[Closed] Why I don't gamble!

None as gambling is for mugs - guessing which fuel pump to use is my waste of money 🙁

At Chester races for a stag do. Three of us picked a horse in the second last race because of its name. It won. We won around £100 which would have done very nicely for the beer kitty in Liverpool that evening. But no, we threw it all on the favourite in the last. And lost it all. 😆

It's a mugs' game I tell ya.

I had a free £5 bet around world cup time. The opening match was France (the current holders) vs Senegal. I reckoned that the French would come out a bit cocky and stuff it up. Everyone else thought I was bonkers. Anyway, £5 duly placed on Senegal to win at 8/1.

90 minutes later, the rest of the office looked sheepish and I looked cocky as I went to pick up my £40 winnings 😀

EDIT: also remember the strange events at Newmarket once. Near the end of the night a crips fiver literally blew into me on the wind. No visible owner was around, so I stuck it on a random horse in the last race - it won and the winnings paid for the whole evening 😀

I went to Appleby horse fair once.

Never bet with a gypsy....

I used to spend a lot of time in casino's and I guess I was what you would call a 'professional gambler'. My winnings set me up for life, but I had the sense to walk away.

I'm still a few hundred up on the bookies. Haven't had a bet since 2008 when I successfully predicted team GB to do a lot better at the Olympics than the bookies reckoned (I also found a bet with a couple of different bookies where I made money if Ben Ainslie won and also made money if Ben Ainslie lost - that was a bit scary as I had to put on large amounts to win anything significant, and in theory I'd have lost the lot if he didn't make the start line). Thankfully I didn't go with my gut feeling that we'd do worse than expected last year. Quite tempted by 9/2 on Australia for the Ashes, but I think I'll resist.

We went to the races on Boxing Day a few years ago, the missus's pick in the first race went backwards and the one in the second refused to start- we've not been back since 😆

Cheers,
Jamie

I don't really gamble but I usually stick a few quid on the National, based mainly on how much I like the names. Decided in 2009 not to bother as there was no way my favourite-named horse would achieve anything at 100-1, Mon Mone... Ah well.

... there was no way my favourite-named horse would achieve anything at 100-1, Mon Mone... Ah well.

Cheers,
Jamie

Having watched the 'gambler' m8's my dad had (dad never did): beg, borrow and steal money, to fund their habits, it's one past times I will never be bothering with.
One guy in particular jumps to mind, the guys 60 (ish), doesn't have a penny/lives on benefits, but still believe he will win big one day.

I used to spend a lot of time in casino's and I guess I was what you would call a 'professional gambler'. My winnings set me up for life, but I had the sense to walk away.

I spent many years as a casino worker, love to know how you were a proffesional playing table games ?
There's only one way to gain a % advantage and no casino I worked in would let you play long enough to set yourself up for life.
And if you weren't just being lucky, why walk away ? You could still be raking it in.

There's only one way to gain a % advantage

Go on, spill the beans...

There's only one way to gain a % advantage
Go on, spill the beans...

1) Get a gaming licence
2) Open a casino

Simples

[i]There's only one way to gain a % advantage and no casino I worked in would let you play long enough to set yourself up for life.[/i]

Um I didn't say I made it all in the one sitting or in the same casino. In terms of 'professional' I meant that was how I earned a living, I didn't have any professional qualifications and I didn't wear flamboyant clothing.

Oh and this wasn't in some shit hole casino in some shit hole town in the UK.

Last time I was in a casino was over 20 years ago and it cured me for life. I'd always had reasonable luck, mainly playing blackjack but this time I thought I'd be clever and double up on roulette, staking a fiver as a starter on red and doubling if I didn't win.

Simple plan to win a fiver every few spins.........except..............

..............4 spins later, all off which were black, I put my £80 on red and what came up just to rub it in.... a big fat [b]0[/b]. Never again 🙁

I guess I was what you would call a 'professional gambler'.

not suggesting you were the same pebble

Go on, spill the beans...

Card counting at blackjack I presume. Is about the only legal way to get an edge at a casino.

I was once in a bookies 3 or 4 years ago, waiting for some mates to place bets and I'd been saying I fancied Wigan to beat Chelsea 3-0, no idea why, I just had a feeling. Odds were something like 66/1 and I had a tenner in my pocket. To cut a short story shorter, I bottled it and Wigan won. 3-0.

To cut a short story shorter, I bottled it and Wigan won. 3-0

Ultimately, the house always wins. If it didn't, bookies / casinos / fruit machines wouldn't exist.

There's exceptions of course, our "professional gambler" here for instance, but they're very very much the minority. A guy I went to college with used to get his lunch money every day from a single credit in the quiz machine in the café we went to (turned out, his dad was involved in writing the software for it). But in the long game there's almost always only ever one winner.

I throw the occasional quid into a quiz machine, a lottery ticket or a sweepstake. I rarely win anything, but that's not really the point for me. The quiz machines are like video games where you pay to play, the lottery is a way of donating to charity, and work sweepstakes are about taking part in something, it's a bit of fun. I've played "high stakes poker" with friends, where if you're very lucky and clean up you might come away five quid up at the end of the night.

Unless you're very very good, and most people aren't (though many think they are), it's a mugs' game for anything other than the casual quid IMHO.

[i]I remember one of my mrs' friends got a new bloke, apparently he described himself as a professional gambler. What this actually meant was that he spent his dole money down the bookies. online casino now I come to think about it.[/i]

Never claimed the dole and never will.

True, but I've never actually placed a bet on football (or anything other than friendly poker games at mates houses) so im prety sure I'd still be up! Wether or not I would have gambled again if I'd have won is a different matter!

an aquataince likes to gamble, early 50's, tradesman lives week to week, been bankrupt,occaisionally has a pocket full of notes but not that often. No assets to name bar an old car. Now it may not all be gambling but i'll give it a miss

Mrs mw won over £1,800 for a stake of just over £6 (it was the loose change left at the end of the night). Picked 3 horses in the last race at random and had an accumulator on them coming in positions 1,2 and 3. Which they did.

I win a couple of quid on the lottery every single week!
Reckon I'm a couple of grand up now and I have no intention of stopping 🙂

A way to gamble with the odds in your favour:

1) Pick six lottery numbers
2) Do not buy a ticket
3) Enjoy the drama of watching the live draw, just in reverse from the usual way.

You're odds on to 'win' the £1 that you didn't spend on the ticket, with a very, very slim chance of 'losing' several million if your numbers do actually come up.

I've done this quite a few times, the most I've ever 'lost' was a tenner. Particularly good with a room full of mates as you are the only one generally going "Yes!" a lot as numbers you didn't pick come out of the machine.

Made a few hundred quid from matched betting using free bets the online bookies give you plus a few quid here or there on the football, but never placed any bets bigger than about £5 here or there. Play the lottery very occasionally as well, but only a few times every year, just for shits and giggles.

Card counting is the only way to beat the casinos, made a programme with Dominic O Brien the world memory champion. He told a great story of him doing a show to make a million dollars from a hunderd dollars in Nevada.

He starts off in tiny little casinos using his card counting technique, with in a week he was up to 100,000 bucks and the final of the show was meant to be him in Vegas. He wasn't allowed to set foot in a casino in Vegas, word had got around and the owners basically banned him. His producer was making all sorts of noises untill he was told to shut the f*** up or pay the consequences. Nasty horrible people in a nasty horrible world.

I think the lottery is a scam, never met anyone who has won big or even come close.

My daughter went to Uttoxeter races with a friend and was given £1 to bet on a horse of her choice.

She was very happy with her £63 pound win!

I think the lottery is a scam, never met anyone who has won big or even come close.

A riding mate knows a family close by where two members have both won big.

I'm rubbish at gambling, but apart from a few quid on the lottery, the odd lads night at the dogs, or National day, I don't bother - it's only for fun, but never ends up being that much fun tbh!

Only ever place a couple of pounds on 1st try scorer during the 6 Nations or World Cup. And then only if I'm watching it in the pub with some mates. One of us usually wins enough for a round.

Quite a few years ago a works Xmas party was held in a casino. Everyone was give free chips, about £50 worth IIRC, to play the tables. The only 5 minutes I've ever spent in a casino. It's an exercise in handing money to the owners.

My colleague's husband is a former bookmaker. They like to travel to all the main horse racing events, they never win big, never lose big, and generally enjoy themselves. Sometimes they make a profit after paying for the hotel and meals, sometimes not.

All things in moderation, including gambling, I guess (although I don't gamble), except cycling of course.

Paid for my Dualit toaster with an F1 bet. Petrov to have a top 3 and there he was. Might have been the opening race that season I think. Have made a few since with mild or no success, I can still make toast though!

Spent my childhood through to mid 20s living, working and managing in pubs clubs and casinos..............enough tales of woe to tell on the human condition let alone gambling seen everything from the betting on two ' insert flies to goats to raindrops' to stand on a hanky and try and hit me to high card stakes

simple the house will always win....rare for folk to walk away especially the professionals, card counting attempts used to result in bannings or worse depending where you were

simple plan is if you want to have a laugh go to set your stake and walk away when that has gone however most people will break the rule, not walk away or feel gutted when they have lost

bet that I placed that worked france to beat all blacks semi final 1999

i made £90 over about two weeks, just started off with a tenner and bet on really short odds, little bits here and there, soon mounts up...

the downside is you need to stick to the plan, have a bad day and go of course and you lose it all like i did, football live betting was the best, Tennis is dodgy

Wasn't there someone on here who won big on a scratch card? £50k plus rings a bell?

My dad is still in profit from the lottery, He had two 4 figure wins fairly early on, and only spends £2 a week.

I've had a few quid on scratch cards; fivers and tenners from £1 cards. Think I've bought like half a dozen ever, but seemed like a reasonable return.

Some of the cards are scary prices now, mind. I was buying a sandwich the other day and the guy in front of me bought eight cards at ten quid a pop. Eighty quid on scratch cards! Jesus.

1982 grand national (I was 10)
Dads mate was collecting bets to put on at the bookies.
I wanted £10 each way on "Spartan Missile" because I liked the name

He said "I`m not putting an each way bet on the National..... you want to bet, you place in on the nose"

I gave him the Tenner (All my pocket money I had saved for a while)

Excitedly watched the race, Spartan Missile lead for pretty much the whole race and lost by half a length 🙁

I was Gutted - but it was the best thing that could have happened to me...... I dont know the meanning of the word "Moderation"

I`ve never gambled since....

Odd couple of quid in the euromillions syndicate at work if it goes over £100 million, just so I`m not the only one left here if the big one comes in but dont do the lottery otherwise.

My Uncle was a professional Gambler for a while and did ok, but he said to me......walk in to a bookies and see how many windows there are for paying in

And how many there are for paying out 😀

He said "That tells you all you need to know"

If you want to gamble regularly just buy Premium Bonds,that way you save at the same time and can always get your stake back.You would have nearly £2,000 saved up if you'd invested in them rather than the National Lottery and probably had more chance of winning too.

I have 75million chips on FB poker, which are worthless

Played in a poker tournament at a casino once, which was a million miles away from online poker. Think I lasted four hands and the winner spent most of the night insulting everyone, until he won! Horrid!

Did quite well at online poker years back. By which I mean I made just over £1200 profit in 6 months of playing.
Was just by grinding out small wins multi-tabling. Got bored as it took too long and I lost interest in the game itself.

Made about £4K over a few years matched betting, exploiting bookies sign up offers, reloads etc + odds arbitrage. Offers started drying up though so knocked it on the head.

A lad I worked with used to stay up and sober at weekend, then at the time the American bars kicked out their pissed punters he'd take their money off them at online poker.

His winnings bought him a pub, where he now holds poker evenings, and continues his life's mission to take easy money off drunk people

I buy about 5 x £1 scratch cards a week, rarely do I make money but I don't drink or anything so spend my money on that.

A few times a year I will play roulette at the casino taking £40 only in, spending that and walking away when its gone. If I do win, £40 stays in my pocket and I will play the rest.

A while ago I was £50 up so legged it quick and went to the stripclub 8)

My mates Dad won 4.3 million on the lottery 13 years ago and gave my mate £500,000........

He's just downsized his house and got a job driving a taxi....... 😳

Gambling makes drugs look like a sensible investment. Only muppet gamble.At least yuou get something when you buy drugs.

I play the lottery at Christmas and I'm not sure if my £10 bi-monthly poker games count.

I'm never going to be a gambler because a) I'd rather not waste my money b) better shoops still look like bloody scary places c) go knows how you even place a bet!

I've two friends that are "professional gamblers" they actually have full time jobs....banking, both of them. It's short odds and hedge betting that they look for, and most of their bets are splits, or in plays. One is reasonably successful (he's barred from the most of bookies where he lives, I've placed bets for him in his place). They bet on horses and football, never ever ever play cards/roulette. He's paid for his house extension and pool from it.

I was in my local butchers walk in fridge three weeks ago when he propositioned me, he said "If you can tell me the weight of that bag of sausages on that bottom shelf they're yours, get it wrong and you mop the shop floor" they were a kilo bag, I'd seen one out the front, the sausages were mine! then he said "ok, if you can guess the weight of that pork belly on the shelf above its yours, get it wrong and I win back my sausages", I was feeling confident and said 2.5kg, winner again! then he said "that top shelf of two rib eyes, three sirloin & one onglet, guess that and you can have them all, but if you get it wrong you have to wash out the bins, clean down the counters and mop out the shop".

Naturally I turned down the bet , thanked him for the sausages & pork belly and left, it pays to know when the steaks are too high.

Groan 😆

I used to spend a lot of my time in betting shops. I've seen many good days, many bad days, for myself and for others. I've seen mates get into a proper mess over "Just 1 more win i need...." i also saw myself blowing all i had and then a bit more borrowed from mates... It was a silly silly time in my life.
Of course, i had the odd £200-500 win which seemed to make it all worthwhile... but... it never actually was..

I then used to place the odd bet on football which was all good... but moved to the countryside, no betting shops, so no betting... I don't do the on-line thing as i feel it would be too easy to get sucked into it.

I was at the Prix De L'Arc a couple of years ago.

I stuck 20 euro on the first race, which won me about 100 euro.

Decided it would be a good idea to stick my 100 euros on the next race, which also won. I now had 700 euro in my pocket.

The next race was a big one and I'd already picked my horse. Was so so close to sticking all 700 euro on it, on the basis that it was free money anyway. Decided against it since the 700 euro would pay for my flights and hotel. Put 20 euro on instead.

Bloody horse won by about 20 lengths, which would have netted me about 4000 euro 🙁

Not exactly a loser, but had a wee bit of a bitter taste in my mouth for the rest of the weekend!

there seems to be a bias in reports of gambling 'success' - 'I won £x once' is rarely presented with the full account of bets, gains and losses over time.

I just bet on things i have some knowledge of - ie i have no idea of footie and tennis - so i leave them alone.

cycling on the other hand has yeilded very good profits for me.

[i]there seems to be a bias in reports of gambling 'success' - 'I won £x once' is rarely presented with the full account of bets, gains and losses over time.[/i]

Quite right!I know someone who seems to be permanent potless who is always turning up bragging about how he put £20 on a football score to be 3-3 or some other unlikely result and how much he won.

Funny how we never hear about the ones he loses!

When I was about 18 I had a minor addiction to fruit machines....couldn't walk in the pub without wanting to go straight over and play it. Amazing how addictive it can get, but fortunately I was able to quickly understand what I was doing and never went near them again.

I just bet on things i have some knowledge of - ie i have no idea of footie and tennis - so i leave them alone.

It also helps if it's something the bookies and the general public don't have much knowledge of. Hence my bets on the Beijing games - I figured they probably weren't aware of just how good our cyclists were. Have never tried betting on cycling (part of me says to stay away whilst I'm ahead) though I reckon Contador looks good value at 3/1.

Jezza- 8 10 chepstow tonight 4/1 --put yer house on it ! (make sure you have a tent )

Do you need a tent, rudebwoy?

[i]Haven't had a bet since 2008 when I successfully predicted team GB to do a lot better at the Olympics than the bookies reckoned[/i]

Except for the initial odds the Bookies don't reckon anything - the odds are related to the money bet on the event/race, and on whichever animal/competitor.

Do you need a tent, rudebwoy?

no thanks, have enough for my needs, it was a kind of rhetorical jest 😉

My one and only flirtation with on-line gambling was a few years back, I gave poker slots a go and was increasing stakes after a loss so I'd hopefully at least break even after a while. I ended up well over £200 down after about half an hour and really had to debate whether just to cut my losses and walk away or try 'one last time', well I got luckily and won £500 on the next hand - took the balance out of the account and haven't tried on-line gambling again since :p

On a rather drunken night out me and a mate ended up at a casino. We put some money down on roulette covering a couple of numbers with one decent bet. Couldn't believe it when the ball dropped and we'd won. As we'd had one too many shandies we spent so long celebrating our 'win' that I think we annoyed the jobsworth on the roulette table so he spun the wheel again 'assuming' we were letting the money ride over.

We weren't. But the look on his face was priceless when the ball dropped in and we'd won again! 😆