| The tragic side of gambling on 10:18 - Sep 18 with 3370 views | clive_baker |
Awful.
When the fun stops...much easier said than done for many. |  |
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| The tragic side of gambling on 10:21 - Sep 18 with 3360 views | J2BLUE |
Horrible story and sadly all too easy. My mate has placed a few small winning bets with Coral and went to put some on a 4/1 shot last night and was limited to 50p. If he had lost £50,000 in a week to them they would have let him have anything he wants on.
It is a toxic and corrupt industry without a doubt. |  |
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| The tragic side of gambling on 10:28 - Sep 18 with 3337 views | WeWereZombies |
One thing that you can take away from that story is that you should never give a gambler even a penny to help them pay off their debts, it can become an addiction as potent as heroin (which is bizarre given that heroin establishes a physical addiction, I am not enough of a science of mind enthusiast to be able to say whether there is some type of neural reworking of the brain that starts to happen when people gamble but it would not surprise me). If a gambler has run up debts then it will only have any meaning to them if they work their own way out of their debt. [Post edited 18 Sep 2019 10:37]
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| The tragic side of gambling on 10:33 - Sep 18 with 3325 views | Marshalls_Mullet |
Sadly this epidemic is being fed by football. |  |
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| The tragic side of gambling on 10:33 - Sep 18 with 3322 views | Marshalls_Mullet |
| The tragic side of gambling on 10:18 - Sep 18 by clive_baker |
Awful.
When the fun stops...much easier said than done for many. |
When the fun stops... it's too late. | |
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| The tragic side of gambling on 10:34 - Sep 18 with 3315 views | StokieBlue |
| The tragic side of gambling on 10:21 - Sep 18 by J2BLUE |
Horrible story and sadly all too easy. My mate has placed a few small winning bets with Coral and went to put some on a 4/1 shot last night and was limited to 50p. If he had lost £50,000 in a week to them they would have let him have anything he wants on.
It is a toxic and corrupt industry without a doubt. |
Awful story as others have said.
What is the justification for limiting someones bets when they win?
I can't think of another industry where one side of the risk can be limited in such a way. If the companies are willing to take the profits they should take the hits as well.
SB |  |
| Avatar - IC410 - Tadpoles Nebula |
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| The tragic side of gambling on 10:38 - Sep 18 with 3292 views | BrixtonBlue |
| The tragic side of gambling on 10:34 - Sep 18 by StokieBlue |
Awful story as others have said.
What is the justification for limiting someones bets when they win?
I can't think of another industry where one side of the risk can be limited in such a way. If the companies are willing to take the profits they should take the hits as well.
SB |
Indeed. it's almost like gambling's a mug's game. |  |
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| The tragic side of gambling on 10:57 - Sep 18 with 3258 views | footers |
| The tragic side of gambling on 10:34 - Sep 18 by StokieBlue |
Awful story as others have said.
What is the justification for limiting someones bets when they win?
I can't think of another industry where one side of the risk can be limited in such a way. If the companies are willing to take the profits they should take the hits as well.
SB |
They should, but they won't. Gambling firms can just close your account if they think you're winning too much. It's corrupt.
That said, the UK has some sort of cultural blind-spot when it comes to gambling. I have been told Australia is worse, but there surely aren't many other countries in the world where gambling is as wide-spread/normalised. |  |
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| The tragic side of gambling on 10:58 - Sep 18 with 3256 views | J2BLUE |
| The tragic side of gambling on 10:28 - Sep 18 by WeWereZombies |
One thing that you can take away from that story is that you should never give a gambler even a penny to help them pay off their debts, it can become an addiction as potent as heroin (which is bizarre given that heroin establishes a physical addiction, I am not enough of a science of mind enthusiast to be able to say whether there is some type of neural reworking of the brain that starts to happen when people gamble but it would not surprise me). If a gambler has run up debts then it will only have any meaning to them if they work their own way out of their debt. [Post edited 18 Sep 2019 10:37]
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I think for many people it starts with chasing. Your first bet which you think is a cert and pile on or that first time you lost £50 playing blackjack. You think never mind, I’ll win it back. You place another bet, you double your blackjack stake. You lose. By this time desperation kicks in and you are looking at Argentinian football markets and teams you’ve never heard of or you’re doing that one final hand on blackjack. Win and you’re even, crisis over. Lose and you’ve taken a hard hit. Usually at this point you lose. Reality sets in. For some it hurts so much that you learn the lesson, write it off and don’t do it again. For others it has started the cycle.
I’ve had 3 occasions like that in my life. The first was when I had built a betting bank from £100 to £600. Spain were playing Iraq and I lumped all of it on Spain -2 and -3. They won 1-0.
Second time I lost several bets in a row and stuck my remaining balance on Inter. They drew 0-0.
Most recently, 3-4 years ago I was playing blackjack, £1 hands. I had soon lost £20. Angry and unwilling to be beaten I upped the hands to £5. Then £10. Then £20. Finally I was doing £25 hands.
Something I wouldn’t dream of doing any other time. When the mist descends and it just becomes numbers on a screen, a game based on fear it’s so hard to stop, so hard to remove yourself from that head fog. I lost £500. Thankfully that one really did hurt enough and with my matched betting training I developed real discipline. A loss now (sports, never games of chance) is just a business expense. No emotion involved anymore. Like paining by numbers what I do now is pretty boring.
I remember reading about a man at football screaming abuse at the ref as part of a crowd. He dropped something, bent down and picked it up. When he stood back up the spell was broken and he had a completely different reaction to the crowd. It’s the same with betting. Too easy to cloud your judgement. Random number generators paying out 96% disguised with lights, sounds, gimmicks and the delusion of playing through bonuses. If anyone plays slots online because of the bonuses, next time you are playing, before you start, go back to the casino homepage and refresh your balance. You’ve already been paid out whatever the bonus gives you. You are going through the motions of the lights, sounds and actually ‘playing’ the bonus because they are linking your emotions to the win. It’s not a feature for your entertainment, it’s built in marketing. Is it any better to have a GOT themed slot with special feature aimed at gamblers than it is to have Peppa Pig branded junk food aimed at kids?
My advice to any kids coming up to 18 is don’t bother opening a betting account. The game is rigged. You are 98% likely signing up to a liability. They make the rules, they choose who can bet with them and how much they will lay and they even void bets after they’ve won because they are morally bankrupt and legally exempt from the most basic of customer protections. | |
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| The tragic side of gambling on 11:05 - Sep 18 with 3226 views | BrixtonBlue |
| The tragic side of gambling on 10:58 - Sep 18 by J2BLUE |
I think for many people it starts with chasing. Your first bet which you think is a cert and pile on or that first time you lost £50 playing blackjack. You think never mind, I’ll win it back. You place another bet, you double your blackjack stake. You lose. By this time desperation kicks in and you are looking at Argentinian football markets and teams you’ve never heard of or you’re doing that one final hand on blackjack. Win and you’re even, crisis over. Lose and you’ve taken a hard hit. Usually at this point you lose. Reality sets in. For some it hurts so much that you learn the lesson, write it off and don’t do it again. For others it has started the cycle.
I’ve had 3 occasions like that in my life. The first was when I had built a betting bank from £100 to £600. Spain were playing Iraq and I lumped all of it on Spain -2 and -3. They won 1-0.
Second time I lost several bets in a row and stuck my remaining balance on Inter. They drew 0-0.
Most recently, 3-4 years ago I was playing blackjack, £1 hands. I had soon lost £20. Angry and unwilling to be beaten I upped the hands to £5. Then £10. Then £20. Finally I was doing £25 hands.
Something I wouldn’t dream of doing any other time. When the mist descends and it just becomes numbers on a screen, a game based on fear it’s so hard to stop, so hard to remove yourself from that head fog. I lost £500. Thankfully that one really did hurt enough and with my matched betting training I developed real discipline. A loss now (sports, never games of chance) is just a business expense. No emotion involved anymore. Like paining by numbers what I do now is pretty boring.
I remember reading about a man at football screaming abuse at the ref as part of a crowd. He dropped something, bent down and picked it up. When he stood back up the spell was broken and he had a completely different reaction to the crowd. It’s the same with betting. Too easy to cloud your judgement. Random number generators paying out 96% disguised with lights, sounds, gimmicks and the delusion of playing through bonuses. If anyone plays slots online because of the bonuses, next time you are playing, before you start, go back to the casino homepage and refresh your balance. You’ve already been paid out whatever the bonus gives you. You are going through the motions of the lights, sounds and actually ‘playing’ the bonus because they are linking your emotions to the win. It’s not a feature for your entertainment, it’s built in marketing. Is it any better to have a GOT themed slot with special feature aimed at gamblers than it is to have Peppa Pig branded junk food aimed at kids?
My advice to any kids coming up to 18 is don’t bother opening a betting account. The game is rigged. You are 98% likely signing up to a liability. They make the rules, they choose who can bet with them and how much they will lay and they even void bets after they’ve won because they are morally bankrupt and legally exempt from the most basic of customer protections. |
I got into chasing the defeats once... to a point where I stuck £100 on a 5-1 horse just because I'd heard the name of it before as being a decent horse. I knew nothing about the others. Luckily it did win - by a nose - and brought me back to almost level... but when I sat down and thought about how crazy it had been, how reckless I had got, I realised I had to stop. | |
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| good post Eggers on 11:05 - Sep 18 with 3228 views | Dyland |
| The tragic side of gambling on 10:58 - Sep 18 by J2BLUE |
I think for many people it starts with chasing. Your first bet which you think is a cert and pile on or that first time you lost £50 playing blackjack. You think never mind, I’ll win it back. You place another bet, you double your blackjack stake. You lose. By this time desperation kicks in and you are looking at Argentinian football markets and teams you’ve never heard of or you’re doing that one final hand on blackjack. Win and you’re even, crisis over. Lose and you’ve taken a hard hit. Usually at this point you lose. Reality sets in. For some it hurts so much that you learn the lesson, write it off and don’t do it again. For others it has started the cycle.
I’ve had 3 occasions like that in my life. The first was when I had built a betting bank from £100 to £600. Spain were playing Iraq and I lumped all of it on Spain -2 and -3. They won 1-0.
Second time I lost several bets in a row and stuck my remaining balance on Inter. They drew 0-0.
Most recently, 3-4 years ago I was playing blackjack, £1 hands. I had soon lost £20. Angry and unwilling to be beaten I upped the hands to £5. Then £10. Then £20. Finally I was doing £25 hands.
Something I wouldn’t dream of doing any other time. When the mist descends and it just becomes numbers on a screen, a game based on fear it’s so hard to stop, so hard to remove yourself from that head fog. I lost £500. Thankfully that one really did hurt enough and with my matched betting training I developed real discipline. A loss now (sports, never games of chance) is just a business expense. No emotion involved anymore. Like paining by numbers what I do now is pretty boring.
I remember reading about a man at football screaming abuse at the ref as part of a crowd. He dropped something, bent down and picked it up. When he stood back up the spell was broken and he had a completely different reaction to the crowd. It’s the same with betting. Too easy to cloud your judgement. Random number generators paying out 96% disguised with lights, sounds, gimmicks and the delusion of playing through bonuses. If anyone plays slots online because of the bonuses, next time you are playing, before you start, go back to the casino homepage and refresh your balance. You’ve already been paid out whatever the bonus gives you. You are going through the motions of the lights, sounds and actually ‘playing’ the bonus because they are linking your emotions to the win. It’s not a feature for your entertainment, it’s built in marketing. Is it any better to have a GOT themed slot with special feature aimed at gamblers than it is to have Peppa Pig branded junk food aimed at kids?
My advice to any kids coming up to 18 is don’t bother opening a betting account. The game is rigged. You are 98% likely signing up to a liability. They make the rules, they choose who can bet with them and how much they will lay and they even void bets after they’ve won because they are morally bankrupt and legally exempt from the most basic of customer protections. |
There, I've finally found a suitable Oxford "-er" nickname for you. At last! |  |
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| The tragic side of gambling on 11:43 - Sep 18 with 3172 views | JakeITFC |
| The tragic side of gambling on 10:34 - Sep 18 by StokieBlue |
Awful story as others have said.
What is the justification for limiting someones bets when they win?
I can't think of another industry where one side of the risk can be limited in such a way. If the companies are willing to take the profits they should take the hits as well.
SB |
Every industry allows a company to stop doing loss making business surely? |  | | |
| The tragic side of gambling on 12:32 - Sep 18 with 3091 views | itfcjoe |
| The tragic side of gambling on 10:57 - Sep 18 by footers |
They should, but they won't. Gambling firms can just close your account if they think you're winning too much. It's corrupt.
That said, the UK has some sort of cultural blind-spot when it comes to gambling. I have been told Australia is worse, but there surely aren't many other countries in the world where gambling is as wide-spread/normalised. |
I'd personally say it is like the gun argument in America, to outsiders must be totally baffling and is a total blindspot
The amount of markets there are for a bog standard game of football is mind-boggling, literally 100s.
I can understand betting on simple things, and can see the attraction, but it has gone way too far.
Also, barriers are put in place with regards to most vices - licencing laws, taxes, opening hours etc - you could be stood in the middle of a bookies shop and it would still make more sense to put the bet on on your phone. |  |
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| The tragic side of gambling on 13:51 - Sep 18 with 3000 views | Oldsmoker |
| The tragic side of gambling on 10:58 - Sep 18 by J2BLUE |
I think for many people it starts with chasing. Your first bet which you think is a cert and pile on or that first time you lost £50 playing blackjack. You think never mind, I’ll win it back. You place another bet, you double your blackjack stake. You lose. By this time desperation kicks in and you are looking at Argentinian football markets and teams you’ve never heard of or you’re doing that one final hand on blackjack. Win and you’re even, crisis over. Lose and you’ve taken a hard hit. Usually at this point you lose. Reality sets in. For some it hurts so much that you learn the lesson, write it off and don’t do it again. For others it has started the cycle.
I’ve had 3 occasions like that in my life. The first was when I had built a betting bank from £100 to £600. Spain were playing Iraq and I lumped all of it on Spain -2 and -3. They won 1-0.
Second time I lost several bets in a row and stuck my remaining balance on Inter. They drew 0-0.
Most recently, 3-4 years ago I was playing blackjack, £1 hands. I had soon lost £20. Angry and unwilling to be beaten I upped the hands to £5. Then £10. Then £20. Finally I was doing £25 hands.
Something I wouldn’t dream of doing any other time. When the mist descends and it just becomes numbers on a screen, a game based on fear it’s so hard to stop, so hard to remove yourself from that head fog. I lost £500. Thankfully that one really did hurt enough and with my matched betting training I developed real discipline. A loss now (sports, never games of chance) is just a business expense. No emotion involved anymore. Like paining by numbers what I do now is pretty boring.
I remember reading about a man at football screaming abuse at the ref as part of a crowd. He dropped something, bent down and picked it up. When he stood back up the spell was broken and he had a completely different reaction to the crowd. It’s the same with betting. Too easy to cloud your judgement. Random number generators paying out 96% disguised with lights, sounds, gimmicks and the delusion of playing through bonuses. If anyone plays slots online because of the bonuses, next time you are playing, before you start, go back to the casino homepage and refresh your balance. You’ve already been paid out whatever the bonus gives you. You are going through the motions of the lights, sounds and actually ‘playing’ the bonus because they are linking your emotions to the win. It’s not a feature for your entertainment, it’s built in marketing. Is it any better to have a GOT themed slot with special feature aimed at gamblers than it is to have Peppa Pig branded junk food aimed at kids?
My advice to any kids coming up to 18 is don’t bother opening a betting account. The game is rigged. You are 98% likely signing up to a liability. They make the rules, they choose who can bet with them and how much they will lay and they even void bets after they’ve won because they are morally bankrupt and legally exempt from the most basic of customer protections. |
Some 30 years ago, a friend of mine said he'd read an article that stated that the favourite would win at least one race at a meeting. The number of meetings where a favourite had failed to win was so few as to be statistically counted at zero.
So, you bet £10 on the favourite in the first race to win £20 profit. It loses.
You place a bet on the favourite in the second race to recover your losses (£10) and to win your £20 profit.
And on you go.
You could be betting on the last race about £100 to recover your losses and make a £20 profit thinking that this might be one of those meetings where the favourite doesn't win a race.
Could you hold your nerve?
By the way, as soon as the favourite wins a race you stop betting and pocket your £20 profit. |  |
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| The tragic side of gambling on 13:57 - Sep 18 with 2978 views | J2BLUE |
| The tragic side of gambling on 13:51 - Sep 18 by Oldsmoker |
Some 30 years ago, a friend of mine said he'd read an article that stated that the favourite would win at least one race at a meeting. The number of meetings where a favourite had failed to win was so few as to be statistically counted at zero.
So, you bet £10 on the favourite in the first race to win £20 profit. It loses.
You place a bet on the favourite in the second race to recover your losses (£10) and to win your £20 profit.
And on you go.
You could be betting on the last race about £100 to recover your losses and make a £20 profit thinking that this might be one of those meetings where the favourite doesn't win a race.
Could you hold your nerve?
By the way, as soon as the favourite wins a race you stop betting and pocket your £20 profit. |
That is a terrible, terrible strategy.
It's almost as stupid as the martingale system on roulette.
Ideas like that are what get people in the position to want to chase in the first place. Seemingly 'can't lose' ideas where reality rapidly proves the idea wrong. | |
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| The tragic side of gambling on 14:10 - Sep 18 with 2957 views | Ryorry |
| The tragic side of gambling on 13:57 - Sep 18 by J2BLUE |
That is a terrible, terrible strategy.
It's almost as stupid as the martingale system on roulette.
Ideas like that are what get people in the position to want to chase in the first place. Seemingly 'can't lose' ideas where reality rapidly proves the idea wrong. |
Well said.
Especially bad when the price of favs isn't even mentioned, and in reality can vary from 1/5 (or occasionally even lower) to 7/1 (or even bigger) in big handicaps!
The only certainty in racing is that there's no certainty. I once watched a 2/5 fav lose because it tried to dodge out where the track split off to the entrance leading to the stables (despite being several lengths in front and extending the lead the further it went, and despite the barrier being in place) a furlong from the winning post! |  |
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| The tragic side of gambling on 14:21 - Sep 18 with 2926 views | Weekender |
| The tragic side of gambling on 13:57 - Sep 18 by J2BLUE |
That is a terrible, terrible strategy.
It's almost as stupid as the martingale system on roulette.
Ideas like that are what get people in the position to want to chase in the first place. Seemingly 'can't lose' ideas where reality rapidly proves the idea wrong. |
Thing is its mathematically sound. The problem arises when eventually (and it will happen) you hit that long run of losing bets and the theory dictates you need to place 100's or 1000's on the next bet.
I read a similar system years ago and out of curiosity did a few dry runs. The intention was to win £5 per bet, all you had to do was keen going until that winner came in. After a few that worked I hit the inevitable long loosing run and reached the point where the system dictated my next bet should be £350. Had that lost the one after would be over £700. |  |
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| The tragic side of gambling on 14:27 - Sep 18 with 2913 views | Ryorry |
| The tragic side of gambling on 14:21 - Sep 18 by Weekender |
Thing is its mathematically sound. The problem arises when eventually (and it will happen) you hit that long run of losing bets and the theory dictates you need to place 100's or 1000's on the next bet.
I read a similar system years ago and out of curiosity did a few dry runs. The intention was to win £5 per bet, all you had to do was keen going until that winner came in. After a few that worked I hit the inevitable long loosing run and reached the point where the system dictated my next bet should be £350. Had that lost the one after would be over £700. |
It cannot possibly be "mathematically sound" when nether the odds, nor the type of race meeting, are factored in. Ordinary meeting at, eg Ripon on a Tuesday afternoon, or Royal Ascot, or the polytrack at Wolverhampton on a foggy Sat night in November when the back straight can barely be seen and dodgy goings on have been known to happen? | |
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| The tragic side of gambling on 14:32 - Sep 18 with 2905 views | Weekender |
| The tragic side of gambling on 14:27 - Sep 18 by Ryorry |
It cannot possibly be "mathematically sound" when nether the odds, nor the type of race meeting, are factored in. Ordinary meeting at, eg Ripon on a Tuesday afternoon, or Royal Ascot, or the polytrack at Wolverhampton on a foggy Sat night in November when the back straight can barely be seen and dodgy goings on have been known to happen? |
Those's things don't matter, only the odds.
Bet 1 you place stake to win £5. If that looses...
Bet 2 place stake to recover you lost stake for bet 1 plus £10 profit. If that looses...
Bet 3 place stake to recover you lost stakes for bets 1 and 2 plus £15.
etc. | |
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| The tragic side of gambling on 14:32 - Sep 18 with 2906 views | itfcjoe |
| The tragic side of gambling on 13:51 - Sep 18 by Oldsmoker |
Some 30 years ago, a friend of mine said he'd read an article that stated that the favourite would win at least one race at a meeting. The number of meetings where a favourite had failed to win was so few as to be statistically counted at zero.
So, you bet £10 on the favourite in the first race to win £20 profit. It loses.
You place a bet on the favourite in the second race to recover your losses (£10) and to win your £20 profit.
And on you go.
You could be betting on the last race about £100 to recover your losses and make a £20 profit thinking that this might be one of those meetings where the favourite doesn't win a race.
Could you hold your nerve?
By the way, as soon as the favourite wins a race you stop betting and pocket your £20 profit. |
A friend did that at uni, £10 down on red, then £20 on red, ended up losing about £300.
But on his stag do we all put £20 in a pot pre stag, and everyone was in charge of the money in a betting account for a week and by the time the stag came around we had £600 in the kitty - he then had to return to the scene of the crime and bet the kitty on red or black to be the hero of the stag do, or the villain - luckily he won.
No real moral to that story | |
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| The tragic side of gambling on 14:49 - Sep 18 with 2869 views | Ryorry |
| The tragic side of gambling on 14:32 - Sep 18 by Weekender |
Those's things don't matter, only the odds.
Bet 1 you place stake to win £5. If that looses...
Bet 2 place stake to recover you lost stake for bet 1 plus £10 profit. If that looses...
Bet 3 place stake to recover you lost stakes for bets 1 and 2 plus £15.
etc. |
Of course it matters - vast difference between a meeting where every horse will be trying its best, and a meeting where some, incl favs, will be deliberately entered & ridden to *not* win. [Post edited 18 Sep 2019 14:50]
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| The tragic side of gambling on 14:50 - Sep 18 with 2864 views | Oldsmoker |
| The tragic side of gambling on 13:57 - Sep 18 by J2BLUE |
That is a terrible, terrible strategy.
It's almost as stupid as the martingale system on roulette.
Ideas like that are what get people in the position to want to chase in the first place. Seemingly 'can't lose' ideas where reality rapidly proves the idea wrong. |
It is a terrible strategy.
If a Favourite is 100/30 on and you're covering losses then you may be placing £300 to win £20.
It's like compound interest gone mad.
Betting has never appealed to me so I dodged that bullet through lack of interest.
Of course, I do the lottery - gotta be in it to win it - and the odds on that are just bonkers. But it is as they say - a lottery. It's technically not gambling - the legislation is different - but I still lose more than I win. | |
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| The tragic side of gambling on 14:56 - Sep 18 with 2835 views | Weekender |
| The tragic side of gambling on 14:49 - Sep 18 by Ryorry |
Of course it matters - vast difference between a meeting where every horse will be trying its best, and a meeting where some, incl favs, will be deliberately entered & ridden to *not* win. [Post edited 18 Sep 2019 14:50]
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You're missing the point, its only the numbers that matter. You just have to keep going until you back a winner.
You could apply it to any sport as long as there is a never ending supply of bets. | |
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| The tragic side of gambling on 15:01 - Sep 18 with 2828 views | StokieBlue |
| The tragic side of gambling on 14:49 - Sep 18 by Ryorry |
Of course it matters - vast difference between a meeting where every horse will be trying its best, and a meeting where some, incl favs, will be deliberately entered & ridden to *not* win. [Post edited 18 Sep 2019 14:50]
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Those are situational factors not mathematical factors.
Given an infinite pot of money and time his strategy should be mathematically cohesive.
It's more a thought exercise than something that someone should actually do.
SB | |
| Avatar - IC410 - Tadpoles Nebula |
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| The tragic side of gambling on 15:02 - Sep 18 with 2824 views | WeWereZombies |
| The tragic side of gambling on 10:58 - Sep 18 by J2BLUE |
I think for many people it starts with chasing. Your first bet which you think is a cert and pile on or that first time you lost £50 playing blackjack. You think never mind, I’ll win it back. You place another bet, you double your blackjack stake. You lose. By this time desperation kicks in and you are looking at Argentinian football markets and teams you’ve never heard of or you’re doing that one final hand on blackjack. Win and you’re even, crisis over. Lose and you’ve taken a hard hit. Usually at this point you lose. Reality sets in. For some it hurts so much that you learn the lesson, write it off and don’t do it again. For others it has started the cycle.
I’ve had 3 occasions like that in my life. The first was when I had built a betting bank from £100 to £600. Spain were playing Iraq and I lumped all of it on Spain -2 and -3. They won 1-0.
Second time I lost several bets in a row and stuck my remaining balance on Inter. They drew 0-0.
Most recently, 3-4 years ago I was playing blackjack, £1 hands. I had soon lost £20. Angry and unwilling to be beaten I upped the hands to £5. Then £10. Then £20. Finally I was doing £25 hands.
Something I wouldn’t dream of doing any other time. When the mist descends and it just becomes numbers on a screen, a game based on fear it’s so hard to stop, so hard to remove yourself from that head fog. I lost £500. Thankfully that one really did hurt enough and with my matched betting training I developed real discipline. A loss now (sports, never games of chance) is just a business expense. No emotion involved anymore. Like paining by numbers what I do now is pretty boring.
I remember reading about a man at football screaming abuse at the ref as part of a crowd. He dropped something, bent down and picked it up. When he stood back up the spell was broken and he had a completely different reaction to the crowd. It’s the same with betting. Too easy to cloud your judgement. Random number generators paying out 96% disguised with lights, sounds, gimmicks and the delusion of playing through bonuses. If anyone plays slots online because of the bonuses, next time you are playing, before you start, go back to the casino homepage and refresh your balance. You’ve already been paid out whatever the bonus gives you. You are going through the motions of the lights, sounds and actually ‘playing’ the bonus because they are linking your emotions to the win. It’s not a feature for your entertainment, it’s built in marketing. Is it any better to have a GOT themed slot with special feature aimed at gamblers than it is to have Peppa Pig branded junk food aimed at kids?
My advice to any kids coming up to 18 is don’t bother opening a betting account. The game is rigged. You are 98% likely signing up to a liability. They make the rules, they choose who can bet with them and how much they will lay and they even void bets after they’ve won because they are morally bankrupt and legally exempt from the most basic of customer protections. |
You see what you started doing there, deflecting my point about the process of gambling changing the architecture of the brain. And in doing so you ended up describing some of the ways in which it happens. And in a backhand way showing how these gaming corporations reel people in, do not think for a moment that they do not have teams of experts optimising the presentation of websites and one armed bandits to maximise the take.
Nice analogy with junk food there, I have yet to see that Morgan Spurlock feature film but I remember a documentary about Mcdonalds marketing methods which involved company men sitting in diners and observing the most desperate eaters. One anecdote involved the 'salt shake' when someone had finished all there is in a serving of french fries but cannot resist lifting the upside down empty pack to their upturned mouth and shaking every last grain of salty scraps out. So Mcdonalds changed their packet design to facilitate this. And now they have their own University to bring all these tactics together. Maybe Michael Gove was right and we have had enough of experts... [Post edited 18 Sep 2019 15:09]
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