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.

I agree with you. I think the national lottery and scratchcards encouraged people to gamble who traditionally would never have went near a bookies. Gambling imo has got much easier and has been destigmatised to a very large degree. Yes there were always men going into bookies - but gambling was traditionally more a male thing and did have a stigma attached to it.

Yes, it's the instant, play on a whim thing that's the problem.

Didn't they use to have a cooling-off period for joining casinos/bingo/etc?

I expect there was some heavy lobbying on the part of the gambling companies to get rid of it so these things can be more spontaneous.

You have articulated my point so much better than I have, lesley.

I agree wholeheartedly about the lottery bringing in more 'instant' forms of gambling. It seemed to pave the way.

When the lottery was launched there was a kind of frenzy, all the winners were in the news all the time, the prize funds were enomous because so many people bought tickets.

I don't know, I am very puritanical about it and it makes my friends laugh at me, but I think it is a hugely pernicious influence in people's lives.

Yes chunky - I have just had a look at gala Casinos (saddo that I am) and you just take your passport/ licence with you when you first go, and then you are a member. No cooling off period or stringent membership requirement.

Looked at the menu as well and bloody hell, the cocktails are cheap.

Of course the cocktails are cheap. Alcohol lowers your ability to make good, informed decisions. So you bet more.

Without wishing to out anyone, I have a good friend who is addicted. This person has won and lost hundreds of thousands. They are a genius, quite literally, but they have thrown their life away with it. And, during their recovery have met people who have robbed and killed over it. As I said, my friend is a genius, and even they can only just about keep level with the house.

A family member destroyed his family over it.

It is far too easy and normalised.

Sadly in my place of work I see a lot of men who've gambled themselves into serious trouble and turned to crime to support themselves. So no, I don't have a great view of gambling. I also remember working at a petrol station and we'd get the same faces coming along at the same time every week to buy dozens of scratch cards at a time. They'd then go to our cafe area and go through them one after another, usually ending up tossing the cards in the bin on their way out. These were men and women who weren't at the bookers because they were working, but the fact that we had scratch cards on offer meant that they had an access to a gambling outlet during work hours.

My FIL also regularly loses his wages playing poker in the pub, to the point where he isolated himself from his kids who would come and visit him only to find him heading out the door to his games. He is the reason my DH neither gambles, nor drinks, nor smokes. He has seen the damage they can all cause.

I'm with you OP. I loathe the sheer amount of easy places to gamble. I think advertising gambling should be banned, just like cigarettes. Mind you I also think that about alcohol, so I'm sure I just sound like a total kill joy.

yes I know psammead, really cheap booze to lure you in. They have different menus for players and non-players. The normal menu is normal price, players menu really cheap. And they have 'informal' areas where they teach you how to play blackjack, rouletter etc.

Which all sounds fine if you just want a silly night out once in a while (not my cup of tea at all but can see why people would be interested). But as you say gambling is a life destroyer, people never win as the mathematical odds are created in order for the house to ultimately profit, and the fact now it is far more accessible and normalised means that more people will ruin their lives because of it.

I agree advertising it should be banned. It never will though, is evidently a great money spinner.

Imagine losing hundreds of thousands. jesus wept

I could happily arrange an evening with friends where we all buy ourselves into a poker game and have a fun time. In fact, it's something we've done (at home rather than going out to a casino) I don't think it's much different in principle to spending money on theater tickets, or going bowling and having a pizza after. It's money for entertainment.

But me and my friends all know that once the game is over, it's over, much like the show is over in the theater. So many people cannot accept this, though and think 'just one more really good hand, just one more' and before they know it, the children's new bikes are in hock. True story, too.

Christ how horrible psam.

DP taught me poker once. I didn't have a clue. I wonder if Casinos play snap?

If you cough up the cash, darling, they'll break out Twister and Battleships too.

Compulsive gambling is an incurable disease(and can be very complex for the individuals involved) but it can be arrested. Many thousands of people have done this and lead happy and normal lives. The twenty questions from gamblersanonymous.org.uk are a good indicator -answer yes to 7 or more and you may have a problem. Admitting you have a problem over gambling is the first step to take -until then you will always have the problem.
The proliferation of gambling centres in the high st is due to the government(not this one for once!) abolishing a law restricting the number of establishments allowed within a geographical area (one medium sized st in London has 14 establishments).
Gambling addiction is an insidious disease and very hard to spot (when compared with a drug addict or alcoholic -in most cases). And it is usually for the addict to only accept and get help when they make the decision to do so -usually when they hit rock bottom.
I seriously believe this country has an epidemic on its hands and that most people who are gambling are just unaware they have a problem unti it is too late. Gambling rates often increase in times of recession.
Gamblock software is available to prevent access to online gambling sites and individuals can bar themselves from physcial establishments. Casinos are now immediate access (used to be 24 hours).
Online Poker -I detest the way TV is making 'stars' out of these people -they can hardly be described as role models and can be some of the most obnoxious people you would hope to meet.
For some gambling has never been in their lives -for others it is as natural as going for a walk. But it makes no distinction between class, financial situation or IQ.
Personally i think the world would be a better place without it (horse racing would not actually exist without it but we would probably survive).
For those who need it GA is available and also Gamcare (although this is funded by the gambling industry which could be a conflict of interests or result in mixed messages).

I loathe horse racing as well.

I live near Cheltenham and people are astounded that I have never been to the races. Mind you I think the horse racing industry is cruel as well tbh.

But the state of Cheltenham on gold Cup night - it's bloody awful.

I am not a miserable old humourless bastard, honestly

Yes, maryz, and you should see the wads of cash.

It is horrible, I went out for a drink one gold cup night (as a friend said it was a great atmosphere). Everyone was absolutely plastered, sick on the streets, the hugest police presence I have ever seen, anywhere, and strippers in all the pubs (which you couldn't get into as they were so packed).

And like you say, a load of Irishmen with christ knows how much cash.

I've had a credit account with Tote since I was 13 (49 now) and they do set credit limits. They don't want bad debts as much as not wanting problem gamblers.

Companies like Betfair do offer a 24/7 betting experience on any number of sports round the world as well as betting on anything that you can have an opinion on. However to be able to bet or lay bets on there you do need to have the money on account - transferred via debit card from your betting account.

As a sporting experience the Cheltenham Festival in March is my favourite week of the year...

I havent read the whole thread so sorry if I repeat anything.

My exp had a gambling problem. He would take my bank card and register it to online gaming sites and spend hundreds of £'s in one sitting. He would pay me back a bit of money and then do it again. For a while I didnt even know he was doing it because he would get up in the middle of the night and take my card from my bag whilst I was sleeping. I was only young at the time and didnt check my statements or balance very reguarly......I then got ill and couldnt work and started getting nasty letters from the bank about the debts I was running up. I just assumed this was phone bills and car insurance that had made me go over my limit, it was only when i went into the bank that I realised what had been happening.
By the time I finally got the courage to leave exp he had had over 3k out of me, there were times where I couldnt afford to buy baby milk because he had spend all the money we had. It was horrendous. Its the availability and easy ways to pay that make it such a problem. Its everywhere too, pubs with fruit machines and those I-box things.....tv, phone apps, online. The worst thing is that many people cant see they have a problem and for the people around them life can become unbarable!

I know it is a tenuous link, but apps and phone games aimed at kids seems to almost promote a gambling element as well, you know the ones where you buy credits in order to play games and then 'win' some more credits.

spingey that must have been awful.

Adverts on television for online gambling make me want to weep. I grew up at a time when it was (I think) not possible even to advertise spirits on television, because there was a consensus that broadcast adverts ought to be filtered by concerns about individual welfare and social problems. Now there seems to be a race to the bottom, and absolutely anything goes. Late night TV now feels like walking into a stinky phonebooth in a dodgy area: ads for gambling alongside ads for chatlines, aka telephone prostitutes.

Forgot to mention - bookies are now making all their profit from the video gaming machines (slots/roullette etc etc). Once described to me as the crack cocaine of the gambling world.
If you are in a bookies and have not seen them just observe somebody playing one and see how much they get through.
As for Bet fair - I am not saying horse racing is corrupt as I have insufficient evidence (although it is - recent convictions on 3 jockeys being one example) - this makes the ordinary punter an actual bookie - those in the know can quite easily lay generous odds to suck punters in when they are fully aware of what the outcome is. Cricket (proven cases in international and county level), football - first throw, first corner, 1st free kick -easy to manipulate. It permeates pretty much every level of every sport you can think of. That enjoyable bank holiday race meeting at Cartmel is now being scrutinised by thousands of gamblers online all over the world -throw in the human element and it is just not honest any more (if it ever was).
Still 3 paying in windows and 1 paying out window at a bookies -says it all really (well the older ones -new ones are all about environment -feel comfortable when you are handing over your hard earned/borrowed cash).
Misery is the end product.

Yes those machines in the bookies are truly frightening.

The lad who worked for DP got through £1400 in an afternoon. He won quite a large sum, bt put it all back in anyway.

Slot machines are evil. I used to work for a bingo company and a huge amount of our money was made on the slot machines with the actual bingo generating very little money.

Some people would come in when we opened and not leave until we closed, they would just sit there and feed money into the slots they became almost zombie like. It was quite scary watching people lose loads of money and then blame you when they didn't win.

Chippy - I don't believe horse racing is corrupt per se. Of course there are bad eggs in any environment where there is big money to be won. The fact that the BHA in conjunction with Betfair etc are finding them out - with a paper trail - and banning them is a good thing.

Before Betfair there were layers of bets but they were licensed bookmakers so there has always been a situation whereby some will know more than others.

This is no different to the stock exchange which is a form of gambling. You can't directly have insider trading but knowledge is a powerful thing.