Gambling - what is the appeal?

JupiterKid · 12-06-2020 01:48AM #1

Just watching a TV programme on a bookies in the UK and it seems to me that the regular customers are gambling addicts who spend all their money on fruit machines and betting on the horses and greyhounds. The high streets of very deprived parts of England are awash with bookies.

Also, isn’t it funny how bookies always seem to be located right beside pubs?

It seems that the house always wins. Don’t get me wrong, if people want to gamble, it’s their business and their life, but personally I have never seen the appeal. The odds are too high and it seems that like substance addictions, it just destroys lives and especially those of the families of compulsive gamblers.

Online gambling is seriously insidious and it is just so easy to gamble away all your money with just a few clicks on your smartphone or tablet.

I am a recovering alcoholic - and when I was in rehab there were a couple of gambling addicts in there with me. The amount of money they went through was truly shocking, and in one case the poor chap tried to take his life after spending almost a half million euro of money he took out of his brother’s business. He is now in recovery and will be paying back a massive debt for years to come.

Anyone here enjoy gambling? Or anyone else that struggles with a gambling compulsion?

Sarcozies · 12-06-2020 01:52AM

Like most things, it's the dopamine rush.

12-06-2020 01:53AM

I enjoy a bet (doubt I've ever lost a hundred quid in a year) but just an odd coupla quid on long odds here and there. I've seen people in my family be addicted and I feel awful for them. I can see how it starts and it's an insidious one because it's "only" money so the warning signs aren't so obvious. If you're walking around with a noseblood and won't shut up at a family do then people will tell you to cop on. If you're done for drink driving or get kicked out for being a pisshead then you obviously have a problem. Often it's already too late before it's obvious there's a problem when it comes to gambling.

r93kaey5p2izun · 12-06-2020 02:19AM

I never gamble apart from a couple of lotto tickets over the years, but I kind of understand betting on horses or football or being involved in a poker game. And I can see the fun of taking part in the various offerings in Vegas or similar. But all those ads for virtual casinos just baffle me. Betting money on random number generators and fake fruit machines while you sit on your couch. Bizarre.

Canis Lupus · 12-06-2020 02:26AM

Because having a cheeky punt with the laaaaaads makes you a laaaaaad.

KungPao · 12-06-2020 02:30AM

‘Ave a bang on that!

peddlelies · 12-06-2020 02:32AM

You can consistently win at poker if you put in enough time learning the game. Games like blackjack and roulette are a fools game as the house holds a small but significant edge so they're printing long term.

I've played online poker for over a decade and have never bet on a horse or sports match, or played a hand of blackjack/roulette. I'd recommend learning it, it's a profitable venture if you've got the right mindset. Software exists to track every hand you play, useful for checking profit and studying.

eyerer · 12-06-2020 02:36AM

Because yah told me to

Samuri Suicide · 12-06-2020 02:38AM

Can't wait to win a GTR on a car raffle

12-06-2020 03:31AM

JupiterKid wrote: »

Just watching a TV programme on a bookies in the UK and it seems to me that the regular customers are gambling addicts who spend all their money on fruit machines and betting on the horses and greyhounds. The high streets of very deprived parts of England are awash with bookies.

Also, isn’t it funny how bookies always seem to be located right beside pubs?

It seems that the house always wins. Don’t get me wrong, if people want to gamble, it’s their business and their life, but personally I have never seen the appeal. The odds are too high and it seems that like substance addictions, it just destroys lives and especially those of the families of compulsive gamblers.

Online gambling is seriously insidious and it is just so easy to gamble away all your money with just a few clicks on your smartphone or tablet.

I am a recovering alcoholic - and when I was in rehab there were a couple of gambling addicts in there with me. The amount of money they went through was truly shocking, and in one case the poor chap tried to take his life after spending almost a half million euro of money he took out of his brother’s business. He is now in recovery and will be paying back a massive debt for years to come.

Anyone here enjoy gambling? Or anyone else that struggles with a gambling compulsion?

I think a lot of us "punters" would disagree with you on that.... :pac: :pac:
The complete opposite in fact. I know what you mean though...... Tis almost impossible to beat the book.

I fkn love betn (on the gee-gees mainly), but not so much that I'm down to eating beans and toast.

Richard Hillman · 12-06-2020 03:54AM

I like having €5-10 on an accumulator at the weekend and will do the odd horse race when it's on TV. Then during the week, I'd pop into the bookies to do €1-2 bets on reasonably high odd outcomes on football matches. It keeps things interesting and I like to treat myself with something if it comes in. I would usually have my eye on something to buy if it comes in.

When people bet to win money, and then spend that money on trying to win more money, that's when you know there is a problem.

A gambling addiction is something I cannot understand. I can understand drink or drugs but gambling seems a bit stupid. Especially on stuff like horses. Jesus christ, they are animals, they have no idea what they are actually doing apart from their natural instinct of running.

Potential-Monke · 12-06-2020 04:24AM

I usually play the lotto every week. It's a form of gambling, but it's one that requires very little effort or prior so suits me fine. And it will all be worth it if I do manage to win some day. In the meantime, the €13 a week it costs would be spent on something else so I don't buy into the whole 'You'd have saved x amount' craic. I've only a few vices, and the odd gamble (with the hoping of making the other vices costs negligible) isn't going to land me in any trouble.

Edgware · 12-06-2020 12:11PM

Richard Hillman wrote: »

I like having €5-10 on an accumulator at the weekend and will do the odd horse race when it's on TV. Then during the week, I'd pop into the bookies to do €1-2 bets on reasonably high odd outcomes on football matches. It keeps things interesting and I like to treat myself with something if it comes in. I would usually have my eye on something to buy if it comes in.

When people bet to win money, and then spend that money on trying to win more money, that's when you know there is a problem.

A gambling addiction is something I cannot understand. I can understand drink or drugs but gambling seems a bit stupid. Especially on stuff like horses. Jesus christ, they are animals, they have no idea what they are actually doing apart from their natural instinct of running.

I love getting the football coupon on a Friday and start throw a few combinaticombinations.
Sometimes they click, most times they dont. I havent had to line up for the free meals at Merchants Quay yet. Its great to be watching results and a long shot comes in.The best this season was Union Berlin 9/1 to beat Dortmund. It made the weekend as the four short priced ones I had with it all clicked

petes · 12-06-2020 12:19PM

Before I got to the sentence that you were a recovering alcoholic I already knew that from your posts on different threads

As you know from addictions it's a disease. The same things go on in your head in someone that's addicted to gambling, alcohol and drugs.

It's why so many people who are addicted to one are cross addicted to others.

I've seen these shows and it breaks my heart if I'm honest.

petes · 12-06-2020 12:26PM

Edgware wrote: »

I love getting the football coupon on a Friday and start throw a few combinaticombinations.
Sometimes they click, most times they dont. I havent had to line up for the free meals at Merchants Quay yet. Its great to be watching results and a long shot comes in.The best this season was Union Berlin 9/1 to beat Dortmund. It made the weekend as the four short priced ones I had with it all clicked

It's when people think that this happens all the time that problems arise, it doesn't as you know

But that elation of one win drives an addict on. It's mad though that some people's brains are different.

I do remember a football bet coming in for 1700 quid from 5 quid when I don't really know football.
Had a 9 team accumulator going that I put not even knowing that the games were on over two weekends.

So was waiting on Man U to win against Portsmouth to have a nice return on the overall bet but they didn't win. Was only after I got to work the day after Paddys Day that I checked my account and there was 1700 in it, I had bet on Portsmouth by mistake. Was nice :pac:

TheMilkyPirate · 12-06-2020 12:30PM

Love gambling. Will bet on two fly's going up a wall but only with stakes I can manage and afford. Never had a problem with gambling never spent money I couldn't afford and never got anywhere near into debt over it. I've a lot of savings everything paid on time and I'm generally good with money but ya can't beat a nibble on a horse or a football accum at the weekend.

It's great fun for the majority of people that do it, Some people just have addictive personalities and can't handle it unfortunately.

topper75 · 12-06-2020 01:30PM

One thing I've found universal to gamblers is their keenness to report wins and their utter reluctance to talk about losses.

I don't know if that deceit is also internal. If so, it's selective thinking taken to an extreme level. Their brain must be 'broken'.

ArchXStanton · 12-06-2020 01:59PM

Never seen the appeal in it, just got no spark from it, though I'm convinced it's a strengthening of the reward system in the brain, like Pavlovs dogs a conditioned behaviour.

cj maxx · 12-06-2020 03:02PM

I quite like an odd bet, I think Croatia in the world cup was my last one, I got satisfaction by picking them before the tournament.
I used to drink in a pub beside a bookie and while most of us were €5 men now and again ( we were all working) 1 lad who had just started his job in the boom would back €1/200's on a race. Maybe once I saw him win big and the drinks for everyone would flow, egged on by the barman of course but usually the realisation of what he'd done would hit him and he'd sneak out home to his wife and children. I swore after seeing that I wasn't starting into that sh1te. Online gambling is ,as the OP said insidious. Football, horses, 2flies crawling up a wall. All at the touch of a button

r93kaey5p2izun · 12-06-2020 03:17PM

All the posts about enjoying gambling so far have been about horses or football or poker. Does anyone here use those online random casino games from the likes of Tombola or LeoVegas, that have constant tacky TV ads late at night? I've never met anyone who enjoys these, but there must be plenty out there as they seem to be going strong. Do many enjoy those games harmlessly the way many seem to enjoy more traditional betting? Or are these sites tend more likely to attract the problem gamblers who struggle with addiction?

Edgware · 12-06-2020 03:41PM

cj maxx wrote: »

I quite like an odd bet, I think Croatia in the world cup was my last one, I got satisfaction by picking them before the tournament.
I used to drink in a pub beside a bookie and while most of us were €5 men now and again ( we were all working) 1 lad who had just started his job in the boom would back €1/200's on a race. Maybe once I saw him win big and the drinks for everyone would flow, egged on by the barman of course but usually the realisation of what he'd done would hit him and he'd sneak out home to his wife and children. I swore after seeing that I wasn't starting into that sh1te. Online gambling is ,as the OP said insidious. Football, horses, 2flies crawling up a wall. All at the touch of a button

Online is treacherous. After the pub you come in and end up betting on games in the Uruguyan Third Division. I did click one night but closed the account as I was inclined to be checking too often and also I kept getting ****e texts and e mails from P.P.s
Tony 10 is a great read by Declan Lynch and it gives a blow by blow account of gambling that lead to a jail sentence

ChikiChiki · 12-06-2020 03:55PM

You should gamble with the expectation of losing. In my personal experience a big win early on in a gambling lifetime can really skew people. They will always be chasing that rush.

I agree, you can do well at poker if you put the work in. Would view it as more of a game of strategy than gambling. The cream rises.

Rebel_Kn1ght · 12-06-2020 04:06PM

I love having a few euro on the football at the weekends, it gives me an interest in matches and leagues I wouldn't normally watch. Horses I rarely do unless someone gives me a tip. I have a few mates who also bet on football etc and we would often meet in the bookies of a saturday morning for a coffee and a laugh while doing the pools for the day and one of the lads is a problem gambler. During this lockdown he has been betting on Belarussian football and betting heavy. He bets every single day on the horses and football in the evening regardless of who is playing. His whole day is consumed by it. He has some tracker account with a racing website where he can track up a couple of hundred horses and every morning he will get an email telling him which of his tracked horses are running and where. This guy doesn't work so the first hour of his day is spent going through this tracker and form etc. I've been in bookies with him when he gets on a streak (winning or losing) and while he's there it's like he's a different person. Going from wall to wall looking at different races, at the computer terminals then up to place a bet, while he's waiting for the race to start he's back at the wall looking for the next horse or more than likely the next greyhound race to keep him occupied between horseraces. It truly is a sickness

frozenfrozen · 12-06-2020 04:25PM

Can anyone remember the name of the twitter account which did compilations of the betting company twitter accounts posting as if they are a person i.e. "hey lads whats everyone up to this morning?" type tweets from @PaddyPower

Brilliant if a little bit obsessed account running it but it's a great public service he's doing to highlight how manipulative their advertising is....

can't find his account now though

4068ac1elhodqr · 12-06-2020 06:43PM

Heidi Quaint Smack wrote: »

All the posts about enjoying gambling so far have been about horses or football or poker. Does anyone here use those online random casino games from the likes of Tombola or LeoVegas, that have constant tacky TV ads late at night? I've never met anyone who enjoys these, but there must be plenty out there as they seem to be going strong. Do many enjoy those games harmlessly the way many seem to enjoy more traditional betting? Or are these sites tend more likely to attract the problem gamblers who struggle with addiction?

These would be a major concern for all communities, and should be banned globally, outright. Flawed in every single aspect both as a digital product, and as an advertised service projection as a vehicle for potential revenue generation. Cannot think of a single good thing to say for them.

They are entirely void of any skill requirement, zero knowledge base, they are all non-real thus 'virtual world' events. Worse of all they are hard-set via RNG on limited return, typically 80%. Further more, they evoke the documented dopamine response in both their frequency click-through rate and feedback cycle speed, along with added multimedia trickery.

Suspect it's uneducated housewives and simpletons that avail of the likes of the online or mobile bingo, casino, games, slots and vegas virtual quackery.

At least with the lottery it's unlike to see any high frequency or high spend occur. The token weekly ticket dab of pre-calculated numbers is more of a wealth distribution mechanism and charity fundraiser. Sports under certain conditions are fine, best of all are real world novelty event trades where meticulous processing, data processing, information and foresight can offer advantage. FWIW don't buy the concept of Poker being of any real 'high skill' level, it's elementary level calculations with a very heavy smattering of bluffing techniques.

TheMilkyPirate · 13-06-2020 10:28AM

Adele Aggressive Slang wrote: »

FWIW don't buy the concept of Poker being of any real 'high skill' level, it's elementary level calculations with a very heavy smattering of bluffing techniques.

I take it you're an excellent poker player then and have won multiple big scores?

Granted the maths in poker is elementary and quite easy to grasp (Pot odds, Equity, Implied odds) but it's your bet sizing your reading of players and various strategies such as bluff catching floating and all other types of strategy that do take quite a bit of skill to learn and master, I think that's pretty fair to say. Hence why a few people make a very handsome living off the game and the majority of people don't.

pgj2015 · 13-06-2020 10:40AM

Read Paul Mersons book if you want to see what gambling can do to you. scary. I have only been in a bookies twice in the last 6 years. doubt I will ever go back.

Mongfinder General · 13-06-2020 10:44AM

I've seen bad reactions to losing in bookies' shops. Shouting at staff, threatening staff, ffs even when some people win they're not happy because they claim that they're paid at wrong odds! I've never really paid much attention to lads who threaten to smash the place up. That was until somebody did. I think he had two big enough bets at short odds and lost his bollocks. He went out of the shop and came back with a hammer and smashed nearly every screen in the place.

JohnnyFlash · 13-06-2020 10:44AM

I love betting, and would be a regular at race meetings. I’d also bet on the golf, and play a bit of online poker.

That said I’d be strongly in favour of limiting the number of betting shops in the country, banning all advertising from bookmakers, and imposing limits on the amount that can be bet online.

It’s not the lads who enjoy a few bets that the bookies are after. They are after the lads who can’t control their betting. They target the addicts. Nasty.

ExMachina1000 · 13-06-2020 10:45AM

I put 1k on joe Biden to win the presidential election at evens last week.

Das Reich · 13-06-2020 10:52AM

Many years ago I played on lotto or something like this because a friend was doing and said you could win a million but didn't won anything and never played again.

Gambling - what is the appeal?

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