[Help] Gambling: The Unique Addiction?

[Cornwallboy]

With this post & your subsequent posts I get the impression you don't understand how an addiction to anything works. Lets say you put £1 on a horse on the Grand National once a year, if you win the bet at 150/1 that year you'll be buzzing. You've just won £150 plus your £1 back. Next year you may put £2 on as your horse came in last year, so you're subconsciously hoping you get that buzz again, but perhaps you'll win more this time as you've put on £2 to add to the excitement. It seems all very simplistic to you that you only want that buzz once a year but some people 'want' or actually 'need' that buzz for reasons that those who are lucky enough not to have an addiction can't understand. I don't know why I used to smoke, I don't know why I still vape but in my head something would be missing in my life if I didn't vape (completely irrational I know, I also know that the physical addiction would be gone within a couple of weeks) but it's a habit, it's really easy to get into a habit but really difficult to break a habit, no matter what it is. No way if I had £23k would I spend it at a bookmakers, in that respect I'm 'ok' with money but the person who spent that may have needed £50k for a deposit on a house & it was in for a penny in for a pound. I can't get out of my nicotine addiction though.
Don't judge & simplify things you know nothing about.

Edit to add, my father in law used to do some 20p 'lucky 15' bets years ago every Saturday. He went in there every Saturday for years. He had a couple of random 'big' wins a couple of times, in a short space of time and they banned him for a month. This was 20 years ago & nothing has changed. I paid for my tickets to the Semi in 2019 by matched betting. I took my money, had a great day & that was it. Some people aren't so able to do that, I don't think they're weak. If I hadn't built up that cash & spent it on the tickets, I may have carried on. I haven't had an offer since but I may have still carried on just to build the pot up & I would have probably lost it as I was crap at matched betting!

I lost my father to alcoholism.

 

[amexer]

Re: the tax situation, back in the day off course bookmakers paid just shy of 10% tax and levy on TAKINGS so even if they had a losing day they’d still get collared, this was reduced to 9% and then abolished (as far as the punter was concerned)
This was replaced by 15% tax on PROFIT.
This change gradually spelled problems for punters as it was now in the interest of bookmakers to take more money as only the profit would be taxed. This lead to a massive increase in races covered in the shops such as morning greyhound meetings, South African/French/USA racing and of course that virtual nonsense. So instead of the old two horse and two dog meetings in the afternoon you now had races going off every 90 seconds or so from 8 in the morning til 10 at night

Surely bookies already paying tax on profits by corporation tax. Is this 15% on top of this. I still dont agree that someone like TB can win £600k and pay no tax on this

 

[Insel affe]

I lost my father to alcoholism.

That is a hard thing to take, and explains your hard stance on this thread, and is also fully understandable as a coping mechanism .
I am not being derogatory towards you, please don't think that.

I think if you ask most people with an addiction of one kind or another, there is a certain amount of escapism, self loathing, and issues that can be traced back to childhood. Myself I liked to self destruct, anything good in my life, partners, money, I did not feel worthy, and thought because people let me down and were abusive to me as a very young child, I thought that is all I am worth, nothing, someone will always leave or let me down.
I still feel like that occasionally, but now there is help and I understand the underlying issues, I can try and head them off.
Many people have never had that help, as in times gone by men were told to man up, stop being soft, it is all your own fault.

I would imagine maybe your father had issues in his past, I could be wrong, I found out my mother who left me was adopted and my father had no real connection with his dad and was himself sent away at the age of 6 to choir school in Exeter.

I respect your answers on this thread, that others have jumped on you for, and understand them better now.

Take care fella.

 

[dazzer6666]

Surely bookies already paying tax on profits by corporation tax. Is this 15% on top of this. I still dont agree that someone like TB can win £600k and pay no tax on this

Most of them (particularly the online firms) are not based in the UK so no - they pay specific betting taxes if they offer betting to UK residents.

General Betting Duty, Pool Betting Duty and Remote Gaming Duty

Find out if you have to pay, when and how to register, the rates, how to fill in returns and make payments.

www.gov.uk

 

[Badger Boy]

That is a hard thing to take, and explains your hard stance on this thread, and is also fully understandable as a coping mechanism .
I am not being derogatory towards you, please don't think that.

I think if you ask most people with an addiction of one kind or another, there is a certain amount of escapism, self loathing, and issues that can be traced back to childhood. Myself I liked to self destruct, anything good in my life, partners, money, I did not feel worthy, and thought because people let me down and were abusive to me as a very young child, I thought that is all I am worth, nothing, someone will always leave or let me down.
I still feel like that occasionally, but now there is help and I understand the underlying issues, I can try and head them off.
Many people have never had that help, as in times gone by men were told to man up, stop being soft, it is all your own fault.

I would imagine maybe your father had issues in his past, I could be wrong, I found out my mother who left me was adopted and my father had no real connection with his dad and was himself sent away at the age of 6 to choir school in Exeter.

I respect your answers on this thread, that others have jumped on you for, and understand them better now.

Take care fella.

That is a far more respectful, thoughtful and considered response than anything that poster has contributed to this thread.

I think your post is excellent. So many people, myself included, were not able to break the cycle of addiction solo. I needed help, which I am fortunate that I received. It wasn't purely about tackling the addiction itself, it was about getting to what was driving it and what was the root cause. Once that had been addressed it became easier to change the negative behaviours and replace them with more sustainable and healthier replacements. We have so much deep seeded trauma and sadness, it isn't a weakness to have to face it in order to overcome it and make a positive change. That looks different for every person.

 

[Swansman]

Yes. They are a business not a charity and if they think a punter has a 'warm source' (whatever that is) then they have every right to refuse a bet(s). Point I've made is nobody makes you gamble, it is a choice you make.

Why are they spending billions, literally, on advertisement if it doesn't make anyone gamble?

 

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

Earlier on I was a BIT peckish. I was waiting for the food shop to be delivered and I was uninspired by the lunch choices on offer at home. I NEVER use food-delivery apps but I downloaded, found somewhere to deliver a full roast dinner and was seconds away from hitting "confirm".

Then that little voice came in.

"What are doing you dickhead? That's £11 on lunch that will probably turn up cold and you will instantly regret. Go poach an egg".

I feel like the betting apps need a final screen that comes up before you place the bet. It shows you the amount you have spent/lost in the last year and inform you of your betting success rate. It then asks if you are sure you want to place bet".

No, it won't fix it, but I'd hope it would help some have that moment of clarity.

 

[raymondo]

Was chatting with a couple of friends about this just the other day.

There's never been an easier time to have easy, guilt/shame-free access to 3 common addictions - Gambling, Porn, Eating.

All of which are readily and easily available, encouraged by marketing, without much need to face the public;

Gambling - online/via your phone rather than having to go into a bookies and face people
Porn - available on phone rather than having to buy physical material
Food - drive-thru fast food eating means barely having to contact any other humans while stuffing your face

I hope all 3 will be much more heavily regulated at some point, but right now they're having a field day feeding people's addictions IMO. Sadly I think the situation will get worse before governments look to act, and generations to come will look back with shock that it was so easy to over indulge in each of these things. IMO.

I agree with your post, except that the private guilt/shame is possibly still there in spades, although as you rightly say the public guilt/shame is not.

 

[Cornwallboy]

Why are they spending billions, literally, on advertisement if it doesn't make anyone gamble?

it doesn't 'make' anyone gamble, it merely advertises what's on offer in terms of odds/ bet builders etc. Nobody is made to gamble, it's individual choice.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

An interesting, if difficult listen.

Desperate Calls - BBC Sounds

In Desperate Calls, Matthew tracks how his gambling addiction really took hold.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Varndean VI Form College]

I’m old enough to have attended the Benson and Hedges tennis tourneys at Wembley Arena in the late 70s and early 80s. Tobacco advertising was co-joined with professional sport at this time which seems ludicrous now.

I hope that common sense prevails and that the betting companies go the way of the tobacco companies so that we can all shake our heads at the lunacy of this era some years from now.

The problem stems from how the betting companies are stuffing eye watering amounts of £ into the immoral politicians’ coffers.

Perhaps a general election next April will sort this nasty arrangement out and these vultures will be waved goodbye for good.

 

[BadFish]

it doesn't 'make' anyone gamble, it merely advertises what's on offer in terms of odds/ bet builders etc. Nobody is made to gamble, it's individual choice.

I think this is a huge oversimplification in terms of the power of advertising and the compulsion involved in the notion of 'choice' especially when someone had an addiction.

Just think of all those ads that don't tell you what's on offer in terms of odds etc. What is the point of those? Knowing that Mrs Redknapp is going to kill Harry for leaving the washing out doesn't tell need be anything about the product. Yet I'll bet that the ad cost the company a fair chunk of cash.

Advertising is far smarter and a lot more persuasive and invasive than you suggest here.

 

[Cornwallboy]

I think this is a huge oversimplification in terms of the power of advertising and the compulsion involved in the notion of 'choice' especially when someone had an addiction.

Just think of all those ads that don't tell you what's on offer in terms of odds etc. What is the point of those? Knowing that Mrs Redknapp is going to kill Harry for leaving the washing out doesn't tell need be anything about the product. Yet I'll bet that the ad cost the company a fair chunk of cash.

Advertising is far smarter and a lot more persuasive and invasive than you suggest here.

Well the ads have worked with you as you've clearly noticed them, that's half the battle in advertising. I get your points and they are well put however as I said before nobody is forced to gamble, you can choose to ignore the adverts.

 

[BadFish]

To

Well the ads have worked with you as you've clearly noticed them, that's half the battle in advertising. I get your points and they are well put however as I said before nobody is forced to gamble, you can choose to ignore the adverts.

To be fair they didn't work that well because I couldn't remember the name of the company Harry is in the ads for .

I am lucky though, because you are right I can choose to ignore the ads and not gamble.

Not everyone is so lucky in their choices.

 

[herecomesaregular]

it doesn't 'make' anyone gamble, it merely advertises what's on offer in terms of odds/ bet builders etc. Nobody is made to gamble, it's individual choice.

At one of the Brighton Fringe festivals a few years back I went to see a comic/mind bender/manipulator/trickster in the "Derren Brown" mould (wish I could remember his name he was brilliant). He used to work in advertising, made a big thing of how much that industry uses subtle and unconscious bias and manipulation. Was an eye opener in how he got members of the audience, in a small venue, to do/chose/reveal. You seem to have a rather naive view of big business/advertising. It's moved a long way from simple "Information Adverts" saying hey this is who we are and these are our products! Even going to the supermarket nowadays you are being manipulated by it's layout etc.

 

[dazzer6666]

Well the ads have worked with you as you've clearly noticed them, that's half the battle in advertising. I get your points and they are well put however as I said before nobody is forced to gamble, you can choose to ignore the adverts.

You can also 'choose' to walk past the pub advertising cheap beer and the booze aisle at the supermarket with the enticing '2 for 1' offers up on big posters and so on...........unless your addiction stops you doing so, no ?

For me, gambling advertising has become way too pervasive - it's absolutely everywhere.

 

[herecomesaregular]

You can also 'choose' to walk past the pub advertising cheap beer and the booze aisle at the supermarket with the enticing '2 for 1' offers up on big posters and so on...........unless your addiction stops you doing so, no ?

For me, gambling advertising has become way too pervasive - it's absolutely everywhere.

Gambling is totally normalised nowadays in young people - very dangerous.

 

[dazzer6666]

Gambling is totally normalised nowadays in young people - very dangerous.

Definitely - it's really quite scary to watch the yoof at/around games - pretty much all they talk about, constantly on their phones looking at their bets etc.

 

[herecomesaregular]

Definitely - it's really quite scary to watch the yoof at/around games - pretty much all they talk about, constantly on their phones looking at their bets etc.

Indeed. I am so angry at Blair and Brown for f***ing things up and opening the flood gates.

 

[herecomesaregular]

I'd pay for an ad-free NSC tbf.