Gambling really is a mugs game.

MilesMorales1

I was out with my friend on the Friday, neither of us drinks or smokes, but we went in the newsagents and he decided to get a scratch card. I said not to, cos its stupid cos gambling is stupid, house always wins etc. But he decided to buy those 1 euro scratch cards, ended up spending 47 euro on them, he won 2 €2 cards, and 1 €4 euro, but he put them back into the cards, so in the end he won nothing.

I had 2 euro left over in change from buying food, so I decided to buy 2 cards, just for the craic, and I won €1000.

I mean thats riddiculous isn't it. I'm pleased I won money, don't get me wrong. But its such bad odds that he can spend x amount and win nothing, and then I spend 2 quid and win a huge amount. I mean that is the point of gambling, obviously, its all chance. But it doesn't compute for me. Won't be gambling again.

Barry Badrinath

Will you be sound and give him the €47 he lost from your winnings?

If you did indeed win.

Did you win or is this bullsh1t?

It is bullsh1t isnt it...

Gwan, tell us the truth you mug.

What scratch card was it? Iv €2 here burning a hole in my pocket and im feeling lucky.

Cmon winner winner chicken dinner, spill the beans you mad lad ye!

Collie D

It's not all chance. Scratch cards, lotteries, raffles, roulette, etc. Yes

Sports betting, political betting, even betting on Big Brother or Eurovision if that's your thing aren't chance

Kauto

MilesMorales1 wrote: »

I was out with my friend on the Friday, neither of us drinks or smokes, but we went in the newsagents and he decided to get a scratch card. I said not to, cos its stupid cos gambling is stupid, house always wins etc. But he decided to buy those 1 euro scratch cards, ended up spending 47 euro on them, he won 2 €2 cards, and 1 €4 euro, but he put them back into the cards, so in the end he won nothing.

I had 2 euro left over in change from buying food, so I decided to buy 2 cards, just for the craic, and I won €1000.

I mean thats riddiculous isn't it. I'm pleased I won money, don't get me wrong. But its such bad odds that he can spend x amount and win nothing, and then I spend 2 quid and win a huge amount. I mean that is the point of gambling, obviously, its all chance. But it doesn't compute for me. Won't be gambling again.

Spoken like a true mug.

MilesMorales1

Senor Fancy Pants wrote: »

Will you be sound and give him the €47 he lost from your winnings?

If you did indeed win.

Did you win or is this bullsh1t?

It is bullsh1t isnt it...

Gwan, tell us the truth you mug.

What scratch card was it? Iv €2 here burning a hole in my pocket and im feeling lucky.

Cmon winner winner chicken dinner, spill the beans you mad lad ye!

I would have given him a few quid, honestly I would. But he started going on about how he deserved the winning card and I didn't since he spent more than I did and he was the gambler. So I did the mature thing and waved it in his face.

The_Valeyard

So I won a grand hahaha thread?

R P McMurphy

MilesMorales1 wrote: »

I was out with my friend on the Friday, neither of us drinks or smokes, but we went in the newsagents and he decided to get a scratch card. I said not to, cos its stupid cos gambling is stupid, house always wins etc. But he decided to buy those 1 euro scratch cards, ended up spending 47 euro on them, he won 2 €2 cards, and 1 €4 euro, but he put them back into the cards, so in the end he won nothing.

I had 2 euro left over in change from buying food, so I decided to buy 2 cards, just for the craic, and I won €1000.

I mean thats riddiculous isn't it. I'm pleased I won money, don't get me wrong. But its such bad odds that he can spend x amount and win nothing, and then I spend 2 quid and win a huge amount. I mean that is the point of gambling, obviously, its all chance. But it doesn't compute for me. Won't be gambling again.

Too late for you now. With that win you have gotten the bug and within two years will be eating out of bins. You shouldn't have bought those two cards

tomwaterford

MilesMorales1 wrote: »

I would have given him a few quid, honestly I would. But he started going on about how he deserved the winning card and I didn't since he spent more than I did and he was the gambler. So I did the mature thing and waved it in his face.

So after watching your friend lose 47 euro.....you proceeded then to have a go yourself?

Barry Badrinath

MilesMorales1 wrote: »

I would have given him a few quid, honestly I would. But he started going on about how he deserved the winning card and I didn't since he spent more than I did and he was the gambler. So I did the mature thing and waved it in his face.

So, none of this happened then.

Grand so. Im off to fly my gold spaceship under the sea to fight a Greek God on the back of my pet Yeti.

Laters

MilesMorales1

tomwaterford wrote: »

So after watching your friend lose 47 euro.....you proceeded then to have a go yourself?

2 quid is 2 quid. I'd have only spent it on food or put it in the piggy bank.

Del2005

Collie D wrote: »

It's not all chance. Scratch cards, lotteries, raffles, roulette, etc. Yes

Sports betting, political betting, even betting on Big Brother or Eurovision if that's your thing aren't chance

Sports betting definitely isn't chance. Most horse and dog racing is fixed. I used to work in a race course and guaranteed that every few meetings the stable yard would empty 2 minutes before the off and run to the bookies, I doubt that they were all backing their own horses.

MilesMorales1

But it is chance. You could have all the odds like what you're saying about sports or horses, but some bollocks could still happen and you lose. In theory, my friend spent more money, so he should have bought the winning card.

Harry Palmr

After-timing :mad: You should have started this thread before you went in and then did a live feed to us.

Dirty Dingus McGee

If you're good at it it's the best thing in the world you could do.

The Talking Bread

Methinks this is a Sunday morning Troll and fishing rod thread. Whatever floats your boat!

Del2005

MilesMorales1 wrote: »

But it is chance. You could have all the odds like what you're saying about sports or horses, but some bollocks could still happen and you lose. In theory, my friend spent more money, so he should have bought the winning card.

Yes something can happen in a race but if the horse/dog doesn't win then they do it again with even better odds.

If gambling returned on the amount you put in then why are gambling addicts also broke? Every ticket has the same odds of winning, buying more doesn't decrease the odds all it means is that you are repeatedly beating your head against a wall and expecting not to hurt it.

If you want to gamble with improving odds you have to card count at blackjack, but the dealers also card count and you'll be asked to leave.

The house always wins.

hairyslug

Thinly veiled "I was out on Friday night" thread

mdwexford

Del2005 wrote: »

Yes something can happen in a race but if the horse/dog doesn't win then they do it again with even better odds.

If gambling returned on the amount you put in then why are gambling addicts also broke? Every ticket has the same odds of winning, buying more doesn't decrease the odds all it means is that you are repeatedly beating your head against a wall and expecting not to hurt it.

If you want to gamble with improving odds you have to card count at blackjack, but the dealers also card count and you'll be asked to leave.

The house always wins.

Not always, so called unlucky losers are sometimes the most underpriced runners next time out.

Buying more tickets does increase your chances of having a winning one but it could be one with €2 on it.

Dealers don't card count at blackjack, why would they. They can't influence anything, once the cards and shuffled and in the shoe then all they do is pull them out.

scamalert

im good at poker,but usually play it by chances % ratio,say if 2positions are paid on 6ppl table chance is that 1of3 will make it,thus consider any position where 1-5 with some control like bluffing is possible to reach paying point is good odds.But at to the mix easy access to betting or casino cash evaporates,since online they like to hold withdrawals for few days and got burned on that one to many times.i can buy scratchcard 2-3e since chances are 1/4.5 and 2 euro wont break a bank,but buying euro millions with 11mill to 1 of winning and not even sure how lucky one has to be to get even couple numbers to get back 3-4e its always profit for such organizers.

think simple rule is its fun to do things like betting or gamble sometimes,but if not being self aware,for me putting 10e is enough to get gut kick not to play for months,but as someone noted long ago you always see bookies saturated in worst places,meaning poor will drop in, will become regular losers,and few wins just fuel that long loosing streak which becomes illness to some. Louis Thereoux has good documentary on gambling following one rich guy and it shows how little control people have when it comes to few lucky streaks just to waste it all.

con___manx1

tell that to your one who won 83 million on the euromillions 2 weeks ago

Outlaw Pete

People who gamble are idiots.

Tenner says this thread gets moved to the Gambling forum.

riffmongous

God I really feel like placing a few bets now after reading this

BorneTobyWilde

Outlaw Pete wrote: »

People who gamble are idiots.

Tenner says this thread gets moved to the Gambling forum.

Yes gambling is for idiots
Now what odds are you offering on thread being moved ?

Grayson

Paddy Power released a study in which they estimate that up to 2/3 of people who gamble online are addicted. It's a horrible industry that preys on people with addiction issues.

The reason gambling is addictive is the endorphin's released when your doing it. You actually get a little high on it. It's enjoyable and can become addictive.

Byt that's the problem, it's enjoyable. I like it. I'll but a lotto ticket occasionally. I play poker with friends. It's a €5 buy in so nothing big. But when it's down to the line, you've got a good hand and you're coming up to the point where it all depends on a few hands, the giddiness is ridiculous.

So I only play poker with friends for a small buy in and buy lottery tickets. Even then I limit myself to a one line quickpick. It's easy to deceive yourself that if you buy more lines you might win. It's easy to say that the next horse will be a winner. It's easy to think the next scratch card will be the one.

When you think of the money spent on poker as a bit of fun, that's ok. When you start thinking of it as an investment and want to chase your losses, then it's a problem.

goose2005

Senor Fancy Pants wrote: »

Will you be sound and give him the €47 he lost from your winnings?

what do you think he'll do with €47?

goose2005

con___manx1 wrote: »

tell that to your one who won 83 million on the euromillions 2 weeks ago

And the 42,500,000 who lost €2 so she could make that?

Del2005

mdwexford wrote: »

Not always, so called unlucky losers are sometimes the most underpriced runners next time out.

Buying more tickets does increase your chances of having a winning one but it could be one with €2 on it.

Dealers don't card count at blackjack, why would they. They can't influence anything, once the cards and shuffled and in the shoe then all they do is pull them out.

The owner/trainer know what they are doing so they will win.

Dealers count cards because card counting is against casino rules, so when you increase your bets when the count is in your favour you'll be asked to leave.

The best way to know that gambling is a mugs game is that the online bookies will close an account if you win to often, they never close the account of someone who looses.

mdwexford

Del2005 wrote: »

The owner/trainer know what they are doing so they will win.

Dealers count cards because card counting is against casino rules, so when you increase your bets when the count is in your favour you'll be asked to leave.

The best way to know that gambling is a mugs game is that the online bookies will close an account if you win to often, they never close the account of someone who looses.

But you can't account for fallers, being brought down, a horse bleeding or a host of other factors. Even if the horse is trying for its life it can still lose.

I used to work in casinos. No where I worked did dealers count cards while dealing blackjack. Very few people in Ireland at least would be trying to count cards in casinos. Even the limits at the tables being so small in most places would make it not a very profitable plan.

Of course long term gambling will be a losing game for 95%+ of people. Bookies these days will limit their exposure and not be willing to take a lot of bets. Times on my paddy power account I've tried to get 50 on a 2/1 and I'll be told maximum is 16.35 or some similar nonsense.

diomed

Annoying misuse of the word Gambling.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

MilesMorales1 wrote: »

I was out with my friend on the Friday, neither of us drinks or smokes, but we went in the newsagents and he decided to get a scratch card. I said not to, cos its stupid cos gambling is stupid, house always wins etc. But he decided to buy those 1 euro scratch cards, ended up spending 47 euro on them, he won 2 €2 cards, and 1 €4 euro, but he put them back into the cards, so in the end he won nothing.

I had 2 euro left over in change from buying food, so I decided to buy 2 cards, just for the craic, and I won €1000.

I mean thats riddiculous isn't it. I'm pleased I won money, don't get me wrong. But its such bad odds that he can spend x amount and win nothing, and then I spend 2 quid and win a huge amount. I mean that is the point of gambling, obviously, its all chance. But it doesn't compute for me. Won't be gambling again.

47 euro on scratchcards? Yes, that's a mug. But not because he's gmabling, but gambling that much on pure randomness.

artanevilla

Gambling is fine. Like everything you have to do it correctly and in moderation.

My rules are:

Never gamble if you can't afford it.

As soon as the bet is on, your money is gone regardless of potential outcome, if you lose grand, you've already accepted the money is gone, if you win happy days.

Gamble for fun and not for money, as I say above your money should be considered gone and not coming back, but now you have a stake in an event and it should add excitement so enjoy it.

There's no such thing as luck or a sure thing.

Rumpy Pumpy

I'm a moderately profitable punter. I enjoy it as a hobby. Keep my bets to €20 a go in the bookies, regardless of odds. Will have an odd higher bet if I go to the races - a day out I love anyway. Keep a simple profit and loss spreadsheet. Only gamble on national hunt racing - no bumpers or staying chases. Only do singles. Never gamble just for the sake of it. I usually make a few hundred profit by the end of the year - if I don't then no great loss.

It's a wretched thing to get addicted to though.

FlawedGenius

Did the OP give his mate back his €47(should really give more)?? Havent read the full thread. If he didnt hes no mate( and a tight ****).
Gambling is like sports, majority people - 90 odd percent dont have the ability to become professional(in the particular sport), or in gambling make a profit longterm.
Betting on animals to win you money is for mugs, the horse/dog cant tell you if he doesnt feel up to it today.
Scratchcards are for grannys.

Motivator

I'd probably be classed as a gambling addict which is worrying but I must say I love having a bet. I'm monitored in all shops in my local area, something I get quite a kick out of. I've been refused bets, often more than once in every shop in town which can be frustrating but when I catch them out it's extremely satisfying.

Got refused an €800 bet at Christmas - the chap begind the counter had to ring the bet in and I got knocked, €200 at the price and €200 at SP. No problem. Went home and went back about 10 mins before the off, split the bet up and gave money to two other lads in the shop. Strolled up to the counter and had €800 on it, whilst the chap behind the counter re-dialled the traders, my two accomplices had €400 each on the horse with the other staff behind the counter. I once again got rejected and actually got laughed at by the chap who hung up the phone. I smiled and said it wasn't a problem and then took both €400 dockets off my two pals either side of me at the counter. The look on the chap's face behind the counter was a picture. The other staff were falling around laughing as they knew exactly what was happening as they were taking the bets.

The horse won and they refused to pay out the bets saying I was trying to con the staff. Nothing illegal at all and after checking the cameras they couldn't see any money changing hands so after nearly 1 hour waiting for calls to be made and received by staff both dockets were paid out, a roar went up from the punters in the shop when the money was paid out.

Am I a mug? Definitely. Am I a mug punter? No. Is gambling for mugs? Yes, but only if you punt in €10 and €20. These are the fellas who think they have control just because they don't bet big. My turnover per year is close to six figures but at the end of the day I'm in profit while the fellas betting in scores are down a few grand at the end of the year because they haven't a clue what they're doing. Losing €20 a week for a whole year all adds up. If you think you're safe because you only bet in scores then give up the ghost, you're still losing money every year.

FlawedGenius

artanevilla wrote: »

Gambling is fine. Like everything you have to do it correctly and in moderation.

My rules are:

Never gamble if you can't afford it.

As soon as the bet is on, your money is gone regardless of potential outcome, if you lose grand, you've already accepted the money is gone, if you win happy days.

Gamble for fun and not for money, as I say above your money should be considered gone and not coming back, but now you have a stake in an event and it should add excitement so enjoy it.

There's no such thing as luck or a sure thing.

Course theres such thing as bad/good luck, in every aspect of life, and there are sure things, its called match fixing. Happens in most sports around the world every week. Happened in the olympics, the boxing. Very hard to prove you lose on purpose though.

MilesMorales1

FlawedGenius wrote: »

Did the OP give his mate back his €47(should really give more)?? Havent read the full thread. If he didnt hes no mate( and a tight ****).
Gambling is like sports, majority people - 90 odd percent dont have the ability to become professional(in the particular sport), or in gambling make a profit longterm.
Betting on animals to win you money is for mugs, the horse/dog cant tell you if he doesnt feel up to it today.
Scratchcards are for grannys.

If he doesn't be such a ****, I'll drop him a few quid. When he's referring to me as a thief for buying a scratch card he didn't on social media, then I won't no.


Betting big sounds like a way to losing big anyway.

artanevilla

FlawedGenius wrote: »

Course theres such thing as bad/good luck, in every aspect of life, and there are sure things, its called match fixing. Happens in most sports around the world every week. Happened in the olympics, the boxing. Very hard to prove you lose on purpose though.

That's not luck, that's cheating.

osarusan

Was in the bookies the other day and a lad was going mad with a jockey that cost him a bet. Really cursing and angry. Then she showed his friend the betting slip and it was a €3 bet on a 2/1 favourite.

What I always notice in the bookies is when a race is over, people who backed losing horses will go back up to the race lists/race info on the walls and re-examine the winner's form, and then make some comment like 'Sure that's a Nigel Twiston-Davies horse' or 'Sure he won at Sedgefield last time out,' as if this nugget of info was clear evidence of the horse's superiority.

Why didn't you spot it before the race then?

FlawedGenius

MilesMorales1 wrote: »

If he doesn't be such a ****, I'll drop him a few quid. When he's referring to me as a thief for buying a scratch card he didn't on social media, then I won't no.


Betting big sounds like a way to losing big anyway.

Or winning big, brainless thing to say. Chelsea to beat Arsenal yesterday was a great bet, €200 on u would get back €400. A calculated risk, no different than investing, ofcourse most people are clueless and bet with there hearts or to hit the jackpot and thats why the bookies make millions.

MilesMorales1

FlawedGenius wrote: »

Or winning big, Chelsea to beat Arsenal yesterday was a great bet, €200 on u would get back €400. A calculated risk, no different than investing, ofcourse most people are clueless and bet with there hearts or to hit the jackpot and thats why the bookies make millions.

I'd be absolutely gutted if I lost 200 quid though. I wouldn't invest in that sense either, not till I had more money anyway.

FlawedGenius

artanevilla wrote: »

That's not luck, that's cheating.

Not on the punters side.Cheating for the sportsmen/athletes involved. It shouldnt happen, but for a punter getting information that a team or sportsman intends to lose hes doing nothing wrong, and it cant be proved. Its up to the bookies to spot it and suspend the betting.

Hector Bellend

You could look at this another way. It adds up to the same thing just an altered perspective.

If you are running a lottery, scratch card, bingo or any other gambling operation and have not built a healthy edge into your operation then you're an idiot.

On the other hand, if you re an experienced punter and have not figured out that the numbers are stacked against you then youre an even bigger idiot.

To say that gambling is a way of life isnt strictly true but theres an element of risk in almost everything we do. Its how you evaluate and manage this risk that will determine your outcome

MilesMorales1

Hector Bellend wrote: »

You could look at this another way. It adds up to the same thing just an altered perspective.

If you are running a lottery, scratch card, bingo or any other gambling operation and have not built a healthy edge into your operation then you're an idiot.

On the other hand, if you re an experienced punter and have not figured out that the numbers are stacked against you then youre an even bigger idiot.

To say that gambling is a way of life isnt strictly true but theres an element of risk in almost everything we do. Its how you evaluate and manage this risk that will determine your outcome

Well I'm not a risk taker, on a personal level :pac: Knowing my personality, I would gamble intensively for a period, lose the money I have, and then get off it and realise what a terrible mistake it was. I was nearly tempted to buy some scratch cards today in case I got lucky again, then stopped myself when I thought of the odds.

pumpkin4life

If you're going to gamble in the bookies tae make money, your're onto a loser already. Bookies tend to win in the long term due to the asymmetric information between the bet setter and the bet taker. And a solid understanding of poisson models can help too.

With that in mind, the best bests to make are the ones where you're on a more even level in terms of information. Think horseracing or betting on referendums/political events, over say football matches. Or, if you have some great inside information /truly understand football, not the fat lad who played soccer for his club once and got the last minute header in the under 17 school team cause the goalie was too hungover to do anything about it.

For the more statistically inclined, maybe take a look at Bayesian statistics or count models.

Then they'll close your account if you win too much.

Yourself isit

pumpkin4life wrote: »

If you're going to gamble in the bookies tae make money, your're onto a loser already. Bookies tend to win in the long term due to the asymmetric information between the bet setter and the bet taker. And a solid understanding of poisson models can help too.

With that in mind, the best bests to make are the ones where you're on a more even level in terms of information. Think horseracing or betting on referendums/political events, over say football matches. Or, if you have some great inside information /truly understand football, not the fat lad who played soccer for his club once and got the last minute header in the under 17 school team cause the goalie was too hungover to do anything about it.

For the more statistically inclined, maybe take a look at Bayesian statistics or count models.

I don't get horseracing as not gambling ( not without insider info). Far too many variables particularly in national hunt - horses, course, weather, ground and jockey. And a horse could fall. All multipliers.

I think you could bet against sentiment for one on one type games (tennis, badminton etc). If there is a popular tennis player who isn't that good then a bet against him on betfair might pay off more often than not.

FlawedGenius

pumpkin4life wrote: »

If you're going to gamble in the bookies tae make money, your're onto a loser already. Bookies tend to win in the long term due to the asymmetric information between the bet setter and the bet taker. And a solid understanding of poisson models can help too.

With that in mind, the best bests to make are the ones where you're on a more even level in terms of information. Think horseracing or betting on referendums/political events, over say football matches. Or, if you have some great inside information /truly understand football, not the fat lad who played soccer for his club once and got the last minute header in the under 17 school team cause the goalie was too hungover to do anything about it.

For the more statistically inclined, maybe take a look at Bayesian statistics or count models.

Then they'll close your account if you win too much.

All nonsense apart from the last line about closing accounts, but theres many ways around that which are obvious like opening in friends names.
Also betfair exchange cannot close your account because your only taking other mugs money.
Politics is only good if youv inside info into the polls and Im sure everyone lumped on Hillary when Trump became candidate for president.
Exactly what poster above said about horse racing. Apart from not knowing what humour the horse is in, how do u know if the horse hasnt got the flu.

FlawedGenius

Yourself isit wrote: »

I don't get horseracing as not gambling ( not without insider info). Far too many variables particularly in national hunt - horses, course, weather, ground and jockey. And a horse could fall. All multipliers.

I think you could bet against sentiment for one on one type games (tennis, badminton etc). If there is a popular tennis player who isn't that good then a bet against him on betfair might pay off more often than not.

Spot on, if you bet/layed against Liverpool for the last 20 years you would be a millionaire. All the wannabe scousers in Ireland lumping on them down the boooookies drives the odds down which makes the odds for opposing team percentage wise too high for there chances of getting a draw/win, long term this is profitable. To people in after hours this is gabadygoo but trying to simplify it

DanielODonnell

I'm in around £3500 worth of debt because of it, it sucks you in, you would be surprised how quick it can take over your mind. I haven't gambled in a month and you realise how boring your life is without sports gambling.

I sometimes think I would have more money if I kept gambling but even if I won £3000 tonight I would still just be breaking even.

Hilly Bill

MilesMorales1 wrote: »

I would have given him a few quid, honestly I would. But he started going on about how he deserved the winning card and I didn't since he spent more than I did and he was the gambler. So I did the mature thing and waved it in his face.

You played him like a mug. You waited until he'd bought all the loosing ones and when the time was right you jumped in ahead of him and bought the winner. Some mate you are.

Guy:Incognito

MilesMorales1 wrote: »

2 quid is 2 quid. I'd have only spent it on food or put it in the piggy bank.

Yes but if you remember back to your first tale, sorry post, he only wanted to spend one euro and you told him not to "cos gambling is stupid". Yet you dive straight in with twice as much , even after having your point proven?

EDIT. Damn you ****ers and dragging up old threads. Worst part is it sounded vaguely familiar when I was reading it.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Gambling is a game, like anything else. If you do it to win money, then you either have to be very good at something (e.g. poker) or very lucky.

I gamble on football matches all the time, but never more than one or two euro. It passes the time and gives you a reason to watch Ajax v Utrecht and makes it more enjoyable. Even though I only stand to win 50c,