Ban gambling adverts?

I took your first comment on this as a joke - but if you are actually being serious then I think (with all respect) it might be the case that you don't have much grasp on how the gambling (and in particular online gambling) industry works.

A comparison with a sex addiction (and most other addictions for that matter) do not compare. Not due to the addictive nature, but down to the sheer power the gambling companies have in the market.

Banning anything never works and there has to be a bit of personal responsibility it is the same with forcing someone to take the vaccine it won't work. The way to do is for example anyone with a betting account would be declined a morgaage it's putting the responsibility and choice back on the individual.

Completely agree with this.

Let people gamble if they want, but the normalisation of it by excessive advertising needs to stop.

When I was a kid, I watched football religiously. Don't remember any gambling adverts.

If I was a kid now, watching football the way I did, I would believe I was supposed/expected to bet on every sporting event based on the television advertising during those events.

That's the problem!

Ban all of those sex ads on RTE, yeah definitely. 🙄

The argument against banning gambling advertising:

• Unlike other vices, gambling has no harmful affect on the majority of players. While around 50% of the population will gamble, only a low single-digit percentage will have a gambling problem.
• Advertising is important to direct players to locally taxed, licensed and regulated operators, who will be more likely to impose player protection measures — from age vetting, anti-money laundering and source of fund checks, to interventions when problem gambling behaviours are detected. Banning advertising makes it more likely for players to play at unregulated operators, often with fewer protections, and so may have the opposite affect than intended.
• Jobs: In Flutter, Ireland is home to the largest online gambling company in the world, home-grown and employing thousands of people across the country.

That said, there are lots of areas for improvement, both in advertising and in player protection more broadly. A watershed for TV advertising is a good idea, as is a greater prominence of safer gambling messaging. I would be in favour of limiting use of free bets and bonus incentives. Operators should also encourage greater adoption of deposit limits and so on, and regulators should have more power to hold operators accountable for shortcomings.

What you are saying about bricks and mortar is outdated.

The scourge from adverts is the promotion of how easy and how much "fun" it is to tap your phone when watching a game.

It stated on the radio this week, there is a 48% drop in the number of bookies shops open since 2008.

The big two, with the resources to run online, have virtually squeezed the small independent guys out of the market.

I might do an occasional football bet in a shop. And these days they are virtually empty the whole time.

The lads you refer to, the addict with no online presence, will find the bookies to feed his habit whether it's next to the post office or 10 miles out a country road. He might actually prefer the latter for secrecy.