When I was losing in the 70s it was very small stakes ,I have studied all aspects of horseracing jumps and flat several members of my family have worked or still work on the racecourse I know its a very precarious game to play but I can honestly say I am well in front overall any winnings I get now always get spent on holidays ,bikes,or stuff for the house I never chase losses ,either,I don't do it because Ineed the money I just enjoy the challenge of it
Betting - who does?
- Thread starter simon.r
- Start date
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slowmotion
Quite dreadful
- Location
- lost somewhere
A young work colleague of my wife was due to get married. The wedding was called off a week beforehand. It turned out that the potential bridegroom had completely p#ssed away the £70,000 deposit for a first home on online gambling sites, on his phone and on his laptop. A while later, she persuaded him to go to a gamblers' help charity. She said that the pinched, desperate, resigned faces of the wives told her that she really needed to end it.
RichardB
Slightly retro
- Location
- West Wales
I don't gamble, never seen the appeal. Never been inside a betting shop, or been to a horse race. When I was about 12 years old (mid-60s), I was at a friend's house and his big brother's mate came in and said he was going to the bookies and did we want to put a bet on anything? I looked at the list of runners in the paper and asked him to put a shilling (5p, young'uns) on a horse called Midnight Marauder, because I liked the name. It came in at 14 to 1 - almost three weeks' pocket money. I later confessed to my Dad, who was fervently anti-gambling, and he said to me "Look at it this way, son - if you never bet on a horse again, you will be ahead of the bookies for the whole of your life. There's not many can say that." And I haven't, not even 50p on the Grand National.
Mrs M
Guru
- Location
- Aberdeenshire
midliferider
Guru
- Location
- Northampton
BBC radio 4 sports bulletin give you racing selections. For last few years they have calculated what would happen if you bet on their selections. There has never been an overall major winner.
If there is ever going to be one, there won't be a betting industry.
midliferider
Guru
- Location
- Northampton
BBC radio 4 sports bulletin give you racing selections. For last few years they have calculated what would happen if you bet on their selections. There has never been an overall major winner.
If there is ever going to be one, there won't be a betting industry.
mickle
innit
- Location
- 53.933606, -1.076131
My first job was as a bar steward in a bingo hall. It put me off gambling for life. The one armed bandits for instance had a pay out rate of 51p in the £1.
gavroche
Getting old but not past it
- Location
- North Wales
I have always worked hard for my money and that is why I won't gamble it away. Betting is not for me.
gavroche
Getting old but not past it
- Location
- North Wales
I have always worked hard for my money and that is why I won't gamble it away. Betting is not for me.
- Location
- Somewhere wet & hilly in NW England.
Similar - had a work colleague back in the 80's - pretty senior guy in the organisation. Got hooked on the Gee Gees, lost his job (money problems led to depression which eventually led to loss of his job), lost his nice 4 bed detached in Chichester, lost his wife and family and last I heard he was living in a mobile home on the south coast.
I despise the ad's on TV esp' the one that is positioning it as a lifestyle choice - where the group of 'lads' is all assigned a characteristic eg the generous to a fault guy etc - can't remember which company.
When I was an apprentice Telephone Engineer in 1971, I worked for some time with a fitter at Clay Lane TEC in Birmingham. We were paid weekly in cash in those days. He regularly lost all of his wages in the bookies by the end of Friday lunchtime and had to 'borrow' some cash from his mates to take home for his missus. They very rarely got any back.
The whole sad scenario set me against gambling for life.
The whole sad scenario set me against gambling for life.
Andrew_P
In between here and there
My Mum in 1987 won 45k from a local independent Bookies - he was out and the staff member hadn't laid the accumulator off to larger bookie as it was accumulating . He asked my Mum for time to pay.
Still say she lost more than she won - she is not around to ask her outright not that I would expect a straight answer as is a gamblers psyche. Spent quite a few weekends and Bank Holidays at Sandown, Kempton, Ascot and Lingfield even some week days. She used to give me a £7 pot for a £1 per race.
I have the same gene and actively avoid it, I had built up 3k from £500 on an online account but blew it all then emailed asking them to ban me as I could feel the desire to chase the loss with even sillier bets!
If you maintain a pot and only ever bet 5% of the pot and avoid the big races there is some chance of being in profit, problem is I couldn't keep that up lol
Still say she lost more than she won - she is not around to ask her outright not that I would expect a straight answer as is a gamblers psyche. Spent quite a few weekends and Bank Holidays at Sandown, Kempton, Ascot and Lingfield even some week days. She used to give me a £7 pot for a £1 per race.
I have the same gene and actively avoid it, I had built up 3k from £500 on an online account but blew it all then emailed asking them to ban me as I could feel the desire to chase the loss with even sillier bets!
If you maintain a pot and only ever bet 5% of the pot and avoid the big races there is some chance of being in profit, problem is I couldn't keep that up lol
I'm not sure they're usable in the casino
I used to bet on the horses every day for a couple of years in my teens. I kept a win/loss account and broke even at the end. That persuaded me that I was wasting a lot of time and nerves getting nowhere, so I packed it in.
My 'partner in crime' at the time carried on and became a professional gambler. He did well out of it I'm told.
I still have a punt on a sporting event a few times a year.
I do abhor those Ray Winstone type ads though.
My 'partner in crime' at the time carried on and became a professional gambler. He did well out of it I'm told.
I still have a punt on a sporting event a few times a year.
I do abhor those Ray Winstone type ads though.
Smokin Joe
Squire
- Location
- Bare headed cyclist, Smoker
Winning and losing isn't the point of it. I bet for entertainment in amounts that make no difference to my standard of living. The money would just melt away on something else if I didn't put it on the horses. And on occasions I get a pleasing return.
Betting is like drinking - just because some people have a problem with it doesn't mean the vast majority can't enjoy it as a harmless pleasure. I've known far more problem drinkers than I have gamblers.
