to hate the easy access to gambling which exists nowadays and wish it was more controlled?

[GetOrfMoiiLand]

I hate gambling - and I am sure that it is more widespread and easy to access nowadays.

My dd's friend (who is 18) went to a casino in Bristol with a load of mates at the weekend. I think it is so sad that a bunch of kids this age would think of going to a bloody casino. I would never have thought of that as a night out at that age.

DP has also employed lots of young lads who have got into trouble with casual gambling. One of them went and put all his wages into a roulette machine in a bookies one Friday afternoon. The nexy d ay he had to collect his partner and newborn baby from hospital and they had no money. He also has employed a lad who would buy a tenner's worth of scratchcards every morning.

There are bookies everywhere - they are always full and loads of shambling wrecks always seem to congregate outside. Plus it is so easy no to gamble online - christ knows how many online bingo sites there are, plus poker etc. It's horrible.

Mind you I may be being out of order - I really loathe gambling and don't even like lottery tickets. But it just seems to be everywhere.

YAB(abit)U I don't like the proliferation of bookies on the high street either but people have always gambled with or without the access they have now.
My FIL tells stories of how his workmates used to regularly lose their wages on payday every week playing cards.
Gambling is like any other adult vice and I don't think you should stop the majority from having a bit of fun becuase the minority can't gamble responsibily.

Yanbu. I really don't get gambling. I also see the blokes coming out of bookies and it looks like a really sad way to pass the time .

I went to Vegas once, gambled $5, made a profit of $2 within a couple of minutes and stopped there.

I'm no fan of gambling either but I don't think it would be possible to control access to it more than it already is. If we shut down the gambling industry in the UK people would buy an Irish lottery ticket or start betting on Chinese horse races. If someone's irresponsible enough that they can't see that losing all their wages on a slot-machine is not the way to support a new baby they're going to get themselves in financial trouble anyway. If someone is a responsible gambler, they'll only bet what they can afford to lose. If you're not interested in gambling, it's easy to avoid it.

I agree, YANBU. It's the availability of it and the cynical targeting especially of online gambling which is worrying.

Through the day you see huge numbers of adverts for online bingo clearly targeting women. During the evening you have the 'bet in play' adverts to catch the male 'sports fan'. Late at night you have online poker advertised to the sad and lonely (come and join our live poker tables even if you are sat at home in your underpants).

Interestingly these adverts are now being interspersed with easy access loans so now there is no need to feel short of cash if the need to place a bet overtakes you.

I must admit I hate seeing all the online Bingo adverts that seem to be aimed at bored housewives.

There was a woman who used to post on another forum and she was in over £17,000 in debt because of online Bingo.

She got an inheritance, cleared the debt and then ran up thousands more straight away

Yes gnome, that is so worrying. I have been off work for a while and have been staggered at the amount of online bingo which is advertised.

I think gambling has always been a problem, yes, it just seems that there seems to be no drive to control access to it at all now. There never used to be so many bookies surely (and certainly wasnt advertised on telly). And when I was growing up Casinos were only in London, Las Vegas or James Bond films.

Is gambling really restricted in america (apart from certain states such as nevada and NJ?) I may have that completely wrong!

I think the problem with the online gambling is that there is no social control and it is also sold as 'lifesyle':

• fun people play online bingo
• good sports pundits bet in play
• cool people play poker on line

There is no one saying to these people 'isnt it time you went home now?'.

Self control. A lot of people have forgotten about this and apportion blame to everyone but themselves. Years ago people wuld have gone to the bookies...now they go online....the access has always been there.

Bloody hell Maryz - that is scary. I had no idea that you could place a bet on credit, so to speak.

Placing a bet on credit is actually more normal around the world - how often has it been the plot-line on american TV shows.

In Europe we're very lucky that the industry is regulated so gambling shops and websites are legitimate businesses with all the responsibilities to their customers that other businesses have.

In the US, China and many other parts of the world where gambling is illegal people still bet, but there they're often betting with nasty criminals who'll happily take all your money and break your legs.

Casinos were open til all hours.

But casinos (in times gone by) were rather rarified enviornments weren't they? You had to be a member and all that. You wouldn't get a young builders labourer going to play roulette at the Athenaeum would you. But he would go to a scroaty super casino in a provincial town, if only lured in by the cheap booze and food.

It is also scary the juxtaposition of ads for gambling with those for wonga.com.

Bloody hell you must have kittens about your lad, maryz.

It is difficult enough when you turn 18 and suddenly they throw credit at you, add to that additional needs. It's bloody hard.

YADNBU. It can cause huge problems.

Bit of a touchy subject here. It's like alcoholism, it affects many lives. Depression, lies, betrayal of trust, suicide. It can be evil.

YANBU.

I think it needs to be changed. Something like credits on a phone. You can buy £50 or something and go nuts, but cannot do it again for a few months. Once it's gone it's gone. Don't care if that's very nanny state. Would rather have that than dads selling their kids christmas presents on boxing day.

I think that's part of my point - the leg-breakers are breaking the law, the shops and online sites that are advertising on TV aren't.

If you went down the banning route, then all that would be left are the criminals - and that can't be good for anyone.

Chunky, but if drugs were freely and legally available, I'd be prepared to, well, bet, that there would be lots more addicts. It's the accessibility that does it.

Potentially there would be more addicts, but if you're getting your drugs down at the corner shop with a pint of milk in the morning then you're not supporting 15 year-olds standing on street corners dealing, with that money going to organised crime and being 'earned' through crime. You're supporting a legitimate business, with licensing, laws, and rules they have to follow.

Don't get me wrong, I don't like the continual bombardment of casino and loan adverts, and I too know people with special needs who worry me silly about how they'll spend money if no-one monitors them, but I don't think that banning is the solution - I think it's more responsibility.

Drinking problems ruin lives, yet alcohol is advertised, I wouldn't say alcohol should be banned, and I don't know how to solve the problem of people drinking at home, but shops and pubs do take responsibility by not selling to people obviously already drunk. I think Gambling companies should do similar (I've heard of the Responsible gambling initiative, but I don't think it's really pushed)