To think posters shouldn’t be encouraging people to do matched betting?

[AnywhereAnyoneAnyTime]

Whenever someone posts on here that they need to make money posters rush to suggest matched betting.
Gambling is an insidious pastime which ruins lives. If I ruled the world online gambling would be banned.
Every day in my job I see the impact that gambling has on people, and then we have threads on here from people encouraging people to gamble as a way to make money. Yes, if done correctly you can make money matched betting, but therein lies the problem, it’s all too easy to be lured into deeper gambling to try to make more, and the gambling companies want people to be addicted.

I did it for a while and made over 1k. Easy money, never placed an actual bet (without betting on the reverse too), it’s not the same thing

I agree OP. I did this and then started actually gambling and had a problem for a while.

Luckily I was able to stop.

I sometimes get unskippable gambling adverts on streaming services and Facebook has started sending me gambling ads in my news feed even though I haven’t gambled in 7 years. Those companies are despicable and I think even if you ‘don’t gamble’ and are ‘only doing matched betting’ it’s better to have nothing to do with them at all and not help to justify their continued existence in any way. Even matched betting which breaks even is still helping them continue to exist. Fuck that.

They’re aiming to normalise it, I guess. Must be working as they spend £1.5 billion a year on advertising…

theres a huge difference between in-person gambling and online gambling.
Yes it’s possible to become addicted if you go into the betting shops, but it’s not on the same scale as online. Online you can gamble anywhere, any time. I could gamble away my salary on my way to work, and people frequently do.

I genuinely believe that online gambling should be banned. And the posters saying matched betting isn’t gambling are missing the point. So you place your bets and nothing more. But encouraging people to try matched betting you are encouraging them to go to a gambling site which is set up in such a way as to lure in existing addicts or create new ones.

And you have no idea whether the person you’re encouraging is an addict in the making or not.

You clearly don’t have a predisposition for this addiction. Which is great for you.

Are you saying it’s therefore fine for anyone to be encouraged into this, when some people will develop an addiction?

I think the OP isn’t saying people shouldn’t gamble, but rather that people shouldn’t encourage others to do it, especially when they don’t know their background/situation.

I've done it and made a few bob- never once actually gambled on anything that wasnt a matched bet. It's NOT gambling. The entire point of it is that you always win and there is never a loss so luck or chance doesnt even enter into it.

In every single matched betting advice site I have seen there is always an advisory notice that if you have gambling issues or history of it then you shouldn't do it. People have to take responsibility for their own actions.

By your rationale, noone should ever drink wine because plenty of people are alcoholics and alcohol is available on every damn corner shop and petrol station. Where is the outrage for that? (Ive also seen plenty of people recommend a stiff drink for nerves etc)

All the folks saying it's not gambling. It is. Just gambling where you've offset the odds.
And what do you think incentives these profit making companies to offer this? They think it's a fun offer and they want people to enjoy themselves? Nope. Because they know it is a gateway to profit for them. These companies employ extremely skillfull mathematical algorithms and social science techniques to exploit people and ensure they turn a profit on users. Of course there's the odd person who beats the odds, just like there's people who can have a drink or take the odd E and not get addicted. But make no mistake they are trying to get you to place more bets and on other type of bets. That's literally their objective.

Don’t be so obtuse. Where did I say no-one should ever gamble? Oh wait, I didn’t.

FWIW I think that alcohol use is far too normalised, talk of wine o’clock and happy hour etc. And alcohol ruins lives.

But gambling sites want addicts. Addiction is actively encouraged.

I made £1.5k during lockdown and never lost a penny of my own money. Never betted since. There's a lack of understanding of what matched betting is.

It's a bit like turning free coupons into cash. That's all.

It’s not about banning it. It’s about not encouraging others into an industry that wants them to get addicted, especially when you don’t know that person’s background.

Which is different.

The people close to addicts don’t get any choice in the matter, but it affects them. Gambling addiction is much easier to hide than other addictions and can go undetected for years. But the whole family suffers when it comes to light, despite not being able to “take responsibility” for actions they didn’t know about. This doesn’t get talked about much.

(The notices don’t work. The industry knows this.)

Matched betting isn’t gambling.

I looked into it and decided against it.

The thing with it from what I can tell is that you make money and then you have to keep your money in the game in order to make more money. In that instant I understood the path to addiction.

This. Why do people think the gambling sites ban matched betters who don’t bet elsewhere?

It’s not about banning it. It’s about not encouraging others into an industry that wants them to get addicted, especially when you don’t know that person’s background

The exact same thing applies to alcohol. I've seen many offers on booze in all sorts of places. Booze is completely normalised/expected in our culture and it's a toxic poison. Its ethanol. Just look at the reactions on here and in real life to people who dont drink. Or, dry weddings for example- everyone is horrified.

We used to watch a lot of tennis on eurosport and at one point every ad break - of which there were far more than a regular programe, because of all the breaks in tennis - contained an ad for the sponsor (usually longine or rolex) and then online gambling ads.

I agree, to some extent.

I used to do matched betting. I made some money but honestly some of it was by the skin of my teeth as I sometimes misunderstood the maths. I also started placing bets outside of matched betting, as I liked the rush. You have to have zero predisposition to that kind of addiction to do it.

I stopped.

It is part of the gambling industry - and it only works because the gambling industry exists.

So by taking part, you are taking money from gamblers.

Do I think people need to take responsibility for their own choices? 100% yes

I have made over £4K from matched betting. You do have to be disciplined to follow the ‘rules’ for different types of offers and not be tempted to ‘gamble’. Personally I am not tempted as I am not remotely interested in any of the events I place bets on, for me it’s just a mathematical process.

I agree a bit - I would never suggest this as a way to make quick money for someone who needed it. You need to have money to put in to start, and there is a real risk that a bookie (especially the less well known ones) will freeze your account and it will take months through the ombudsman to release it. Not to mention the risk of making a mistake.

At the basic sign-up level, I don't really agree that it encourages gambling. The online communities are very quick to shoot down anyone who suggests it.

Beyond that, however, to keep making money after the basic sign up offers are gone, then you need to do offers which involve a bit of variance and a lot of match betting sites encourage online casino offers. These offers will statistically offer a profit, but it is not guaranteed. If you do enough of them, you will be up over time. But I do think, especially casino, will be a risk for some people.

I am not against MB, but my advice would be to "invest" a few hundred you could afford to lose, rinse the bookies for what you can get, then get out with a couple of £k and call it quits.

It’s a bit like stocks and shares - you buy when prices are low and sell when they’re high - however there are the charges from the online systems, the fact that as soon as a share jumps high everyone sells -you could set it to sell at x amount - but if there is a run on the shares yours may be sold lower.

If it was that easy we’d all be millionaires

Sorry OP but you clearly don’t understand how addictions work otherwise everyone who has ever had a drink would quickly become addicted to booze.

Most people will get a high from these activities whether that’s gambling, drugs or drinking, but addicts are using this as a way to change how they feel about themselves. The brief high obliterates their uncomfortable feelings.

What we should be angry about is the lack of access to good mental health support in this country. If people were able to easily access free support when they’re struggling, many of society’s antisocial problems would melt away…!