Some people have and always will gamble - whether legal or not.
It’s partly hard wired into our survival DNA.
Just watched a Betfred ad, and wtf???? How can ant be pay any attention when the permutations of bet events are there? When will tgere be a score, how many corners and when, when wiĺl xyz get subbed etc etc etc e-f00king-cetera. And one if the prime recipients of online betting revenues? Skynet.
Shut them down, shut them all down, shut them down now!
Some people have and always will gamble - whether legal or not.
It’s partly hard wired into our survival DNA.
I enjoy the online betting. Of course, in the "land of the free and home of the brave" we could not do so in most states until the last decade.
I can't stand to lose, and of course, the odds are always stacked against you, so my idea of a big bet is a dollar or two. I'll bet 5 or 10 on the mighty whites. Just a fun diversion from life.
I do worry about some of the kids here at work. Some are betting percentages of their check and I feel like the old curmudgeon lecturing them on the fact that they don't build those billion dollar casinos and trade for 100's of millions of dollars on stock offerings by losing money. In the long run the house always wins.
PS- they have informed me that "sports betting is for losers... sports gambling is for winners".
It's too easy nowadays. You really need to disciplined and sadly not everyone is. When you had to go into the bookies and write out your bet on a slip, with your money in your pocket, those were the days.
You still lost of course 🤷*♂️
In England and Wales it all got a lot more relaxed under the second/third term of new Labour when they were chasing the tax revenue.
48 hour membership rule for casinos got dropped and the huge restrictions on advertising were largely removed.
I don’t mind people being allowed to gamble but seems you struggle to avoid the advertising everywhere you go.
Can't believe that any of you can consider any form if inline betting acceptable. Thousands, probably hundreds of thousands of lives have been blighted by the addictive nature of this 21st century illness, hundreds ended in suicide by those who haven't been able to cope with the impact of debt and the shame brought in by their inability to control their habit.
Not suggesting no more betting, but that we return to the era of betting shops, a physical act if completing a betting slip, having it validated by someone and paid in cold hard cash when judged a win.
Will never happen, the genie is out of the bottle, many more will suffer and die in order to maintain the profits of the likes of Betfred, Grosvenor, Skybet etc etc. Good game, good game, my f00king ar5e!
Hmmmn should we go back to pre electricity times too?
For the overwhelming majority of people (you can look at the national prevalence surveys commissioned by the Gambling Commission) gambling is not ‘harmful’. For a not insignificant minority it is.
Getting the balance right is always hard in a democracy but equally the modern world is increasingly online so not sure what you want is even possible anymore.
You want to trade "evidence"?
https://www.gov.uk/government/public...iew-summary--2
in particular the following, submission to the committee;
https://committees.parliament.uk/wri...%20year%5B8%5D.
I did say that what I suggested, returning to the more traditional betting shop scenario, wasn't likely. Doesn't mean that if we did, it might not be such a bad thing.
Agree with WTF sentiments entirely about "online gambling".
Gambling disorder is linked to compulsive behaviour, often with the risks of self-harm & substance misuse.
As it also occurs in conjunction with serious mental health difficulties such as depression, anxiety & psychosis i've seen the damage gambling has on folks & their families too !
I've seen the serious effects of it on close friends of mine (in my age group).
For sure, its far to easy to pick up a phone to access it & the subtle advertising ways of it bombard you everywhere you go nowadays.
Sadly many people turn to crime to fund their addiction & one bloke i knew in hospital rehab went down that avenue losing everything he had including contact with his young kids - he had then tried to take his own life before seeking help for his gambling addiction.
Personally i detest gambling in sport & football particularly as spent to much time with broken players listening to stories of missing training sessions & other contracted events because of gambling.
Their restless or irritable behaviour when not gambling & their addiction of “chasing” losses with more gambling by increasing bet amounts when gambling in order to achieve the desired excitement that their salary provided - so yeah each to their own suppose but not an activity endorsed by me particularly with so many vulnerable people in society.
A bit of a strange response from me.
I have very little time for any forms of betting unless it's for a bit of fun (e.g. a stag do at the races), at a low level and, at least in the case of Leeds United, has only tended to happen when I go to games and bet on the opposition so that, even if we lose, the day hasn't been a total disaster.
The strange bit? I'm certainly not an active day trader and very rarely indulge in options trading, but I do "play" stocks with a (hopefully!) calculated approach to generate income and/or capital gains (of the long term variety - think Apple, Google, Amazon and the suchlike).
I agree with Totty's observations though. Slippery slopes for addictive personality types.