Silk Road forums

Discussion => Off topic => Topic started by: Limetless on August 06, 2012, 07:33 pm

Title: Gambling addicts and people who gamble in general
Post by: Limetless on August 06, 2012, 07:33 pm
I'm watching this episode of Dispatches on Channel 4 (U.K T.V) and it's about the rise of betting shops in the U.K and the problems that it causes. To be fair I think it is becoming an issue in the U.K because you see multiple betting shops on one street and in the area featured there are 11 on 1 high street in London. The machines that are causing the most issue seem to be these FOBT machines which means Fixed Odd Betting Terminals (computerized gaming).

Does anyone here actually use them? It seems bloody pointless to me lol, it's not even like you are gambling on real events. I see the point of playing cards for money, sports and casino gambling but loosing money to a computer program? Idiocy.

Like to hear other peoples opinions on this.
Title: Re: Gambling addicts and people who gamble in general
Post by: BanWork on August 06, 2012, 07:53 pm
Gonna watch it on 4+1 My bro uses them a fair bit but he can afford it, such a waste imo. I know people who pump their rent into those machines, normally people who can least afford it Almost everytime I gamble I lose, so it holds no attraction for me whatsoever. I find  computer generated roulette even less attractive (only played it a few times), it seems all too easy for the bookmaker to tamper with the odds, on the rare occasion that I visit a casino at least I can see the ball randomly bouncing around towards my impending loss and I get to share the fun of losing with a few other people, if it happens on a screen I somehow feel more cheated. Id much rather shovel my money up my nose.
Title: Re: Gambling addicts and people who gamble in general
Post by: Twelve_Pickles on August 06, 2012, 08:02 pm
my first job was in a newsagents & you generally see three commonplace addicts in such a shop. the drinkers buying the frosty jack at 9/10am (good for them!) smokers; majority of the customers & people who buy lottery / scratchcards.

it was the scratchcard buyers i could never work out, every Tuesday a lil old lady would get off the bus, waddle over the the PO to withdraw her pension & walk in, dragging her shopping cart behind her and literally blow everything on scratchcards, she wouldn't buy them all in one go though; 20 quid on 1 & 2 pound cards, then off to Greggs for a slice of cake an a brew, return & repeat. poor old dear won a few quid every now and then but was always left severely out of pocket, her winnings just went on scratchcards.

walking out the shop she'd always say something like how she wanted to leave something for her grandkids but never had any 'real' money & had put everything into scratchies and continued to waste the coin.

she wasnt the only one, just one of the most touching stories.
Title: Re: Gambling addicts and people who gamble in general
Post by: 751a696c24d97009 on August 06, 2012, 08:05 pm
Waste of money and doesn't seem any fun to me. Why not play a real game?
Title: Re: Gambling addicts and people who gamble in general
Post by: Limetless on August 06, 2012, 08:08 pm
Yeah I mean I am not anti-gambling at all, I play cards for money with my pals and been the Cheltenham Festival a few times and had a right laugh but that's all real and cards takes skill and you can actually cheer at Chelt because the horses are real and it's exciting to hear them rush by. These FOBT things is just betting against coding so from that alone you are fucked from the start and where is the excitement or skill involved at pressing things on a screen?

I walked by one of the high-street betting shops the other day and they really are quite unsavory places. Completely soulless and lifeless they are the sort of places that are clearly designed to suck the weak-minded in.
Title: Re: Gambling addicts and people who gamble in general
Post by: Limetless on August 06, 2012, 08:10 pm
my first job was in a newsagents & you generally see three commonplace addicts in such a shop. the drinkers buying the frosty jack at 9/10am (good for them!) smokers; majority of the customers & people who buy lottery / scratchcards.

it was the scratchcard buyers i could never work out, every Tuesday a lil old lady would get off the bus, waddle over the the PO to withdraw her pension & walk in, dragging her shopping cart behind her and literally blow everything on scratchcards, she wouldn't buy them all in one go though; 20 quid on 1 & 2 pound cards, then off to Greggs for a slice of cake an a brew, return & repeat. poor old dear won a few quid every now and then but was always left severely out of pocket, her winnings just went on scratchcards.

walking out the shop she'd always say something like how she wanted to leave something for her grandkids but never had any 'real' money & had put everything into scratchies and continued to waste the coin.

she wasnt the only one, just one of the most touching stories.

Gordon fucking Bennett.  ::)
Title: Re: Gambling addicts and people who gamble in general
Post by: Duckman on August 06, 2012, 08:14 pm
I think its one of the signs of a poor economy.

I have traveled all over the world and noticed that in poorer westernized countries, FOBT are considered to be a huge problem.

I guess when people have no way of making any real money and are part of a society that glorifies people who have money then the poorer elements are drawn to FOBT as they see it as a potential to turn some money that wont buy much into some money that might buy something worth having.

Title: Re: Gambling addicts and people who gamble in general
Post by: Limetless on August 06, 2012, 08:27 pm
I think its one of the signs of a poor economy.

I have traveled all over the world and noticed that in poorer westernized countries, FOBT are considered to be a huge problem.

I guess when people have no way of making any real money and are part of a society that glorifies people who have money then the poorer elements are drawn to FOBT as they see it as a potential to turn some money that wont buy much into some money that might buy something worth having.

Yeah course it is, in this London high street it was in a Less-Than-Des-Res area and there was 11 betting shops and the locals had just vetoed a 12th. In David Cameron's constituency which is a Ultra-Des-Res area there is 1 betting shop in the whole town and it's hidden away down a back alley so it doesn't make the place any less down the Middle-Class scale (fucking good thing too, it would encourage the undesirables to go there). So the established rule is that the more lower class and broke-as-a-joke peons there are the more people like BetFred, William Hill and co are going to be able to rip them off. Why is this? It's obvious and that's because the richer you are the less you feel the need to search for the one big payoff that will put you on easy street because life is already pretty good as it is. The more desperate people are, the more desperate solutions people seek and gambling certainly drops into that category. You only need to read BanWorks post to see this is true.
Title: Re: Gambling addicts and people who gamble in general
Post by: lolzer on August 06, 2012, 08:28 pm
i sometimes play poker. don't know if that counts as gambling. only addicted while playing though, as soon as the game ends, i'm clean (apart from the cannabis i consumed in the meantime). sometimes i also place some numbers in lotto, because my girl wants to play (huge euro millions jackpot).
Title: Re: Gambling addicts and people who gamble in general
Post by: lefthandspinner on August 06, 2012, 08:29 pm
they have so many shops next to each other and shit coz there only allowed 4 machines a shop ,so to get round it they have to open another shop2 doors down ,theere classed as the crack of betting

anyone who plays FOBT is a problem gambler or a complete mug there fixed to pay out a certain % so why play something were the odds arnt in your favour ,casinos have an edge but a few % them machines will be 25% edge or some mad shit

sports betting complete different to them machines your backing your opinion or u think the price is wrong .like if you were doing heads/tales now its evens each, so u bet £1 to win £1   50/50  if i offered u 6/4 ( £1 to win £1.50 ) heads u would have to bet it coz your getting 6/4 about an evens chance so even if its tales and u lose  u still made the right bet coz your getting value and in the end you will be up and sports betting is like that or u get traders who just trade the prices on betting exchanges the same as bit coins or shares they  dont care who wins there in and out by that time
a tennis match with 2 big players will have 50 mil traded on 1 site the odds change after every point
the betting exchanges wiped out the bookies sports profits when they came on the scene where u can back and lay(take bets)against other people and mainly bots but they bet in running and is so much better than normal bookies ,so the bookies jumped all over the FOBTS when they appeared
people love em its mental my mate on his dinner break fed the machine £60 in 5 mins while i shook my head in disbelief
Title: Re: Gambling addicts and people who gamble in general
Post by: SugarRush on August 06, 2012, 08:53 pm
People do start gambling when they see claims of big money to be won.

Look at how many people play the lottery?

Look at how the national lottery has increased it's TV advertising campaign?

It's gone ten fold, with repetition comes brainwashing, many are being brainwashed into gambling without being aware of it!

Of course, certain types of people are more prone to gambling addiction and the temptation being increased, more publicly, and more in your face, is naturally going to increase the amount of gambling addicts.

The primary reason, officially, for permitting bookies to open premises next door to each other, should they feel the need, is for the promotion of competition!

Like all other kinds of businesses that do that, including banks, supermarkets, and clothes shops!

Back in the day, it used to be so a certain shop would get the exclusive right within a given radius, however, these rules have since been relaxed by our dear government, and is now, at the cost of the bookie companies personally, and not the society that proliferates them!

Recessions always cause desperation, and desperation causes an increase in gambling, this is cause and consequence!

Remember that the dirty government has pretty much approved every venue to get more tax in its coffers!

The government are not promoting gambling nor are they setting up bookies, they just approve everything in the name of tax, tax, and more tax! Just like they have always done!

It's business as usual for them!

Anyone who believes in those machines is as thick as, they are programmed for you to loose, they're machines for crying out loud, and they are programed to reel you in and screw you!

Study markets.
Learn how to play cards well.
Be in tune with what's around you, much can be predicted!

Take your time, use it wisely, practice makes perfect!

Be a smart gambler, not a stupid one!

Use your brain, it's the best machine ever!

Then, you'll be onto a winner! :)
Title: Re: Gambling addicts and people who gamble in general
Post by: Twelve_Pickles on August 06, 2012, 09:01 pm
what about the lotteries on SR? bit dubious.
Title: Re: Gambling addicts and people who gamble in general
Post by: 751a696c24d97009 on August 06, 2012, 09:04 pm
what about the lotteries on SR? bit dubious.

Depends on the lottery I guess. I've seen some new vendors do some smaller lotteries that actually seemed decent, but when hundreds of people pay a bitcoin each to chance getting an ounce of MDMA or something, that just seems wasteful. But drugs are tempting, so I see why people do it. It's all about self control I guess.