Gambling Culture

simongurnick

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

That’s if it’s an issue. For the majority it’s just something they like to do rather than something to be clutching the pearls about.

I said addiction

ElJeffe

Fools and their money.

Granadino

The White Wolf wrote: »

Segmented audiences.....do you think it's just "lowly shams" that have a problem with gambling?

No not at all. But some audiences will be more lucrative than others.
I heard of a guy who quit working for a betting company (in their online dept) due to how they targeted people.
I often see jobs advertised for Gibraltar, attractive salary for that part of the world. Leave your ethics at the door on the way in to work though...

Muahahaha

Just listening to BBC 5 Live here and there is a discussion on gambling with a representative of the industry trying to defend them. The debate moderator said that there is a stat that in the UK for one bookie 83% of gambling revenues came from just 2% of customers by their use of VIP schemes. I couldnt believe my ears at that stat but upon googling it is true

VIP gamblers are more likely to be addicts than ordinary customers. Photograph: Daniel Hambury/PA
The dependence of the UK gambling industry on high-spending VIPs, customers who are disproportionately likely to be addicts, has been laid bare in a secret report obtained by the Guardian.

The Gambling Commission is considering whether to ban VIP schemes in Britain after collecting data from betting firms, including one that took 83% of all deposits from 2% of its customers.

The report, which has emerged as the government prepares to review gambling legislation, reveals for the first time the extent to which the industry relies on VIP schemes.

The much-criticised membership programmes reward gamblers who habitually lose large sums of money with perks such as free bets, cashback on losing wagers or football tickets.

The award of VIP status has been cited as a factor in seven out of 10 regulatory penalties issued to companies by the commission for failures to prevent problem gambling.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jan/02/gambling-report-shows-industrys-reliance-on-loss-making-customers

oldtimeyfella

Muahahaha wrote: »

Just listening to BBC 5 Live here and there is a discussion on gambling with a representative of the industry trying to defend them. The debate moderator said that there is a stat that in the UK for one bookie 83% of gambling revenues came from just 2% of customers by their use of VIP schemes. I couldnt believe my ears at that stat but upon googling it is true


https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jan/02/gambling-report-shows-industrys-reliance-on-loss-making-customers

AKA: whales.

biko

Kraftwerk wrote: »

I work beside a PP bookies and a pub. There's a steady stream of misery flowing back and forth between the pub and the bookies all day.

I'd imagine it's the same in pretty much every town. Bookies set up across from or next to pubs to snag the drunk and desperate and bleed them dry of their dole.

I don't think gambling can or should be banned, but it can be made a bit more difficult.

No gambling apps allowed, only gambling in person.
Bookies cannot operate within 500 feet of any establishment that sells alcohol.
ID always required
Cash only, never cards
etc
etc

If people want to have better odds, learn the stock market and make investments instead..

fantaiscool

fantaiscool wrote: »

.......

With gambling I think the addiction is to the hit that you get when you win a bet. Dopamine or whatever gets released and gives you that feel good feeling that you might not be getting anywhere else in life........

It's an interesting one...... The rush of having a bet on can be as much of a hit as a win really. I used to go to racemeetings frequently before covid and the actual betting was more fun than the odd win.

Any problem gamblers I knew over the years were in lala land looking for huge lifechanging wins/income....one lad wanted to become a pro gambler so he could give up drug dealing :eek: didn't go to plan of course and he ended up owing loads to folk that you'd not fnck with.

I read a heroin addicts view recently that he was actually addicted to the needle and when on methadone he used to still fnck about with needles and prick himself etc.

ceadaoin.

oldtimeyfella wrote: »

AKA: whales.

Yep. Worked for 2 of the biggest bookies and at one of them literally one customer kept them in profit. He would gamble millions of pounds a month

Yeah_Right

fantaiscool wrote: »

Was part of your job shutting winning gamblers down?

No. That's what the traders did. Glad they did it as it meant we made mor ed money and I got bigger bonuses.

You do realise that betting companies are a business and they are there to make a profit? They have the right to refuse service from anyone.

Irish_wolf

Not a gambler at all myself and I'm sick to flipping death of the non stop gambling ads on TV, youtube and everything in between.

They should be banned in my opinion. Like you can argue personal responsibility all you want but these companies are pumping millions into these ads. Bombarding you with people winning 'free' cash by outsmarting the system and just having a great time with their mates. I can feel it pulling at the primal strings in my head despite having no interest at all. When you have such an aggresive marketing campaign I dont think it's fair to place all the blame on the people who succumb to the pressure. At some stage you have to point the finger at the people pumping massive amounts of cash into programs deliberately designed to get into your head and manipulate your base emotions.

AllForIt

There is no such thing as gambling responsibly in the same way there is no such thing as smoking responsibly.

I find the whole gambling industry a murky reprehensible industry and if it were up to me I'd finish it off and take back the seedy profits they made and put it all back into mental health concerns.



edit: is there any such thing as *not* being addicted to gambling. I doubt it.

AllForIt

AllForIt wrote: »

There is no such thing as gambling responsibly in the same way there is no such thing as smoking responsibly.

I find the whole gambling industry a murky reprehensible industry and if it were up to me I'd finish it off and take back the seedy profits they made and put it all back into mental health concerns.



edit: is there any such thing as *not* being addicted to gambling. I doubt it.

And send it underground?

Bobeagleburger

Tax them, not ban them. Banning never works.

Smoking and alcohol are taxed heavily why not gambling? Government are too soft on it.

Use the cash for problem gamblers and mental health service.

Doesn't win votes though..

fantaiscool

Yeah_Right wrote: »

No. That's what the traders did. Glad they did it as it meant we made mor ed money and I got bigger bonuses.

You do realise that betting companies are a business and they are there to make a profit? They have the right to refuse service from anyone.

Of course it's a business i get that.

Don't you think it's completely unscrupulous to not advertise that you will be shut down if you win though? They completely leave that out of all advertising. Instead they advertise poor value bets like accumulators, lucky 15s etc.

What about the lad who loses for quite some time, "learns" to start betting in terms of percentage of his bankroll, cuts out stupid bets like accumulators and starts winning due to his knowledge of the sport. He then gets shut down out of the blue and it comes as a shock. Good business move, yes. Deceptive and scummy? I think so.

6

6 wrote: »

Tax them, not ban them. Banning never works.

Smoking and alcohol are taxed heavily why not gambling? Government are too soft on it.

Use the cash for problem gamblers and mental health service.

Doesn't win votes though..

Taxing everything else seems to win plenty of votes.

weldoninhio

AllForIt wrote: »

There is no such thing as gambling responsibly in the same way there is no such thing as smoking responsibly.

I find the whole gambling industry a murky reprehensible industry and if it were up to me I'd finish it off and take back the seedy profits they made and put it all back into mental health concerns.



edit: is there any such thing as *not* being addicted to gambling. I doubt it.

What a stupid statement!!

dublin49

for me gambling is learnt behaviour.I Know families where its endemic and others where nobody would know how to place a bet.I suspect if the father in a household is interested in gambling there is a much more greater chance his children will become similarly interested as they move into adulthood.My father had no interest in gambling and neither have my brothers or I.I also acknowledge if a strong personality in a group of friends has an unhealthly interest in gambling other friends will be inducted into the fraternity they initially had no interest in.

deathbomber

6 wrote: »

Tax them, not ban them. Banning never works.

Smoking and alcohol are taxed heavily why not gambling? Government are too soft on it.

Use the cash for problem gamblers and mental health service.

Doesn't win votes though..

actually there used to be a 10% tax before and it was dropped and rightly so. We pay enough taxes in this country, inheritance tax being the biggest scam ever!

Muahahaha

deathbomber wrote: »

actually there used to be a 10% tax before and it was dropped and rightly so. We pay enough taxes in this country, inheritance tax being the biggest scam ever!

You're paying higher income taxes because gambling is taxed at only 1%. Why should taxpayers who dont even gamble be subsidising this industry while their income tax is up to 52%?

The 1% tax on gambling is a joke and should be put back to 10% like it always was until that eejit McCreeevy reduced it to 0%.The Fianna Fail hollowing out of the tax base made the recession even worse than it should have been because they had no taxation from this industry. Cigarettes taxed at 80%, alcohol at 60% yet the gambling industry gets a free ride at 1%.

2lazytogetup

6 wrote: »

Tax them, not ban them. Banning never works.

Smoking and alcohol are taxed heavily why not gambling? Government are too soft on it.

Use the cash for problem gamblers and mental health service.

Doesn't win votes though..

smoking and alcohol are taxed because the government need to recoup some of the costs of treating lung cancer of smokers, and kidney/heart problems of heavy drinkers. Then there is the police and court costs of dealing with anti social behaviour of drinkers.

for gambling.... bookies pay commercial rates. horse racing generates great tourism for ireland. gambling is still a bad vice and i feel sorry for the addicts, but i cant see the justification for taxing. mental services for gambling addicts is hardly a large state expenditure.

skooterblue2

TheValeyard wrote: »

I have a serious problem with loot crates and gamble boxes aimed at kids. Genuinely think it's the cigarettes of that generation. Will be serious problems down the road because of them.

Can you find Simon Sineks lecture on youtube? dealing with instant gratification?

skooterblue2

2lazytogetup wrote: »

...... and i feel sorry for the addicts, but i cant see the justification for taxing. mental services for gambling addicts is hardly a large state expenditure.

Have you ever seen a gambling addict? My uncle was one. Blew two farms and the bank came for the last one in the early 1990's when farming was at an all time low and it went for £2.5k and acre.