Betting shops helping the poor get poorer

a reply to: stonerwilliam

Its easy to adjust the payout percentage on the old style fruit machines....I suspect it'll be even easier, and more profitable, to adjust them on these new digital, linked type of machines.

I haven't played fruit machines for a lot of years. Had a brief spell playing a bit of roulette in a bookies near a pub I used to have but it wasn't much and only to relieve the boredom. They are literally as rigged as anything possible could be.

Known people lose homes, redundancy money, marriages all sorts through gambling.

I used to play a bit of cards; three card brag, shoot and then Texas Hold 'Em but don't bother so much nowadays.

originally posted by: Freeborn
Been a gambler all my life.
Mainly horse racing - a sport I love. I look at the racing every day but nowadays only have a bet when I really fancy something.

I managed a couple of betting shops in my early 20's - early to mid-80's.

Seen whole lives destroyed by it, but also seen people have some great wins that have made a significant difference.
Gambling is like anything, you have to control it and not let it control you.
Same as drinking, same as drugs, same as pretty much everything.

I loved the old school betting shops before the introduction of TV screens; Sporting Life, Extel radio, board marker writing the odds and results up, smokey and dingy.

All too clinical now - and so much against the punter.
Maor bookies have far too much say and influence on odds.

The gaming machines are a massive con - I have seen people win thousands.....and one poor mate of mine lost 70 grand in less than a month.
They are connected by a sort of intranet and if one machine pays out well other machines in the shop or connected shops don't pay out to cover it.
Payout percentage is usually around 70%.....guaranteed profit of 30% for operators.

I have a friend who works as a part-time cashier in a small Ladbrokes shop - last Christmas she got a Xmas bonus of just over £2k which is based on shop profits. The majority of profits in her shop come from gaming machines.

As for immigrants hanging around betting shops; they don't have to work so they congregate around these sort of places.
Get them fixing potholes in the roads or something similar and they wouldn't have as much free time on their hands.
Or maybe we could get Ladbrokes to open a string of shops in Rwanda?

Anyway, I have had a small each way punt on Zoran in 8.00 at Kempton tonight.
Unusual for Emma Lavelle to have a runner on the flat, decent pot for AW Flat this time of year and Hayler Turner up.

So you must find something attractive in gambling then. Horse racing?

I don't understand why this thread is under the General Conspiracies Forum.

Unless someone thinks these bet shops together with the government conspire to get your money based on the false hopes they are selling and how naive/stupid people are.

a reply to: Arkapi

Yes, I like gambling.
There are obvious financial benefits. I also enjoy the buzz when winning and little things like getting an extra point or two from a bookie.

But I enjoy Horse Racing regardless.
I check cards, form, results every day. I watch a bit nearly every day and have been to many a meeting and never had a bet.
Obviously betting plays a large part in Horse Racing but it involves far, far more than that and once one gets a knowledgeable insight into the sport you can get a great deal of enjoyment out of watching it and appreciating it for what it is.

I think I was pretty clear also that there are some very real dangers with gambling.
But hey, freedom of choice and all that!

a reply to: Freeborn

Anyway, I have had a small each way punt on Zoran in 8.00 at Kempton tonight.

And.....it came nowhere.

A score down the pan.

originally posted by: Freeborn
a reply to: stonerwilliam

Its easy to adjust the payout percentage on the old style fruit machines....I suspect it'll be even easier, and more profitable, to adjust them on these new digital, linked type of machines.

I haven't played fruit machines for a lot of years. Had a brief spell playing a bit of roulette in a bookies near a pub I used to have but it wasn't much and only to relieve the boredom. They are literally as rigged as anything possible could be.

Known people lose homes, redundancy money, marriages all sorts through gambling.

I used to play a bit of cards; three card brag, shoot and then Texas Hold 'Em but don't bother so much nowadays.

I did play a bit of cards when I worked offshore until I met a professional gambler maskerading as a meccy fitter , this guy was good he would be cracking away with everyone but his mind was going a hundred miles a hour and he was taking everyone to the cleaners , his friend clued me in one day he was loaded and only worked offshore to get away from the missus , he owned this massive area in Blackpool but how he was allowed offshore with his size amused me as he was struggling to get through hatches lol , The gold chain on his neck was as thick as my thumb and worth a thousand quid a inch and that was 25 years ago , I got lucky and won a bit back ending up down 10 or 15 quid to him and I have never played cards since or gambled .

I have heard horror stories about that roulette machines when I went into a bookies one day with a friend , he dropped a hundred quid in minutes and he shocked me when he told me just how much he put into those machines over the years .

I have worked with a couple of guys who were mega lucky non stop and just seem to win big all the time they only worked so that their kids would see dad leave the house every day but the bookies to them was like a cash machine to me and you .

The funniest thing I ever saw was this old tramp looking guy go up to the counter of a bookies one afternoon hand over his slip and the woman started counting out 7+ k In 50s he put it in his pocket turned and walked away with not one bit of emotion or a thank you to her and he had a face like 10 miles of bad road Mr emotionless was a understatement.

I would not even remember how to put on a bet now or play cards but I am lucky as I have ocd with everything I do , so I quit when I was up But I still occasionally stick my head into the bookies and shout come on the brown horse

The funniest thing I ever saw was this old tramp looking guy go up to the counter of a bookies one afternoon hand over his slip and the woman started counting out 7+ k In 50s he put it in his pocket turned and walked away with not one bit of emotion or a thank you to her and he had a face like 10 miles of bad road Mr emotionless was a understatement.

The thing I recall about "gambling looks" were women who played the slot machines or hung around with their boyfriend-de-jour who had money to play. Many of them had super looks -- pretty, fit, etc. But to the last one, they all had a hard-edged glint in their eyes. I saw that glint in the eyes of some of the guys gambling, but the looks of the men varied a bit more. Some, like me, were simply bored and looking for a moment's amusement. But not the women-- they were mission-oriented

Cheers

a reply to: MESSYSC

Technically buddy if you are going into the bookies to gamble or place a bet you are just as addicted as the people around the machines.

Not that you are far wrong about them being rigged.

As to bookies always making a profit, that's just the type of establishment that will make money during good and bad times.

Such is the nature of the industry and the human condition.

a reply to: thisguyrighthere

The poor play fruit machines and the rich play the stock market.

End of the day both games are rigged, same with life, in favor of the dungeon master.