What's the story with lads in the bookies?

You will lose less and you will have ZERO fun. It's a pointless bet

I would guess that the amount of people frequenting betting shops or betting online that would put on that bet the way you are suggesting would be less than .01%. In fact I would suggest it could actually be zero!

Oh I know what you mean and I'll leave it at this so as not to drag it off topic.

Fellas putting on €5 a week on an accum (who you advised to put on 5 separate single bets) are not doing it to break even. They are having a bit of craic in the hope of getting up something like a 20/1 shot for example. They are prepared to lose that fiver in the hope of making a decent profit while not risking a whole lot. They are not investing that fiver to sit at home watching a matches hoping to win 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 quid.

Neither do I, but Paddy Power and co love them all the same.

The lack of understanding of the gambling industry in this thread is a sight to behold. I suppose it's just reflective of wider society though and most aptly reflected in the farce of a gambling bill that was recently voted through, designed to regulate the bookmakers and stop problem gambling but will actually exasberate the problem by sending customers to unregulated sites in their droves

On that note, did the people calling for greater regulation and advertising bans miss this bill announcement? The ads are gone before the watershed. The idea that bookies have been operating without very stringent regulation is about 15 years outdated, and they'll be subject to some incredibly draconian rules in the new year

I keep seeing the "bookmakers making huge profits" line also? Where and who exactly? If that's the case then why are licensed bookmakers leaving Ireland in droves? All the independents sold up or went bust once the insanely high 2% tax on turnover came in. There's talk of that going to 3% (it'll basically equal about 70% of net revenue before costs). There's a not unreasonable chance that Flutter (Paddy Power) switch off Ireland in the medium term. The only real winners in Ireland currently are the taxman, and with the ridiculous new regulation the only winners in future will be the likes of Stake or other black market online casinos that are currently hovering around the Irish market like flies on shiite

Gambling companies do pay for problem gambling services outside of the ones they offer internally. They've also been fined to the tune of billions at this point by the gambling commission, which goes to responsible gambling services, and are basically so scared of falling foul again they can't but be responsible in their actions in recent years. That's mostly UK but Ireland falls under the same umbrella. I can't believe I'm taking their side here, they've been a pain in my hole for years, but some of the stuff posted here is so misguided

The bookies themselves are not the racing industry, they're by an large separate and even at loggerheads. Racing is increasingly seen as a problem area for the bookmakers as they demand huge levy payments from bookmakers and media rights are very expensive. A lot of bookmakers are stopping offering racing as it's more of a problem than it's worth. Flutter have stopped offering odds on certain UK tracks. They'd do the same in Ireland if it wasn't so popular locally, so it continues to be ran to tiny margins

PP (Flutter) is a $50bn dollar company that is audited to the back of its teeth. Those games have return to players values that are pre-set, similar to casino games and online poker (they also own pokerstars) and are all regulated and checked to the hilt.

They're not about to risk their position on the NY stock exchange and the $40bn value of their American business so they can tempt back a few Paddy power customers worth pennies with underhand means

Your previous assertion that singles are better for the customer and multis better for the bookie is generally correct with the mass market customer. Margins multiply over each bet, so if the bookie is making 5% margin off leg one, if that wins it'll roll onto leg 2 which will be at 5% margin and so on. The scenario happens in reverse for positive value (for the customer) selections however. Professional gamblers aim to spin up their advantage by having multiple positive value selections in the same bet. For example placing a 'bad each way' accumulator on horse racing is one of the quickest ways of getting your account restricted or closed down

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I am not sure how true it is at all but for a lot of them it’s just a place to be for the day. I’ve heard from some it’s common enough for some people (and generally the ones who seem to live in the place), to make the odd bet during the day but really the objective is just a place to spend the day and get free tea/coffee.

Suppose if you’re living alone or whatever isn’t it better than sitting in the house all day.

most with serious psychological problems such as cptsd stemming from serious traumas, particularly from childhood, this manifests as extremely dysfunctional behaviors such as serious addictions, tis very very difficult to treat, and tends to be life long!

I don't drink or do any drugs. I don't really watch TV or play video games…use to do both quite a bit. I am a fiend for Tea though! Throw a nice buttered scone or a purple snack bar into the mix and you've got a good rush going, baby!