Bet you don’t boast about the bets you lose.

As someone who likes a flutter on the 🐎🐎 from time to time, I would support the campaign, although to what degree it encourages gambling still has me sceptical It is a significant cause of the misery, but I can see it may reinforce misery.

I agree adverts selling lifetime luxuries like Lottery millions and Omaze houses etc are worrying trends. Omaze now encourage signing up on direct debit by offering more entries ffs, the lottery allows DD too, plain wrong for me.

Online gambling is huge for every Merson and JLloyd Samuel, there are a 1000 Joe Bloggs trying to make ends meet on a pittance of a salary who think a bit of luck is all thats needed.

I had the misfortune to watch a fella walk into a betfred shop during Cheltenham week. He went straight up to a slots machine and put £260 cash in £20 notes straight in so he could play at £2 per game. 11 minutes later he left empty handed. He was replaced by another bloke who had been watching, no doubt thinking a win was due on it. He put £50 in, then another £50 and a final 3rd £50. Just 8 mins later he was done and walked out. Those slot machines are a means of legalised theft from the gullible, the vulnerable and the desperate. I suspect without them, betting shops would disappear in their droves. I suspect they make far more money for the bookmakers than any profits from horse racing, dog racing or footy bets. These machines seem to be the biggest issue and source of gambling misery that I have witnessed and need banning.
I've never once bet on one of those computer machines. Surely nobody wins anything off of them?
 
I've never once bet on one of those computer machines. Surely nobody wins anything off of them?
Never played them either mate, there is zero skill along with 100% misery. During my brief spell watching those two blokes, they did have some small wins, the first guy had a £40 win actually, but just frittered it all away. The speed of it all was what struck me as much as the loss itself, frightening to witness.
 
The house always wins.
Got quite a few friends who are destroyed by gambling, must be a nightmare for folks who are struggling coming to the riverside.
 
I only gamble on football with extremely occasional politics and horse racing bet. I would never bet on anything where the outcome is controlled by a machine. I don't even bet on the national lottery unles there is a massive roll over.

I strictly record every bet and keep a season's running average. I am down £63 so far this season about £2 per week.

99% of people who gamble are long term losers in money and it can pinch your time. Where I have won I have often had my account frozen. Now most bets are through an exchange just before kick off when best prices are usually available. The xchange takes 2% commission on winning bets and nothing on losing bets. There is no bookies profit margins on an exchange. Bookies typically make around 20% gross profits.
 
I've definitely lost more than I've spent. Although hardly an 'addict' and my skybet tracker thingy says I'm just about breaking even over a season.

I've had a few really big wins. I say 'really big' as in £780 and £655 both of 5 folds. I never stake more than a £5. That said they add up.

I still can't get over Robert scoring a 91st min equaliser against Scotland a few years ago. It denied me £879 off a £10 treble 😕
 
What happened to the type of companies that used to sponsor football teams. Crown paints. Sharp. JVC. Stuff like that. Have they just been priced out?
yes. sure MFC said something similar a few years back that the value from the gambling sponsorship was massively higher when defending the sponsors.
 
I don’t know a single person who watches horse racing for the love of the sport, and doesn’t flutter.

Not that I’m saying it shouldn’t exist or anything, but I’m sure gambling has always been a problem, and I’ve no doubt it is getting much worse since the advent of the smartphone.
 
Gambling has certainly grown, at first I thought live and let live, it a free world etc, but now its clear its destroying lives and probably in same category as alcohol and tobacco. Before 1961 gambling was in general illegal in this country - off course and now its all around us - its hard to believe.
 
Signing up to gamstop wm ban you from all UK sites. (with your details anyway) I know because I've done it myself.

I'm possibly fortunate that I don't have any spare time to visit a bricks and mortar bookies.

Jun 6 marks four years for me

Had to force myself to actually push the stop button and sign once all details were on their site but it is probably once of the best choices I've made.

Can only speak for myself but I imagine that other compulsive gamblers can feel the same, that eventually the money doesn't matter its the feeling of playing - pure addiction. Even losing can in a twisted way give you the buzz that you yearn for.
 
Signing up to gamstop wm ban you from all UK sites. (with your details anyway) I know because I've done it myself.

I'm possibly fortunate that I don't have any spare time to visit a bricks and mortar bookies.

Jun 6 marks four years for me

Had to force myself to actually push the stop button and sign once all details were on their site but it is probably once of the best choices I've made.

Can only speak for myself but I imagine that other compulsive gamblers can feel the same, that eventually the money doesn't matter its the feeling of playing - pure addiction. Even losing can in a twisted way give you the buzz that you yearn for.
Keep going mate. One day at a time.
 
Realised I was developing a slight issue when I resorted to the virtual racing at the start of COVID. My mate was doing the same and then he signed up to gamstop thing, I did the same but have come off it now.

Since then I've cut back massively on how often I bet, going from having loads of accumulators going at the same time on a match day, often including Tuesday/Wednesday nights, to just having the singular bet on Boro to win 2-1 and even now that's gone out the window (because we don't score just 2 goals now), so now I'm doing a bet for our rivals to win, as if they do then at least I benefit somehow. Just a bit of fun.

Also never use the machines in bookies, or fruity's in pubs.
 
I could be wrong here but I honestly don't think having betting sponsors on Football Shirts encourages as much gambling as people think. I have just returned from Cheltenham where I go most years. I gamble on football every weekend and often midweek (had a bet last night, lost) and horses most weekends but I have never opened an account with 32red. Not as a protest, I just havent. I often open new accounts around Cheltenham to profit from offers etc but I cant think of a time i've looked at a football shirt sponsor and followed up the interest, I have only ever been in a Ramsdens shop once and that was to exchange foreign currency.
 
I could be wrong here but I honestly don't think having betting sponsors on Football Shirts encourages as much gambling as people think. I have just returned from Cheltenham where I go most years. I gamble on football every weekend and often midweek (had a bet last night, lost) and horses most weekends but I have never opened an account with 32red. Not as a protest, I just havent. I often open new accounts around Cheltenham to profit from offers etc but I cant think of a time i've looked at a football shirt sponsor and followed up the interest, I have only ever been in a Ramsdens shop once and that was to exchange foreign currency.
It might not be obvious but it must work otherwise these companies wouldn't do it and wouldn't pay more than any other business to do it.

They're not mugs. If any business knows how to use data it's bookies. They wouldn't do it if it wasn't making them money. And the only way it can make them money is if it encourages people to gamble.
 
William Hill hit with a £19.2m fine after not carrying out checks at the time of account opening.
I actually encountered this myself at the height of my gambling addiction with this firm.

Circa 2016, I opened an account (under false email address + DOB) was able to fritter away £15k in a couple of days. I then actually went on an good run and managed to boost my account balance to over £25k. At this point I tried to withdraw the funds and William Hill at this point requested ID. As I did not have ID to match my details, they would not authorise the withdrawal. They did not suspend my account during this time, and while the dispute was ongoing, I managed to lose the full lot. Over a week or so. I was suicidal after this and it really hit my mental health for a long long time.

 
I've never once bet on one of those computer machines. Surely nobody wins anything off of them?
I'm pretty sure people do win on them, but they will put a lot more in than they get out once in a blue moon. Its what keeps them coming back. I've never played them personally, and never will, but can understand how people get addicted. I 'm sure I remember they capped the amount you can put in a couple of years back, but it was a token gesture to appease some campaigns. It's so dangerous.
 
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