Gambling, What's The Best Thing That Can Happen?

[ToraToraTora]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-56251835
.......you win? err nope that's the worst thing that can happen. I've known several people who won a jackpot on a fruit machine or had a good night at the casino etc, and that started a destructive addiction. Having flirted with gambling on occasion I count myself lucky to just be the the occasional punter. Just ask yourself a question why do gambling opportunities exist? So the best thing that can happen early on is that you lose all your wages in 5 mins one week and never go there again.

[ToraToraTora]

ken, I was sec of a con club, our fruit machines paid for all sorts of things. My number 1 rule was, make sure the machines are working, any problems call the EMG callout guys and they'd be there pronto! We had a lot of hard core addicts who'd pump them till they got the jackpot and then they'd get a round! they loved me because when they'd had a hard time and lost all their dosh I'd buy them a drink because I always found it wrong that everyone expected a drink when they won but no one bought them one when the club won!

[ToraToraTora]

ken 15:43, intelligent yes but streetwise? no.

[andy-hughes]

Our local football club chairman's wife Denise Coates runs their company Bet 365. She's one of the richest women in the country.

That says it all.

[bhg481]

My wife worked for a small company which installed fruit machines into pubs and clubs. The owner had a Rolls-Royce; enough said.

[Ken4155]

True, Andy, but i actually have a lot of time for Denise Coates - as opposed to seeing her as 'the enemy' as i see most other firms :-) She actually took quite a gamble, herself, when she ploughed all the family's money into on line gambling. Her gamble paid off in spades. And, while she often pays herself humungous wages, she did set up a charitable foundation which has raised over £100m, to date.

[DTCwordfan]

Back in 1977, I was Union Entertainments Secretary at Uni....a Uni with only 8k undergrads.... Our one-armed bandits (3 of them) made 6k profit each, equivalent to over 18 grants at the time....that's about 110k in todays money, second only to the condom machines.....

I jest but the one in the women's made more than the men's......

[ImLostAgain]

Gambling is a funny old addiction, or at least it was/is to me. The horses were my choice for the buzz, although most forms of gambling gave me some sort of 'lift'. I didn't see any harm in it. For some reason I used to look upon those who used the slot machines as fools. You would never catch me doing that I thought, it's not proper gambling. That should have been a warning, I mean,'proper' gambling! Proper gambling was just a laugh, or so I thought. That was until the day I gambled money that didn't belong to me on an 8/11 hot favourite, and of course it lost! Wasn't even placed. I had to dodge the people I owed the money to until I got paid. Then I had to lie to my wife and look at my child who was only weeks old and pretend I had lost my pay packet. That was it for me, I never backed a horse or played cards or any of the other rubbish again. I think of myself as one of the lucky ones. I know there are others who just cannot quit. My heart goes out to them.

[ToraToraTora]

yep ILA, you realised and got out, well done to you. BA for your trouble.

[ichkeria]

I won on a horse at £5 to win at 66-1 at Cheltenham years ago but on course betting on the rare occasions I’d go was all I’d do.
I luckily have never understood the attraction of gambling.
Sadly many do.

[Ken4155]

The attraction for most, ich, is excitement. There is a rush of adrenaline whenever you have a win or even a near miss. A day at the races can be an exhausting affair, even though you spend the entire afternoon standing on the same spot, more or less.
As i have said time and again on these pages, if folk gambled only that amount they can easily afford to lose, it can be a very enjoyable hobby.
Sadly some take it to the extreme, then bleat about it and blame those nasty bookies. We are all responsible for our own actions.