposited £35, and there's currently £17 in it (pls £3 out on a Judas bet against my team at the weekend - if we win or draw we make playoffs and if we lose I'm up by a tenner) - so all told it's cost me £15 in total and I enjoy it.

Like anything, it must be regulated and can be an issue but just because some people have an addiction should everyone not be able to enjoy it.

btw, not to paint too negative a picture, it is a hobby of sorts to people, as with everything, it's fine in moderation, long as you can afford it. Some people are mental with it though.

Had a problem with it back in the day, not exactly life changing, but was bordering on it at times. Had a few scrapes to dig my way out of where i was avoiding people i owed money to etc... Not a nice feeling.

theotherjonv - thats like me and Mrs Binners. We've both got betting apps on our phones, and also started during the Euros (who said advertising doesn't work?).

We put 25 quid in at the start of the season, and then compare and see who's got the biggest balance at the end of the weekends footie. We never bet on horses or anything else. Just football. I've Just had a look at my account and I've 21 quid in, but I did draw 40 quid out the other week after correctly guessing that Arsenal were going to get whooped 5-1 for a second time 😀

We just put daft bets on (see Arsenal score above). only a quid or two at a time, daft accumulators, first goalscorer, Fellaini to get booked (every game), Certain sides to grind out goalless draws. That kind of thing

It does add a bit of fun to watching the results come in. But thats all it is.

Whats scary is that if you did have a problem, you could transfer your entire bank balance to your betting account, link your credit card to it, and potentially run up enormous debts by about 2 clicks on your phone. Its no wonder its becoming an increasing problem. Its just so bloody easy!

A mate of mine once lost 3 grand in one weekend.

He got some counselling, and hasn't bet since, even went to Vegas on holiday and never bet.

Some people need protected from themselves...

Mugs game IMO .
My mother worked for many years in a betting shop.the regulars weren't the local glitterati.
Quite a few folk at work sit up and play onlinepoker all night....some of the slot machines are as addictive as crack apparently.
I do bet on the national though, as it was a tradition with my dad.
Oh and if you go to lords and sit with some friendly Sri Lankans ,it's hard not to join in with them on a little sporting wager.

Never been a gambler myself.

Learned my lesson quite a few years ago, when on a stag do at Chester Races, we pooled a bet on the second last race and won enough money to pay a sizeable chunk of the night out's tab - can't remember how much, very low three figures I think. Which I then persuaded everybody to put on the nose of a horse in the last race.

You can guess what happened next. I did get a small insight into the rush of winning and the desire to repeat that - and that whatever "personality type" I was, that I was suceptible to it. So, yeah, salutary lesson as to why gambling wasn't for me. Apart from the odd flutter on the GN over the years, I've never been tempted since.

Although, my twitter timeline is filled with those "A massive 5/1 for Chelsea to beat Aldershot Town if you sign up tonight - that's an easy £50 for a £10 bet..." It's very tempting for some people to get drawn in - so, yeah, I guess I'm uncomfortable with the pervasiveness of the advertising.

My Mrs' ex had a bad habit, ran up £60k (at least) in gambling debt. Anecdotally, I'm aware of 3 other people in my extended social circle with gambling debts in the £10's of thousands - all men. I hate gambling with a passion; the way it's portrayed as a bit of harmless fun (glamorous even) is all wrong IMO.

One of my ex-gf's dad's was a bit of a shrewd investor. Over drinks one night he was telling me about investing in puggies for pubs. These were a guaranteed 72% profit to the owner!

Never gambled in my life bar perhaps 6 lottery ticket and one stag do at the dogs with a £20 purse. Other vices are more enjoyable ways to blow your money.

A lot of it around the news for the last few days - perhaps prompted by Joey Barton's fairly hefty whack with the banhammer (maybe they have secret mods too?) for placing a few bets on his own team.

It was more than "a few bets", and he was betting on them losing - something he can clearly influence. No sympathy at all.

I don't see it as a problem if someone's treating it as a hobby and (to take examples from the ongoing personal/shared finance thread) they put £XX into an account every week/month and that's all they spend. It's no different to spending £XX on bikes/cars/whatever.

The problem is when the money for gambling is a major and unlimited proportion of your wages/salary. Sometimes I've an early morning dental appointment which entails walking from the train station to the surgery - I have to pass a couple of betting shops and they have a significant number of people in them at 8:30 in the morning.

My dad used to like a "flutter on the horses" and occasionally I'd accompany him to a race meeting but it and the associated betting left me cold.

As afr as fruit machines go... here's an insight for you. I used to do the illustrations for the machine glasses. I have never worked with more unpleasant people in my life as the people who ran the company. Americans based in Vegas. They were evil! They had one intention, and one only. To separate people from all their cash in the shortest timescale imaginable.

The people who write the sequences for the machines (for that is what they are), are mathematicians. And I mean serious mathematicians!! They set the gameplay. So that you can't win. Obviously!

Your chance of coming out on top are simply non-existent.

Having seen how they operate, I wouldn't entertain ever putting a single penny into one of the things. And neither would anyone else who worked in the industry

It's just so bloody easy!

^^This^^

Apart from the Notional Lattery, the last time I gambled was in Macau on a boozy night out with friends. We each took £100 in, and agreed that we'd leave at around a certain time, or when were all out, whichever happened first. I left about £20 up, through sheer luck at roulette. The rest of the evening was very messy......great night out.

Now, that was a fun, social occasion. Other people could see each other winning/losing, and we'd all agreed the escape plan.

Compare that to, as I mentioned above, someone sitting in the bogs at work. Alone. No one can see their fun, but more importantly, no one can see when they're losing hard. And when they are losing hard, it's so easy just to tap some more money in. I mean, it's not like crisp notes in your pocket, so it's hardly real, is it?

The advertising for online gambling is toxic. The image they sell...
[img] [/img]

The reality....
[img] [/img]

It was more than "a few bets", and he was betting on them losing - something he can clearly influence. No sympathy at all.

his statement was quite interesting though - these were matches he was not in the squad for, while other players who bet on their team to lose [i]when they would actually be on the pitch[/i] got less severely punished. It does seem inconsistent.

To tie this in with some other points from this thread, he published the spreadsheet of all the bets considered pertinent by the FA, and guess what - a substantial net loss. This is someone who averaged about 3 bets a day, I think it was.

also, this:

😐

[img] [/img]

I does feel like Gambling has exploded in recent years, I'm all for civil liberties but I also know how powerful marketing can be and whilst they're very careful to sell the fun element of having a 'flutter' people can an do get into real trouble over it.

I blame a lot on the National Lottery.... it seems to me like that legitimised the whole thing... your friendly supermarket and newsagents essentially becoming bookies...

I bet once in a bookies and the horse died... was more or less peer pressured into it in the 1st place and never been back....
I have played poker or pool with friends/family but that is mainly redistributing who buys the drinks rather than someone having to sell their car...

It was more than "a few bets"

How many was it? (Apart from the total figure [on all sports] - 15,000!! 😯 )

and he was betting on them losing - something he can clearly influence.

In his statement, he says that on the occasions where he betted against his own team, he was not even in the matchday squad. [I have no idea of the true figures here - just going on reports on the BBC website. And it wasn't intended as a "lets-bash-Barton" thread.]

I was addicted to playing fruit machines until my early 20s :0

It certainly was an issue for me at the time.

The flashing lights, exicting noises and the possibility of a win really seduced me.

Thankfully I did not have access to a lot of cash or credit at the time, so my losses were minimised.

Did the lottery until they doubled it from £1 to £2 then jacked it. Been to the races a couple of times and always take "stake money" separate from the rest of my cash. Only gamble the stake money. Never been into a bookies and never done on-line gambling. I can get obsessive so I know that on-line gambling will not end well, I therefore avoid like the plague. As for the bookies, my dad told me when I was just a pup,
"Never get involved with the bookies. You might get the occasional win but they will always come out on top. You'll never hear of a bookie going bust."

Stuck with me although it's about the only bit of good advice I did take on board. 🙂

In his statement, he says that on the occasions where he betted against his own team, he was not even in the matchday squad. [I have no idea of the true figures here - just going on reports on the BBC website. And it wasn't intended as a "lets-bash-Barton" thread.]

I wasn't planning on a lets-bash-Barton, for starters I have no idea who he is! But the fact that he wasn't on the squad doesn't make much difference, a friendly word in his mate's ear before the match and...

"Never get involved with the bookies. You might get the occasional win but they will always come out on top. You'll never hear of a bookie going bust."

Unless it's Trump, who went bust 3 times...

But the fact that he wasn't on the squad doesn't make much difference, a friendly word in his mate's ear before the match and...

You seriously reckon you could swing the outcome of a Premiership football match with 'a word in your mates ear' - a mate who's enormous salary depends on it - so that you could win few quid on the bookies? 😯

I don't think for one minute that there was any attempt at match fixing. Why would you bother when you're already absolutely minted? Also... Its Joey Barton. He's not the sharpest tool in the box.

I think its simply what he says it is. A gambling addiction. He simply couldn't stop himself even though he knew the rules, and what breaking the rules would result in. Which has now happened

You seriously reckon you could swing the outcome of a Premiership football match with 'a word in your mates ear' - a mate who's enormous salary depends on it - so that you could win few quid on the bookies?

Yeah, probably. Depends on the match, of course, but one with nothing riding on it? And I'm guessing the experts agree, otherwise it would be allowed.

I worked for a bookie when I was at Uni. In Shops, football stadiums, race courses and online poker. I don't want to work in that industry again. I turned down some work last year once I found out it was for an online gambling company. I have spoken to too many people to have been broken by their addiction.
I will always remember someone from the shops who's wife kicked him out when he had gambled their family Christmas money away. He got to see his son once a week after that. On that one day his son would be stood outside the shop, sometimes for hours. I don't think the dad was a bad person, his addiction had such a control over him it was destroying his life and who he was.

Did the lottery until they doubled it from £1 to £2 then jacked it.

Lottery is a tricky one. I heard an interview one time with a stats / maths / gambling related expert about the Pools (I do mean pools this time - where you pick games, get points for the result - win, no score draw, score draw, etc.) and they pay out for the # points) - but lottery would be broadly the same.

He was saying that even for pro's who studied form and had knowledge it was so unpredictable that to win by getting 8 score draws was nearly impossible, and that based on stats your chance of winning was so low that it wasn't worth doing. And lottery is pure random so you don't even have the benefit of form and knowledge.

However; he also said that for such a minimal stake (and even £2 a week is hardly expensive*) vs if you do win it'll be millions (ignore the smaller prize stuff for now, that just makes it even more worthwhile) - he basically said you'd almost be daft not to be in because even though all probability says it won't be you, it will be someone and that someone might be you and if it is then WOW!

* Yes, I know £2 a week is £100 a year or £1000/ 10 years and whatever but YKWIM. It becomes an issue when you think 2 tickets doubles your chances, so why not 4, or 6 or..... and technically it does but it turns them from virtually nil to still virtually nil

However; he also said that for such a minimal stake (and even £2 a week is hardly expensive*) vs if you do win it'll be millions (ignore the smaller prize stuff for now, that just makes it even more worthwhile) - he basically said you'd almost be daft not to be in because even though all probability says it won't be you, it will be someone and that someone might be you and if it is then WOW!

Ish.... that's why I have premium bonds.

I don't see gambling as any more of a problem than drink or cigarettes. Bookies have ways of helping problem gamblers but they need to ask for that help. They're legally obliged to have these measures in place, I don't believe vendors of drink and fags have any sort legal obligation to help their customers.

Just been into Asda to do a bit of shopping - the self-serve checkouts are now National Lottery enabled "for convenience" 🙄

Over drinks one night he was telling me about investing in puggies for pubs. These were a guaranteed 72% profit to the owner!

but, as mentioned by binners, I'm sure they arrange the gameplay to make sure that you don't walk away at the point you are up so you always end up with the losing average rather than the winning peak

[quote=pirahna ]I don't see gambling as any more of a problem than drink or cigarettes. How many football/sports teams/competitions do you see sponsored by alcohol or tobacco companies these days?

Gambling to me sits at the same level as alcohol. It's ok in moderation, but needs to be controlled and users need to understand risks associated with its consumption.

I still find it insane that alcohol and gambling are allowed to be advertised on TV. They don't give anything to the end user beyond some sort of satisfactions, yet can have a huge impact on society if misused. Tobacco's been pretty much stamped out of the media, and hopefully all the other junk will follow suit.

Spent a long time "gambling" last year, I put gambling in quote marks because I actually did lots of matched betting (geeky betting playing bookies off against betting exchanges).

Made about £4000 profit all in all, got banned from pretty much all online bookmarkers (still kept a couple of accounts). To be clear nothing I did was illegal, just that bookies don't want to provide the bets I wanted to take 😉

Still do bits and bobs, but it has provided me with a huge insight into bookies and the real value of bets. (or often the lack of value)

Would I bet knowing what I know? I had a quid e/w on the national (made a fiver!)

Still play poker fairly regular, but that's different 🙂

It is regulated in the UK ( http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/home.aspx) and taxed. Most of the world is regulating, with some countries closing most gambling down.

Those fixed odds machines in the bookies should be banned outright, terrible things.

I don't see gambling as any more of a problem than drink or cigarettes. Bookies have ways of helping problem gamblers but they need to ask for that help. They're legally obliged to have these measures in place, I don't believe vendors of drink and fags have any sort legal obligation to help their customers.

A pub, or casino as it happens, has a legal obligation to stop serving and/or turf you out when you're drunk. If you neck three bottles of cheap vodka at home on your own, there's no one to stop you. The latter is online gambling.

It can ruin peoples lives.

A close family member still owes me £30k (ish - it's secured on their house) from a time where she was suffering with depression and Gambling Addiction to online slots etc. Thankfully, she got treatment for the causes of the depression and now does not gamble at all.

I can understand it, because all of our family bet, mainly horses but also football - I used to play in poker tournaments and still have the occasional flutter on the footy, horses or lottery.

I'm fairly good at maths, and I understand the odds but I have to make sure I don't get carried away on the "feeling". A little bit of self-awareness goes a long way.

I worked for a small firm offering financial services? to customers. Over the years we've watched the amount of expenses from the bank accounts to gambling go up and up and up. They're borrowing to fund their lifestyle which includes £xxx per month on gambling. Rather than cut it out and save themselves the loan.

One guy we saw literally had all his household belongings in a pawn shop so he could raise the money to gamble. He just had a the bare minimum of kitchen equipment to make breakfast, a chair, a table and a bed. TV, dvd player, PS3 hifi, lights, speakers the works were all in a pawn shop!

Another guys bank statements went from rolling balances of £300/month to one month +£25000 then -£1500 the next month. He won big with a really lucky bet on a horse. He then proceeded ?to place further bets at £500-£5000 a time over two weekends and lost it all.

I believe that just like smoking and booze advertising, gambling ads should be really, really tightly regulated. As it's been said, it's so incredibly easy to do now and I think more and more markets and games make it more and more enticing but there also far more confusing/difficult to learn.

The advertising should be controlled / banned. Sometimes I've had this misfortune to put on a commercial TV channel during the day and 90% of the adverts are for payday loans or gambling, what a great combination, what could possibly go wrong there 😡
Many of the adverts show online gambling as a fun social thing where as in reality many will stuck inside on there own.

I particularly don't get online gambling games. Who is regulating them? How do we know that there is actually any chance of winning? At least with a sporting event any outcome is possible however remote.

I'm a volunteer with a homeless charity - usually engaging with rough sleepers. One christmas got talking with one of the guests at a centre; he opened up about his chronic gambling addiction. Cost him his marriage, family, various jobs, everything he had and valued.
Skilled tradesman who made good money but often blew most - and sometimes all - of it on payday and resorted to sleeping in site cabins.
He wanted the thrill that he might win and, when he did, he believed he would continue winning.
An intelligent bloke who acknowledged his addiction but, i think, deep down didn't truly want to change.
That really saddened me.

I done a [url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/online-betting ]thread[/url] a while ago cos the ads were pissing me off. STW forum goers convinced me there was money to be made. Still not tried it meself though and never will.

Who is regulating them? How do we know that there is actually any chance of winning? At least with a sporting event any outcome is possible however remote.

I believe they have to disclose the odds to the Gambling Commission in the UK:

In the UK, the UK government passed a law in late 2014 that meant all online casinos that offered online gambling facilities to UK-based players needed a separate, UK licence. If you’re in the UK and you are thinking of using an online casino, then look for the ‘Gambling Commission’ logo which will prove that the site is above board.

http://www.oddswinner.com/casino-regulation/

But that doesn't mean to say it would be impossible to have a switch that changes the odds when the Commission is looking. I wonder if they get to see the source code.

There is a lot of uninformed opinion on this thread. As said above, it is regulated in the UK ( http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/home.aspx) /p>

All games need to be certified, and reported on. The commission puts a lot of emphasis on problem gambling, so it is not like sitting at home necking 3 bottles of vodka, but it is difficult as there is a limit as to what a company can know about the state of your finances, or your state of mind.
There is a lot of research going into understanding problem gambling.

A big issue is no matter what the commission says and does, there will always be unregulated companies that will offer services without following the rules, or caring about the player. This is the problem with the internet.

But that doesn't mean to say it would be impossible to have a switch that changes the odds when the Commission is looking.

See also VW emmissions testing 😉

[i]There is a lot of uninformed opinion on this thread[/i]

Someone is new here 😉

not to mention the Bingo sites too

makes my piss boil when I see that Tombola advert trying to sell a weird "shabby chic" lifestyle through their "look at all these friends play bingo on their phones" adverts like it's something to be proud of.

Last time I fluttered on the national, it cost me more to put the bet on that what I won back from 2 out of 3 winners. Complete mugs game and very dangerous considering the amount of people that seem to be texting in to some roulette TV programme on channel 5 I see when I get home late from work.

I think I've staked a total of £30 or so in my life with bookies (visit to the horses working, put my wages on it as it was not hard work and it was a night out with my then GF really, I think I won) and a trip to the dogs with work.

On top of that, £10 or £20 on poker games with friends. I don't think gambling is wrong per se, but what is wrong is that poor people gamble far more as they see it as the only realistic way of getting rich (this applies to the national lottery too - which is ironic cos people in deprived areas that get lottery funded facilities are basically paying for it themselves).

Personally, I'd ban the bookies, at least from places other than trackside. And that's before you get to the problems people have getting payouts when they have had a winning streak.

I bet £10 on the Grand National in 1997 because I was at it. Until the IRA did/didn't put a bomb there. My horse broke it's neck in the rerun.

Then I bet £40 on the winner of the last RWC, but used free bets to double or better my stake if any of the top 5 teams won. Got £90 back I think it was.

So overall I'm up by about £40. Unless you count school raffles as gambling in which case I'm probably well behind.

Unless you count school raffles as gambling in which case I'm probably well behind.

Gateway drug to the hard stuff

Personally, I'd ban the bookies, at least from places other than trackside. And that's before you get to the problems people have getting payouts when they have had a winning streak.

Isn't there some theory as to why there are more bookies in deprived areas along with pubs and the like.......something about keeping people down *grabs tin-foil hat*

Went for a job interview once at BetFred. As in a senior job, so was interviewed by all of the board (except Fred Done himself).

Now, I'm pretty pragmatic when it comes to companies I'll interview with - an arms manufacturer is on the list as well.

Didn't get the job (went to a guy from Stanley - he tried to tap me for his old job but I'd seen enough). Just as well - the humourless MD described the environment as being a "being dictatorship". I took that to be a lie about the "benign" bit....

The UK is the most mature gambling market, and the explosion you see in advertising and online gambling came about from regulatory changes in 2007. IIRC Australia is the next best market that the likes of BetFred target. So, we've had 10 years to really embed it.

I'm similar to the teetotallers above - don't gamble. But that's because I don't get any pleasure from it: it always feels like I might as well just hand out my money to someone on the street for the good it does to me. Even lap dancing isn't as big a waste of money as gambling in my eyes...!

I have a colleague who's a pretty hefty gambler. He has a big brain and uses it to avoid having to speak to his wife in the evenings as far as I can tell. But in reality, he's now admitted that he couldn't just give it up. On average he claims he's usually up by c£1500 a month. But to get there he will have placed £30k's worth of bets in the same time period. His income is OK (I'd guess £200k pa), but that isn't going to get him very far if he starts rolling through regular material losses....

I'm a puritanical arse, so my thoughts are:

having or displaying a very strict or censorious moral attitude towards self-indulgence or sex.

That's me right there.

I think all advertising for online betting should be banned, the companies that support such should then pile all profits made over the last 10years in online betting piled into social care and infrastructure until every last penny made in profit has been spent. Then those company employees and its Directors made to visit and spend time in some sort of social reform initiative so they can truly understand the effects that they and thier business model has on the public.

I have no problem at all with static betting shops, these can continue to function in the same way as they've always been functioning.

What winds me right up about the online betting world is it isn't a physical thing. There is no effort made by the player to get off thier arse and walk into a shop.. this physical effort of time taking could calm or rationalise the excitement or need for a bet, or at least give it some thought before placing a bet.
Online gambling takes away any potential for clear rational thought before placing bets.

The glamorising and advertising of online betting should be banned completely, and move to a fact based method like smoking.

I done a thread a while ago cos the ads were pissing me off. STW forum goers convinced me there was money to be made. Still not tried it meself though and never will.