Do you gamble?

[Kibble29]

Just a curiosity, really. If you do it, is it football, horses, casino, slots..? How much do you normally risk?

I do like it and I actually won a decent sum last night on a slot but of course it’s not always how it goes. I think it’s great that you can put a freeze on gambling from your bank account now. It’s probably saved me a lot of stress!

But they get paid and eg football clubs are sponsored by betting companies

I know they get paid, but there are so many other things they can do for money.

Gambling is a really addictive

I don't see it any different to cigarette advertising

I gamble a small amount in person if I go to the races (maybe 2 or 3 times a year) - I take £20 to gamble and when it's gone it's gone. I'm a cautious each-way better so I often break even and get a free afternoon out! I don't do any other gambling.

It is a slippery slope. I won £1800ish from a £1.40 slot recently which was unbelievable. I just watched the total go up and up, couldn’t believe the amount it ended at.

However…I went back to the same app (major UK bookie) and played again. Guess how much I won? I quit after losing a few hundred, so I’m still up, but not everyone can walk away.

I think they must have a very complex algorithm that allows learns betters’ habits and allows a win because they know you’ll come back to chase that same high again. Then they’ll recoup every penny and more.

You’re an investment to the bookie.

Used to go to poker nights in the back club rooms around my hometown but not anymore. Play the lottery every now and again when I'm feeling down about how little money I have, then I realise what a waste it is and I'm not even getting the fun of playing a game like poker. I've blocked the payments from my card now.

Never to be honest, I'm not the lucky sort so don't bother. My BIL has real issues with gambling and is now a 44 year old man, who works fulltime and makes good money with a basic account his wife puts set amounts of spending money in each week because he will just gamble it all if he has access to his wages. Sounds awful but its the only thing that has worked to help him.

My DH puts on a football coupon once a week, he has £100's in his bookies account and never has to add any extra because he just gambles his winnings and then takes out a lump sum at the end of the year leaving in £150 as his next years float. The bookies don't like him and stopped offering him free spins and so on because he never gambled his own money. Strange how they don't do that when someone obviously has an issue and instead pursue them with more free bets.

Don't do this at home.

I used to take short term positions on quoted stocks, and still do occasionally. But in 2021, things went a bit crazy (I blame the Covid reset for changing the way the world thinks). I started putting larger blocks on companies with ridiculous valuations, following the crowd and looking for opportunity. One company called The Rubicon Project (rebranded as Magnite) I saw kept popping up in my feeds and I just thought this is another one of those 'meme' stocks so I piled in on several occasions, made some good money. Then put down £48k and left it invested until losing my nerve in January 2021. I got out with £249k profit and tax-free as it was my SIPP. At the same time I rode Virgin Galactic but made about £60k from £18k. I realised it was pure luck and how crazy to do that.

Now I stick to stocks with strong underlying fundamentals, with the power to surprise. I reinvested £50k in Rolls Royce while sitting in a snowy car park in the Brecons one February afternoon in 2022 and while that has gone to £245k I have no plans to sell as this is fundamentally a different investment. but yes the first two companies were stupid risks, without proper diligence, and I won't be doing that again.

But Boeing won't be allowed to fail so I shall lob some more into that and expect Trump to multiply my investment 5x within 4 years.

Microsoft is a good long term performer, if not that exciting to have.

Don't understand the financial part of crypto, so won't be investing.

Used to go on slot machines a lot but now if I visit arcades, I stick to the 2p machines & pinball.
I buy 2 or 3 Thunderball tickets but not every week & sometimes Set for Life.
I do a couple of charity lotteries monthly plus buy raffle tickets a few times a year.
Buy scratchcards but way less than I did as it was getting silly. I notice that you can no longer buy £10 scratchcards which is good.
I have never been to the races but have very occasionally put a bet on eg The Grand National.
Managed to avoid bingo sites eg Woman & Woman’s Own although I have been very tempted as the games etc start from a few pence.
DF bought me & DBro Sunlife shares years ago & I eventually sold them but didn’t make a massive profit.

No, I feel like I am the type who would keep going if they had a win so I deliberately stay away from it.

Yes I bet weekly on football and racing, usually about 30 a week. More if I go to the races and then it's about 20 a race (so 120-140 for the day).

I enjoy it and budget for it so that if I don't win a penny then I'd already planned for it and if I do then great. Never bet what you can't afford to lose and never chase your losses.

No never

Betting on animals is cruel and uncivilised.

Bingo, slots, scratchcards and similar instant win products are unethical and highly addictive.

Many other fields are risky and unhealthy, including the lottery.

I sometimes play the lottery but only those on the National Lottery app and with very tight weekly limits. However, in reality I place maybe half a dozen to a dozen lottery bets in a whole year and even £2.50 on the Euromillions has me hesitating because it mounts up so quickly. I wouldn't go around chucking £2.50 into corners so why do it for a game that you are very very unlikely to win. Hence only playing it occasionally.

I know some people see it as paying for a bit of entertainment, something to keep them amused. I'm not knocking that but aren't there are other things equally amusing but with fewer health risks?

No never. No horse or dog races, slot machines casinos or lottery. None of it appeals to me at all. Like a PP, I tend to get addicted to/obsessed with things quite easily so it’s a very good thing that I’m not interested in gambling and I’ll be keeping it that way!

Just the lottery.

Definitely not horses, dogs etc, it’s very cruel.

Just the euromillions, but at 140 million to one for the jackpot I’m not sure why I bother.