Gambling - what is the appeal?

JupiterKid · 12-06-2020 1:48am #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 1:52am

Like most things, it's the dopamine rush.

12-06-2020 1:53am

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 2:19am

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 2:26am

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

KungPao · 12-06-2020 2:30am

‘Ave a bang on that!

peddlelies · 12-06-2020 2:32am

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 2:36am

Because yah told me to

Samuri Suicide · 12-06-2020 2:38am

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

12-06-2020 3:31am

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 3:54am

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 4:24am

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 1:30pm

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 1:59pm

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 3:02pm

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 3:17pm

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 3:41pm

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 3:55pm

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 4:06pm

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 4:25pm

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 6:43pm

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.

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 1:37pm

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 2:15pm

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 2:17pm

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 2:27pm

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 2:40pm

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

Mad_maxx · 13-06-2020 2:49pm

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 2:53pm

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 2:59pm

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 3:37pm

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

Motivator · 13-06-2020 3:40pm

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 3:52pm

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 4:08pm

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 4:09pm

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 4:11pm

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 4:28pm

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 4:33pm

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%?

Gambling - what is the appeal?

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