Gambling - what is the appeal?

topper75 · 13-06-2020 11:36AM

ExMachina1000 wrote: »

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

Donald only let the riots slide so he could lay himself.

The bookie is ultimately part of some international conglomerate and your 1k will probably form part of a donation to the Trump/Pence 2020 thing.

House always wins.

Mongfinder General · 13-06-2020 11:37AM

ExMachina1000 wrote: »

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

Why do you think he'll win? If he loses Florida it's hard to come back from that.

Richard Hillman · 13-06-2020 12:06PM

ChikiChiki wrote: »

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.

That first sentence is the key and its a great line. When I hand over my €5-10, for me it's gone, spent. I think people with a problem see it as the bookie is holding the money as some sort of insurance policy and that the money is pending. Essentially that is true but it's the mindset of that the money is still there in the form of a docket in your pocket that gets people.

castletownman · 13-06-2020 12:08PM

I do a weekly football accum for no more than €2 that occassionally comes up. Now and again would back horses if I was having a few day pints or if I was at a stag, but always plan some time off around Cheltenham. Back a couple of draws as part of a double during the GAA national leagues too as the price of a draw is good and the leagues are always competitive. Pick a couple of golfers for the four majors too, and perhaps a novelty side bet (top European, Australian etc.).

I would never spend any more than a €5 on any single bet and would feel sick if I 'wasted' a tenner on a bet. I like to think I have a good grasp on my betting, but among my own circle of friends I have seen lads a lot more careless. I personally know four lads who became addicted and know a few more who are borderline to this day.

ExMachina1000 · 13-06-2020 01:37PM

topper75 wrote: »

Donald only let the riots slide so he could lay himself.

The bookie is ultimately part of some international conglomerate and your 1k will probably form part of a donation to the Trump/Pence 2020 thing.

House always wins.

It's a two horse race. A draw isn't possible like betting on football. The writing is on the wall for Donald. Il have an extra 1k just after Christmas

cj maxx · 13-06-2020 02:15PM

ExMachina1000 wrote: »

It's a two horse race. A draw isn't possible like betting on football. The writing is on the wall for Donald. Il have an extra 1k just after Christmas

Good luck with that

spurshero · 13-06-2020 02:17PM

ExMachina1000 wrote: »

It's a two horse race. A draw isn't possible like betting on football. The writing is on the wall for Donald. Il have an extra 1k just after Christmas

Ya be a bit late then it will be over

ExMachina1000 · 13-06-2020 02:27PM

spurshero wrote: »

Ya be a bit late then it will be over

Do you know when the election results are announced?

taytobreath · 13-06-2020 02:40PM

Just wondering, would horse racing exist as a sport if there was no gambling does anyone think?

Mad_maxx · 13-06-2020 02:49PM

i buy stock options , sometimes calls , sometimes puts , i loose money about 55% of the time which im ok with , couple of hundred euro per year

its stupid but i do enjoy it

POKERKING · 13-06-2020 02:53PM

Adele Aggressive Slang wrote: »

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.

Can you point me in the direction of a single slot that has an RTP of 80%? Thanks

harr · 13-06-2020 02:59PM

The odd few quid on the horses , normally an each bet on an outsider or if I got a tip .. probably break the even over the year , I have won up to a grand before on an outsider and it certainly didn’t go back to the bookies.
I think the biggest problem in Ireland with gambling is lotto scratch tickets normally being purchased by people who definitely can’t afford to buy them. I know people who buy tickets before feeding the kids and as mentioned before you only hear about the odd biggish win they have ... plenty of people sending 20-30 quid a day on them some waste of money , the same people will tell you they don’t gamble and the horses is a mugs game.

Quantum Erasure · 13-06-2020 03:37PM

I bet this thread won't last long...

Motivator · 13-06-2020 03:40PM

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?

You’re a recovering alcoholic yet you question why gambling appeals to people?

Motivator · 13-06-2020 03:52PM

Richard Hillman wrote: »

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.

You’re quite right, you don’t understand it. Backing horses to the uninformed appears to be throwing a dart at the paper and hoping for the best. I don’t back horses as much any more, the joy has disappeared out of the sport and the turnover on my 6 year old online account was frightening. I hit the brakes a couple of years ago and haven’t looked back since.

When I was in my mid 20s I was good, I was actually very good. I‘d map out a strategy at the start of each year on what angle I’d take to making a few quid over the season. If I went with jumps then I stuck to jumps, same with the flat - I’d stick to one code. It became obsessive for me and not so much the money, it was the buzz of getting something right. In 2014, a horse I had followed closely for around 12 months won at 16/1 at Cheltenham. I thought he’d be aimed at one particular race so I set aside money every couple of weeks to keep backing him. I backed him about 20 times at prices varying from 80s down to 9/1 and then backed him again on the day at 16/1. I flew over and back on the same day to watch him win. Yeah the money was great but I got a bigger buzz out of being right and for months I had people buying me drinks in town and calling me a great fella for telling them to back the horse. There’s actually no better feeling that backing yourself and your own opinion and being right.

Backing horses requires skill, patience and discipline. 99% of punters have none of those traits which is why they lose money. I’m not talking about the addicts either, I’m talking about Mick and Tom who stop in to paddy powers, read three lines of form in the paper and lose their nuts on a horse. Shouting and roaring throwing pens at the TVs abusing the jockey and the trainer. Pathetic.

Mongfinder General · 13-06-2020 04:08PM

Motivator wrote: »

You’re quite right, you don’t understand it. Backing horses to the uninformed appears to be throwing a dart at the paper and hoping for the best. I don’t back horses as much any more, the joy has disappeared out of the sport and the turnover on my 6 year old online account was frightening. I hit the brakes a couple of years ago and haven’t looked back since.

Backing horses requires skill, patience and discipline. 99% of punters have none of those traits which is why they lose money. I’m not talking about the addicts either, I’m talking about Mick and Tom who stop in to paddy powers, read three lines of form in the paper and lose their nuts on a horse. Shouting and roaring throwing pens at the TVs abusing the jockey and the trainer. Pathetic.

I see this all the time. Mick and Tom. The Mensa Crew. Talk ****e all day about horses and then blame everybody else when they're wrong.

Quantum Erasure · 13-06-2020 04:09PM

Motivator wrote: »

You’re quite right, you don’t understand it. Backing horses to the uninformed appears to be throwing a dart at the paper ...

Backing horses requires skill, patience and discipline. 99% of punters have none of those traits which is why they lose money.

so, do you understand why the 99% do it so?

cj maxx · 13-06-2020 04:11PM

taytobreath wrote: »

Just wondering, would horse racing exist as a sport if there was no gambling does anyone think?

No , it gambling is the raison d'etre. (Forgive my French)

Zaph · 13-06-2020 04:28PM

ExMachina1000 wrote: »

Do you know when the election results are announced?

Pretty much straight after the election on 3rd November.

taytobreath wrote: »

Just wondering, would horse racing exist as a sport if there was no gambling does anyone think?

It would only be a tiny fraction the size it is now if it did exist. But greyhound racing would probably be gone altogether. That almost seems to exist just to fill the gaps between horse races so there's something to bet on.

Mad_maxx wrote: »

i buy stock options , sometimes calls , sometimes puts , i loose money about 55% of the time which im ok with , couple of hundred euro per year

its stupid but i do enjoy it

I had a friend who definitely was a problem gambler. He was the proverbial "bet on two flies up a wall" sort of guy. Then he discovered stock options. He diverted all his funds and energy away from the horses and into options, and basically lost his arse doing so. Several times I pointed out to him that if he actually bought the shares instead of options, even if the price fell he'd still have an asset he could sell to mitigate some of his losses, but he was always chasing the big score he felt he could make on options. He never did.

Gamblers definitely have a different mindset to non-gamblers. I was in town with the same guy one day and he wanted to pop into a bookies as a horse he liked was running. There was a race on TV before his race, and one of the horses was 100/1. I jokingly said I should stick a quid each way on it, and he was adamant I should. I pointed out that the horse was 100/1 for a reason and didn't bother. Obviously it romped home. As far as he was concerned I had just lost £125 (this was pre-euro), as opposed to not having won that amount. He couldn't understand why I wasn't bothered and it nagged at him and he kept bringing it up for the rest of the day in the pub. As far as I was concerned I wouldn't have even known the race was on if I hadn't been with him, and I was more likely to have lost a couple of quid on the race than have won a decent amount.

4068ac1elhodqr · 13-06-2020 04:33PM

POKERKING wrote: »

Can you point me in the direction of a single slot that has an RTP of 80%? Thanks

There is generally no statutory minimum percentage. 80% +/-5 or 10, would be a fairly accurate, and even market competitive ballpark figure from the likes of IGT/P'Tech and so on, even state backed lotteries recent unfortunate adventures into gaming, and very old school pub bandits would likely, on average be in this region.

Are you claiming the average (majority) are all either high 90+, or lower, e.g. sub 70%?

Mad_maxx · 13-06-2020 04:44PM

Zaph wrote: »

Pretty much straight after the election on 3rd November.

It would only be a tiny fraction the size it is now if it did exist. But greyhound racing would probably be gone altogether. That almost seems to exist just to fill the gaps between horse races so there's something to bet on.

I had a friend who definitely was a problem gambler. He was the proverbial "bet on two flies up a wall" sort of guy. Then he discovered stock options. He diverted all his funds and energy away from the horses and into options, and basically lost his arse doing so. Several times I pointed out to him that if he actually bought the shares instead of options, even if the price fell he'd still have an asset he could sell to mitigate some of his losses, but he was always chasing the big score he felt he could make on options. He never did.

Gamblers definitely have a different mindset to non-gamblers. I was in town with the same guy one day and he wanted to pop into a bookies as a horse he liked was running. There was a race on TV before his race, and one of the horses was 100/1. I jokingly said I should stick a quid each way on it, and he was adamant I should. I pointed out that the horse was 100/1 for a reason and didn't bother. Obviously it romped home. As far as he was concerned I had just lost £125 (this was pre-euro), as opposed to not having won that amount. He couldn't understand why I wasn't bothered and it nagged at him and he kept bringing it up for the rest of the day in the pub. As far as I was concerned I wouldn't have even known the race was on if I hadn't been with him, and I was more likely to have lost a couple of quid on the race than have won a decent amount.

sounds like your friend was constantly engaging in options buying ( or selling ) ?

i do it about three times per month , usually no more than fifty euro and never more than one hundred and fifty

Truthvader · 13-06-2020 04:57PM

Every problem gambler I ever knew won big when he was young and spent the rest of their lives trying to get back that winning feeling

ExMachina1000 · 13-06-2020 05:30PM

The only way to have any hope of possibly winning a football bet is when one side is odds on and at home and st home and in form and at full strength VS a team out of form with a terrible away record.

You need to be watching the game and seeing what is going on. Should the favs have scored etc.

Hope that it is nil nil at halftime and in the fiftieth minute place an in play bet if the odds are 1/2 or better.

Even at that you are leaving it to luck.
Sport is popular because it is unpredictable.

JupiterKid · 13-06-2020 06:50PM

Motivator wrote: »

You’re a recovering alcoholic yet you question why gambling appeals to people?

Sure. Does the fact that I became an alcoholic due to a series of crises in my life just over a decade ago - and used drink as a means to numb crippling anxiety mean that I am not permitted to comment about gambling? Addictions are addictions - whether it be alcohol, the slots, the bookies, the ciggies, weed, cocaine etc.

Hmmm..last I checked it was a free country.

13-06-2020 09:05PM

Still trying to get that pound back that they lost thirty years ago

weldoninhio · 13-06-2020 09:06PM

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 like gambling. Taken quite a bit off PP in the last month. I don’t ever gamble anything I can’t afford. It’s good craic waiting for a result. Currently waiting on Napoli and Barca for a few quid.

Ted_YNWA · 13-06-2020 09:24PM

Quantum Erasure wrote: »

I bet this thread won't last long...

The house always wins here.

declanflynn · 13-06-2020 11:06PM

Ted_YNWA wrote: »

The house always wins here.

Had a friend who opened an account with an Irish bookie, he owned a share in a horse, the horse won its second race at 5/1, he had 100 on it, left the winnings in the account. It won its 4th race friend had 300 on at 3/1, he now had 1500 in the account, for its next race he wanted 500 on the horse, bookie would only take 20.
Bookies dont like winners

POKERKING · 14-06-2020 09:17AM

Adele Aggressive Slang wrote: »

There is generally no statutory minimum percentage. 80% +/-5 or 10, would be a fairly accurate, and even market competitive ballpark figure from the likes of IGT/P'Tech and so on, even state backed lotteries recent unfortunate adventures into gaming, and very old school pub bandits would likely, on average be in this region.

Are you claiming the average (majority) are all either high 90+, or lower, e.g. sub 70%?

Im claiming most slot games come in at around 95%, esp in the uk market. At best its a couple of percent either way. In asian markets and eastern europe you can get slots closer to 90%. You may get a slot with a lower RTP in the UK if it has a jackpot attached to it. The jackpot is taken out of the RTP and its usually around 90-92%.

The biggest online game in the world now is probably Starburst(netent) and RTP is 96.09%.

Similarly book of dead(play n go) is 94.25%, Bonanza(big time gaming) is 96% and pretty much all of the biggest games in the market follow the same.

Playtechs biggest game at the min buffalo blitz is a touch off 96% and Cleopatra IGTs biggest ever game is 95.7%.

Back on topic, gambling if done responsibly is a perfectly fine past time. But like other vices such as alcohol when not done responsibly can have devastating consequences.

Someone mentioned earlier they couldnt see anything positive about gambling, the tax income for the exchequer is huge esp in regulated markets like the UK. Also it creates huge employment for countries, in ireland not only do we have high street bookmakers but we have Paddy Power online headquartered here and we have pokerstars with a huge base here(albeit recently owned by the same company). Xanadau(matchbok) down in cork, game on media based in dublin city centre and loads of other small ones dotted around the place creating employment.

And someone else said their wasnt much skill in poker, thats clearly nonsense too.

ILoveYourVibes · 14-06-2020 10:35AM

n the United States, men are about three times as likely to become pathological gamblers compared with women during their lives (0.64% vs. 0.23%). They're also about twice as likely to develop "subclinical" pathological gambling, a less severe form of the problem,

Insecurity.

Most problem gamblers are men. Men are 3 times more likely to become problem gamblers/ pathological gamblers . They are also twice as likely to become subclinical problem gamblers.

I think its a 'manly' thing to do. Nerds not comfortable with being nerds over compensating with hypermasculinity instead of being actual men which is harder.

https://www.sharecare.com/health/substance-abuse-addiction-recovery/are-women-men-pathological-gamblers

Men and women also tend to gravitate toward different forms of gambling: women are more likely to play bingo, slots, and keno; men seem to prefer gambling on the stock market, and table casino games, such as roulette.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4875054/

For males, risk factors included: 18–24 years old, not speaking English at home, low education, living in a group household, unemployed or not in the workforce, gambling on EGMs, table games, races, sports or lotteries, and gambling for reasons other than social reasons, to win money or for general entertainment.

Gambling - what is the appeal?

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