Gambling and lockdown (1 Viewer)

Brighton Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
Haven't placed a bet in about 9 years after losing thousands to the habit, to the point of not having a penny left more than once. At the time I wanted there to be more ways for people to put stronger self-prevention measures in place, e.g. have the bank block online transactions which a few do now. Since then I haven't thought much about it, but since Feb/March of last year I've been bombarded with texts/e-mails/ads for casinos, bookies etc, all selling that they don't have GamStop as a plus point for joining.

Anyone else pissed off with this kind of behaviour from the gambling companies? Well known that most profits come from a small % of users/addicts and that people's personal finances in lockdown will have grown tighter. They know what they're doing and of course gambling is pervasive throughout sport in this country and especially football. Is it not time for caps to be put in place on online stakes as is done with the terminals in bookies' shops?
 

Blind-Faith

Well-Known Member
Absolutely. As someone with a very addictive personality, I’ve also lost thousands to gambling. Mixed with drinking it’s a disastrous combination. So I now don’t drink at all, an limit myself to £5 football ACCA on a Saturday.
I don’t really bet on horses anymore but I do let my hair down come Cheltenham. But I I have to really watch myself else I’ll slip back into old habits. The amount of advertising really gets my back up.
 

Brighton Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
Absolutely. As someone with a very addictive personality, I’ve also lost thousands to gambling. Mixed with drinking it’s a disastrous combination. So I now don’t drink at all, an limit myself to £5 football ACCA on a Saturday.
I don’t really bet on horses anymore but I do let my hair down come Cheltenham. But I I have to really watch myself else I’ll slip back into old habits. The amount of advertising really gets my back up.

It was the online casinos for me more than sport, but it all works the same. I don’t think I could allow myself even a fiver to be honest
 

SBAndy

Well-Known Member
A close friend has recently admitted to having a bit of a gambling problem. He started taking money out the joint account with his other half to spend on the online slots. Culminated in going to the casino and losing about £500 in 15 minutes.

Fortunately I’ve never really had an issue myself. Some big bets when I was younger but never more than I could realistically afford to lose. Nowadays I’m more into ridiculous bets i.e. 25p to win £250k. Keeps it fun.
 

Brighton Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
A close friend has recently admitted to having a bit of a gambling problem. He started taking money out the joint account with his other half to spend on the online slots. Culminated in going to the casino and losing about £500 in 15 minutes.

Fortunately I’ve never really had an issue myself. Some big bets when I was younger but never more than I could realistically afford to lose. Nowadays I’m more into ridiculous bets i.e. 25p to win £250k. Keeps it fun.

Seen a story of a couple where the woman gambled the entire proceeds of a house sale but told the husband that the money just hadn’t come through. Like with other things if you have the self control it’s fine but if you don’t then you’ll rinse yourself out. And the companies involved know that.
 

clint van damme

Well-Known Member
I'm convinced the format of the current fixture list is to encourage gambling.

I certainly am though in my case that means 10 or 20 quid a week instead of 5 but if I could see it being an issue for people with a gambling problem.
 

rob9872

Well-Known Member
Lost thousands over the years, the guilt and shame of it you'd think would make someone stop . No need to either as in a well paid secure job but still chasing the dream of early retirement and yet if I had all the money I've lost I'd be a lot closer to it!
 

Brighton Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
Lost thousands over the years, the guilt and shame of it you'd think would make someone stop . No need to either as in a well paid secure job but still chasing the dream of early retirement and yet if I had all the money I've lost I'd be a lot closer to it!

I used to really loathe myself after losing money on it but kept coming back to it to try and get the losses back. Then realised all I could do was patiently earn it again and not spend it. But I really could have used the self-blocking measures that are available now.
 

clint van damme

Well-Known Member
Lost thousands over the years, the guilt and shame of it you'd think would make someone stop . No need to either as in a well paid secure job but still chasing the dream of early retirement and yet if I had all the money I've lost I'd be a lot closer to it!

And that's why in some ways it's worse than other addictions.
No matter what you've got it can eat it up.
If you're a functioning alcoholic who drinks 12 cans of Stella a day the monetary cost of your addiction is 12 quid a day.
 

Brighton Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
And that's why in some ways it's worse than other addictions.
No matter what you've got it can eat it up.
If you're a functioning alcoholic who drinks 12 cans of Stella a day the monetary cost of your addiction is 12 quid a day.

Drugs do the same thing but you’re right in general
 

Philosorapter

Well-Known Member
Hey Brighton, have you ever seen the poker table at the 4NCL if you've ever done a night-over there on one of their league weekends.

Just being part of the audience for that is worth putting it on anyone's bucket list.
 

Brighton Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
Hey Brighton, have you ever seen the poker table at the 4NCL if you've ever done a night-over there on one of their league weekends.

Just being part of the audience for that is worth putting it on anyone's bucket list.

I've heard of those but only played the 4NCL a handful of times. Also saw a poker/chess hybrid on the app store (no real money involved!) which didn't take off
 

Sky Blue Pete

Well-Known Member
Love the honesty on here. Was talking to one of my kids about having an friend who you you give permission to hold you accountable for things. Not ever got lost in gambling but other addictions are just as poisonous
 

Terry Gibson's perm

Well-Known Member
I have a few little bets on a match day and usually lose as I bet both teams to score in city games and a bet on Leo to score, I have backed Hamer a few times though.

The best time I ever had was letting my eight year old choose some horses and he kept winning for a while. I only bet on my phone and it will only let me do it if it is using WiFi so it limits my betting which is fine.

If I forget and don’t bet I am not bothered.
 

Brighton Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
Love the honesty on here. Was talking to one of my kids about having an friend who you you give permission to hold you accountable for things. Not ever got lost in gambling but other addictions are just as poisonous

That's what happened with the couple above, the bloke trusted his wife with the joint account and she ended up losing all the money from it but had the only access to the funds.
 

rob9872

Well-Known Member
Hey Brighton, have you ever seen the poker table at the 4NCL if you've ever done a night-over there on one of their league weekends.

Just being part of the audience for that is worth putting it on anyone's bucket list.
I saw you guys chatting about chess on a different thread and mentioned ratings in the 1900's.. It reminded me I hadnt played for yearsd bt used to be fairly reasonable at kids standard so joined online. I just put 'chess online' into Google and it came up with a main site of millions of players so I registered and have since played approx 700 games with a rating around 1150. Winning and losing approx a similar number of games but it says 77 percentile which I'd assume was ok (very top players around 2800). I only ever play rapid (10 mins so max 20 mins per game which is about my attention span!). Are you guys just super good or are the ratings based only on a local circuit and therefore versus an average weaker opponent?
 

Brighton Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
I saw you guys chatting about chess on a different thread and mentioned ratings in the 1900's.. It reminded me I hadnt played for yearsd bt used to be fairly reasonable at kids standard so joined online. I just put 'chess online' into Google and it came up with a main site of millions of players so I registered and have since played approx 700 games with a rating around 1150. Winning and losing approx a similar number of games but it says 77 percentile which I'd assume was ok (very top players around 2800). I only ever play rapid (10 mins so max 20 mins per game which is about my attention span!). Are you guys just super good or are the ratings based only on a local circuit and therefore versus an average weaker opponent?

I still play actively in individual tournaments and local leagues, Philosorapter used to but doesn't for the time being. If you drop a DM I'm happy to play a few games some time. Online ratings are a bit hit and miss with 'real' ones but for me they're pretty similar.
 

rob9872

Well-Known Member
Would love to, in fact would quite like a post lockdown live game as I'm sure I'd concentrate more instead of playing whilst watching tv or posting on here etc. although if you're genuinely at that level, I think I need some more practice first :)
 

rob9872

Well-Known Member
I find myself using the same couple of openings too which I'm sure the better or certainly more experienced players know how to exploit and are probably already doing things based on they know the remainder of my opening.
 

Sky_Blue_Dreamer

Well-Known Member
That's what happened with the couple above, the bloke trusted his wife with the joint account and she ended up losing all the money from it but had the only access to the funds.

It's a tricky one.

I'd only agree to a joint account with money transferred in every month to cover joint living expenses (mortgage/gas/electric/council tax/food etc) from individual accounts and the rest of their income is theirs to do with as they please. Difficult to surprise someone if all the money and expenses come from one account, plus it can be a problem when constantly asked what such-and-such paid out was for (though separate accounts won't do anything to reduce that sort of paranoia as instead they'd just be wondering what they're spending the rest of the money on. It's a trust thing and many would argue if you trust them why not just put it all in one pot.

But I accept that this could leave many people at the whim of the partner if they're the sole earner and leave lots of potential for domestic abuse. But I imagine any partner like that wouldn't even allow a joint account and maintain sole control of the finances anyway. Plus it means any such problems could remain hidden for much longer, but I guess with a major problem they'd probably try and get loans etc as an individual without the partners knowledge anyway.

I also acknowledge in that particular instance it probably wouldn't help as it was proceeds from a house sale.
 

Brighton Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
It's a tricky one.

I'd only agree to a joint account with money transferred in every month to cover joint living expenses (mortgage/gas/electric/council tax/food etc) from individual accounts and the rest of their income is theirs to do with as they please. Difficult to surprise someone if all the money and expenses come from one account, plus it can be a problem when constantly asked what such-and-such paid out was for (though separate accounts won't do anything to reduce that sort of paranoia as instead they'd just be wondering what they're spending the rest of the money on. It's a trust thing and many would argue if you trust them why not just put it all in one pot.

But I accept that this could leave many people at the whim of the partner if they're the sole earner and leave lots of potential for domestic abuse. But I imagine any partner like that wouldn't even allow a joint account and maintain sole control of the finances anyway. Plus it means any such problems could remain hidden for much longer, but I guess with a major problem they'd probably try and get loans etc as an individual without the partners knowledge anyway.

I also acknowledge in that particular instance it probably wouldn't help as it was proceeds from a house sale.

We pay the mortgage and utilities out of the joint account and what we do with the rest of our money is up to us as long as we put in that same amount every month. Anything else and it could get nasty for no good reason
 

Brighton Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
Would love to, in fact would quite like a post lockdown live game as I'm sure I'd concentrate more instead of playing whilst watching tv or posting on here etc. although if you're genuinely at that level, I think I need some more practice first :)

You'd be very welcome at my club when over the board chess resumes, doesn't matter what level it's quite a wide range. I'd focus less on the opening and more on endings and tactics, lots of folks (myself included) focus too much on them and ignore everything else!
 

Terry Gibson's perm

Well-Known Member
We have had a joint account for years everything goes in there, once we have paid our bills etc there is not a lot left to argue about. I used to be the major earner for years and now Mrs TGP is so it’s worked out quite well.
 

Brighton Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
We have had a joint account for years everything goes in there, once we have paid our bills etc there is not a lot left to argue about. I used to be the major earner for years and now Mrs TGP is so it’s worked out quite well.

Yeah. I do think proper addicts in general would benefit from having someone in charge of their bank accounts if they can't get a block on gambling transactions.
 

hill83

Well-Known Member
And that's why in some ways it's worse than other addictions.
No matter what you've got it can eat it up.
If you're a functioning alcoholic who drinks 12 cans of Stella a day the monetary cost of your addiction is 12 quid a day.

Agree and disagree and I appreciate you've said in some ways and functioning, and it's not a competition. But I'd take my dad being addicted to gambling over the absolutely harrowing shit I've seen and had to deal with, with him being an alcoholic.

I went through a bit of a gambling phase but nothing mental but I could see the beginnings of me getting addicted to it so all but stopped.
 

Liquid Gold

Well-Known Member
I only put 50p bets on a couple of accas at the weekend and that's it. Just something to make football a bit more exciting and when you win it isn't big so don't really get the thrill that must come with winning big. I really empathise with people that struggle though, especially as it's seeped through a lot of 'lad' culture getting on and having a bet. I hope they ban advertising it in football soon.
 

clint van damme

Well-Known Member
Agree and disagree and I appreciate you've said in some ways and functioning, and it's not a competition. But I'd take my dad being addicted to gambling over the absolutely harrowing shit I've seen and had to deal with, with him being an alcoholic.

I went through a bit of a gambling phase but nothing mental but I could see the beginnings of me getting addicted to it so all but stopped.

Yeah, I understand, it sounds horrendous.
My point on gambling was purely that it's insatiable in terms of burning through cash.
 

hill83

Well-Known Member
Small change really, but I used to spend so much money on bandits in pubs as well. Change from £5 every pint went in them.
Then £10. Then £20. And entire nights out were based around bandits in specific pubs and watching other people to play see if it "dropped". When it went 50p a spin I stopped. It can be £1 now.
 

Philosorapter

Well-Known Member
says 77 percentile which I'd assume was ok (very top players around 2800). I only ever play rapid (10 mins so max 20 mins per game which is about my attention span!)

I think it is safe to say BSB would be ranked in the top 4 Percentile on most servers. It is sparsely populated 2000+.
 

Brighton Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
I think it is safe to say BSB would be ranked in the top 4 Percentile on most servers. It is sparsely populated 2000+.

On one I’m 2100+, on the other about 1900-2000. Sometimes play like a beginner, other times without error, not much in between!
 

Brighton Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
Yeah I get that. Shouldn't have mentioned it really. Done now though.

Neither addiction is given enough care. At least on a fag packet there’s warning signs it’ll kill you. No such luck on a whisky bottle or casino website.
 

LastGarrison

Well-Known Member
I still play actively in individual tournaments and local leagues, Philosorapter used to but doesn't for the time being. If you drop a DM I'm happy to play a few games some time. Online ratings are a bit hit and miss with 'real' ones but for me they're pretty similar.
You in the 1900’s? Fair play. Through study? Practice? Guessing both!

I just play for fun and have never studied openings, read any books etc but managed to drag myself up to the high 1500’s but with a nose bleed.

Count me in for a game! 👍
 

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