Betting Sponsors Banned (2 Viewers)

wingy

Well-Known Member
It is always going to be problematic and unrealistic to expect bookmakers to police and control problem gamblers, given they are profit led organisations. The answer I guess would be as in some other countries for gambling to be state regulated, but non profit making, so that the gambling operators would not then have a vested interest in profiting out of addiction, but rather in identifying those with the problems and then trying to help them. The trouble is that goes against the ethos of our Government who believe in less state control and more competition, so there appears no chance of that happening anytime soon.
I'm not certain but Blair's government was behind a a lot of expansion in the gambling industry.
 

Sky_Blue_Dreamer

Well-Known Member
Plenty of working class herberts like me enjoy going to the racing
Most of us aren't addicts
But agree that things are out of control with advertising now - including the supposed anti-gambling ads

But do you go to the races because you enjoy watching the horses race or because you've had a flutter on the race?

When people talk about horse racing the big thing they talk about is how much they won, not the horses racing. When horseracing is shown on tv a huge amount of the coverage focuses on the betting odds. Grand National is big because it's the one race a yea many people put a bet on. Would they tune in if they didn't.

For me that's the issue. I can enjoy most sports because of the actual sport. Horse racing I really couldn't care less about unless I'd had a bet on it.
 

skyblue025

Well-Known Member
Yes I watched that and how they target the addicts is shocking. Saying there is a deposit limit to look like they are being sensible but allow as many deposit limits a day. One bloke made 85 deposits in one day then topped himself when he lost the lot.
 

Sky Blue Pete

Well-Known Member
Good documentary tonight on BBC 1 about Paul Merson and his gambling addiction and the business model gambling companies use to entice addictors to keep depositing money and betting

Evil really deep down. Something needs to be done big time

Sent from my I3113 using Tapatalk
Profits baby
 

Houchens Head

Fairly well known member from Malvern
Good documentary tonight on BBC 1 about Paul Merson and his gambling addiction and the business model gambling companies use to entice addictors to keep depositing money and betting

Evil really deep down. Something needs to be done big time

Sent from my I3113 using Tapatalk
I watched this as well. Real eye-opener. Many, many years ago, I had a problem with gaming machines in pubs. I couldn't walk into a pub without looking around first, to see where the machines were. If someone was playing one, I'd sit cursing under my breath at them to hurry up. I'd buy a pint (in the day a pint was less than £1) and ask for my change in pound coins and 50p pieces. Then I'd put the lot into a machine. If I lost the lot I'd change another tenner, and if I won it all went back in. I once bet a whole week's wages on a single game of 3 card brag once. Lost the lot! Thankfully after about 2 years of this I saw what it was doing to my mental well-being and managed to stop. It was a scary time, believe me.
 
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Torquay Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
Good documentary tonight on BBC 1 about Paul Merson and his gambling addiction and the business model gambling companies use to entice addictors to keep depositing money and betting

Evil really deep down. Something needs to be done big time

Sent from my I3113 using Tapatalk
I watched it and couldn't help thinking how Merson feels about his mate Stelling fronting gambling ads on TV.
I stooped listening to Talk Sport because of non stop advertising campaigns. Hypocrisy at its highest. One minute they're banging on about the pain of gambling addiction , followed by a bookie giving odds for the weekends games.
 

robbiekeane

Well-Known Member
Evil really deep down. Something needs to be done big time
I used to work at William Hill while at Uni, didn't have student finance for postgrad and it fit with my hours as had early morning lectures.

Horrible. Absolutely horrible business model. Free coffees, teas, biscuits, whatever they wanted because it was all about making people "feel at home".

I remember once a guy came up to me on payday and asked to put £400 on the roulette machine from his debit card. So i did. 5 minutes later (not exaggerating) he came up looking flustered and asked for another £400. I sheepishly asked him if he was sure and he said "yes i'm fucking sure". Lost it in 10 minutes, then came back and couldn't even look at me and said another £300 please. I asked if he wanted to take a break and he said just put the fucking money on.

Lost it all and punched the machine. I went over and gave him a GambleAware leaflet but just felt like such a hypocrite doing it. He looked absolutely defeated.

Quit not long after that
 

skybluesam66

Well-Known Member
I watched it and couldn't help thinking how Merson feels about his mate Stelling fronting gambling ads on TV.
I stooped listening to Talk Sport because of non stop advertising campaigns. Hypocrisy at its highest. One minute they're banging on about the pain of gambling addiction , followed by a bookie giving odds for the weekends games.
it is a difficult one - I have also had gambling problems, but i have no issue with people who do not have a problem having a bit of fun.

If there was some level of daily limit - even say £100 per day - this would stop so much of the problem
It would prevent the chasing of losses etc and the "never stopping"
I think the FOBT limit going to £2 was a start, but there needs to be some method of capping how much somebody can spend on gambling in a day or a week
I myself have started off say with £20 - lost that, gone to £50 - lost that and within a very very short time that £20 bit of fun, has cost me several hundred pounds. A daily limit somehow would prevent that escalation, which is so frequent and destroys individuals, and their families and friends

At the same time as stated last night, the majority of profits are from problem gamblers and hence that is why they are targeted. A simple profit model probably along the lines of Tobacco, which for the large part was very quickly eliminated
to eliminate gambling along the same lines would be so much harder - in fact the government have a vested interest via the national lottery and premium bonds
 

stay_up_skyblues

Well-Known Member
The whole industry stinks and breaches every ethical rule and policy that apply to most other industries. There’s a place for gambling, in moderation, for those who can afford it and enjoy it. But the current system and “regulation” is a joke.

Alcohol is my addiction and now I’m over a year in I can get by quite easily without it being shoved down my throat (not in the literal sense). I can, if I want, stay out of the pubs and avoid situations where I know there will be drinking. Advertising is nominal for the most part. No real ads in the daytime and minimal on radio and billboards etc. or maybe I just don’t notice it anymore.

Really feel for gambling addicts. Can’t watch or listen to anything sport related without having it fired at you non-stop. Temptation at your finger tips 24/7 and the companies making a concerted effort to pull you in at every opportunity with free bets and targeted marketing.

Thankfully Stella Artois and Jack Daniels never felt the need to send me freebies when I was starting out recovery.

It needs shaking up from top to bottom. Ban the adverts, massively scale down the online sites, introduce huge penalties for companies targeting customers who evidently have problems (even soft credit checks could be introduced) and make them properly risk assess anyone betting large amounts.

I’d even go as far as banning the online casinos, or at least massively scale back what people can bet. At least in a proper casino the staff can stop someone clearly on their arse (or out of their face) spunking their life savings. Not that they necessarily would.

The rules are there for fast food, tobacco, alcohol (to an extent) but none of those things can cost a family their house in the space of a few clicks. Also, you can stop eating shit/drinking/smoking when you wake up… with gambling you may already be in too deep when the penny drops, hence the shocking suicide rates.

Id like to see an avenue opened up for addicts who were targeted despite the companies having sufficient information they were problem gamblers to bring civil claims. Big ones.

The more I think and learn about the more it really fucks me off.
 
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MusicDating

Euro 2016 Prediction League Champion!!
It's the giving gifts/freebies to known problem gamblers that really gets my goat. As you say, no other industry could get away with giving a known addict more rope. Like any self-regulated industry, they'll keep taking the piss until independent regulation is forced on them.

The Guardian wrote this over 4 years ago. Sadly not a lot has changed since -

 

Samo

Well-Known Member
The whole industry stinks and breaches every ethical rule and policy that apply to most other industries. There’s a place for gambling, in moderation, for those who can afford it and enjoy it. But the current system and “regulation” is a joke.

Alcohol is my addiction and now I’m over a year in I can get by quite easily without it being shoved down my throat (not in the literal sense). I can, if I want, stay out of the pubs and avoid situations where I know there will be drinking. Advertising is nominal for the most part. No real ads in the daytime and minimal on radio and billboards etc. or maybe I just don’t notice it anymore.

Really feel for gambling addicts. Can’t watch or listen to anything sport related without having it fired at you non-stop. Temptation at your finger tips 24/7 and the companies making a concerted effort to pull you in at every opportunity with free bets and targeted marketing.

Thankfully Stella Artois and Jack Daniels never felt the need to send me freebies when I was starting out recovery.

It needs shaking up from top to bottom. Ban the adverts, massively scale down the online sites, introduce huge penalties for companies targeting customers who evidently have problems (even soft credit checks could be introduced) and make them properly risk assess anyone betting large amounts.

I’d even go as far as banning the online casinos, or at least massively scale back what people can bet. At least in a proper casino the staff can stop someone clearly on their arse (or out of their face) spunking their life savings. Not that they necessarily would.

The rules are there for fast food, tobacco, alcohol (to an extent) but none of those things can cost a family their house in the space of a few clicks. Also, you can stop eating shit/drinking/smoking when you wake up… with gambling you may already be in too deep when the penny drops, hence the shocking suicide rates.

Id like to see an avenue opened up for addicts who were targeted despite the companies having sufficient information they were problem gamblers to bring civil claims. Big ones.

The more I think and learn about the more it really fucks me off.

A brave post with well made points.
What is it doing on here? ;)
 

stay_up_skyblues

Well-Known Member
It's the giving gifts/freebies to known problem gamblers that really gets my goat. As you say, no other industry could get away with giving a known addict more rope. Like any self-regulated industry, they'll keep taking the piss until independent regulation is forced on them.

The Guardian wrote this over 4 years ago. Sadly not a lot has changed since -


Yeah, stinks. I had to declare and get clearance to gift a box of posh biscuits to a client at Christmas last year !!!
 

Brighton Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
The whole industry stinks and breaches every ethical rule and policy that apply to most other industries. There’s a place for gambling, in moderation, for those who can afford it and enjoy it. But the current system and “regulation” is a joke.

Alcohol is my addiction and now I’m over a year in I can get by quite easily without it being shoved down my throat (not in the literal sense). I can, if I want, stay out of the pubs and avoid situations where I know there will be drinking. Advertising is nominal for the most part. No real ads in the daytime and minimal on radio and billboards etc. or maybe I just don’t notice it anymore.

Really feel for gambling addicts. Can’t watch or listen to anything sport related without having it fired at you non-stop. Temptation at your finger tips 24/7 and the companies making a concerted effort to pull you in at every opportunity with free bets and targeted marketing.

Thankfully Stella Artois and Jack Daniels never felt the need to send me freebies when I was starting out recovery.

It needs shaking up from top to bottom. Ban the adverts, massively scale down the online sites, introduce huge penalties for companies targeting customers who evidently have problems (even soft credit checks could be introduced) and make them properly risk assess anyone betting large amounts.

I’d even go as far as banning the online casinos, or at least massively scale back what people can bet. At least in a proper casino the staff can stop someone clearly on their arse (or out of their face) spunking their life savings. Not that they necessarily would.

The rules are there for fast food, tobacco, alcohol (to an extent) but none of those things can cost a family their house in the space of a few clicks. Also, you can stop eating shit/drinking/smoking when you wake up… with gambling you may already be in too deep when the penny drops, hence the shocking suicide rates.

Id like to see an avenue opened up for addicts who were targeted despite the companies having sufficient information they were problem gamblers to bring civil claims. Big ones.

The more I think and learn about the more it really fucks me off.

When I was losing large amounts I was desperate for there to be the self-blocking with the bank that you can do now. Would just go through a very brief rush when the stake was placed and then a lot of self loathing afterwards, just to repeat whenever the next payday came. Pretty scary place when you literally cannot afford even the bus fare into work and you’ve blown all the overdraft. All the time I still get texts offering different sites and proudly boasting they aren’t affiliated with GamStop. E-mails still come through from the places I thought I’d closed an account with.

They know what they’re doing and they know most of the profit comes from people with a problem. Haven’t done it myself in 10 years now anyway.
 

clint van damme

Well-Known Member
The whole industry stinks and breaches every ethical rule and policy that apply to most other industries. There’s a place for gambling, in moderation, for those who can afford it and enjoy it. But the current system and “regulation” is a joke.

Alcohol is my addiction and now I’m over a year in I can get by quite easily without it being shoved down my throat (not in the literal sense). I can, if I want, stay out of the pubs and avoid situations where I know there will be drinking. Advertising is nominal for the most part. No real ads in the daytime and minimal on radio and billboards etc. or maybe I just don’t notice it anymore.

Really feel for gambling addicts. Can’t watch or listen to anything sport related without having it fired at you non-stop. Temptation at your finger tips 24/7 and the companies making a concerted effort to pull you in at every opportunity with free bets and targeted marketing.

Thankfully Stella Artois and Jack Daniels never felt the need to send me freebies when I was starting out recovery.

It needs shaking up from top to bottom. Ban the adverts, massively scale down the online sites, introduce huge penalties for companies targeting customers who evidently have problems (even soft credit checks could be introduced) and make them properly risk assess anyone betting large amounts.

I’d even go as far as banning the online casinos, or at least massively scale back what people can bet. At least in a proper casino the staff can stop someone clearly on their arse (or out of their face) spunking their life savings. Not that they necessarily would.

The rules are there for fast food, tobacco, alcohol (to an extent) but none of those things can cost a family their house in the space of a few clicks. Also, you can stop eating shit/drinking/smoking when you wake up… with gambling you may already be in too deep when the penny drops, hence the shocking suicide rates.

Id like to see an avenue opened up for addicts who were targeted despite the companies having sufficient information they were problem gamblers to bring civil claims. Big ones.

The more I think and learn about the more it really fucks me off.

Congratulations on your year sober. Great achievement.
 

clint van damme

Well-Known Member
When I was losing large amounts I was desperate for there to be the self-blocking with the bank that you can do now. Would just go through a very brief rush when the stake was placed and then a lot of self loathing afterwards, just to repeat whenever the next payday came. Pretty scary place when you literally cannot afford even the bus fare into work and you’ve blown all the overdraft. All the time I still get texts offering different sites and proudly boasting they aren’t affiliated with GamStop. E-mails still come through from the places I thought I’d closed an account with.

They know what they’re doing and they know most of the profit comes from people with a problem. Haven’t done it myself in 10 years now anyway.

Well done for kicking it for ten years. Can't be easy.
 

stay_up_skyblues

Well-Known Member
A lot easier now that I’ve set the bank to block any gambling transactions and got them to make it nearly impossible to lift them.

10 years is some achievement mate. And very wise with the bank. What should happen is that the bookies should blacklist people in the situation you were in and put the blanket block on automatically. I’d hazard a guess some form of AI or algorithm could do that in a matter of hours. As someone else said though, they won’t, unless/until they are pushed to do so.

I could (and did, to the tune of £3,000 - thanks Wonga) go after a lender for irresponsible lending and claim the money back with interest, and obviously we had the ppi scandal. I think it’s right now that those mugged by gambling companies who knew, or ought to have known, their customer had a problem faced similar.
 

Brighton Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
10 years is some achievement mate. And very wise with the bank. What should happen is that the bookies should blacklist people in the situation you were in and put the blanket block on automatically. I’d hazard a guess some form of AI or algorithm could do that in a matter of hours. As someone else said though, they won’t, unless/until they are pushed to do so.

I could (and did, to the tune of £3,000 - thanks Wonga) go after a lender for irresponsible lending and claim the money back with interest, and obviously we had the ppi scandal. I think it’s right now that those mugged by gambling companies who knew, or ought to have known, their customer had a problem faced similar.

I’d obviously love to have all that money back but at the same time, I wasn’t forced in to handing it over or conned out of it like with PPI. Just a very hard lesson to learn and with FIFA for example encouraging gambling by a different medium I see many more going down the same rabbit hole
 

xcraigx

Well-Known Member
At one stage a few years back I would be giving most of my wages to Wonga, gambling what little was left and then taking out more Wonga loans to continue gambling for the rest of the month. It must have gone on 18 months, credit cards maxed out, a large overdraft gone, I even took out a £5k loan which went in no time. It got to the point where there was nothing left to gamble even if I wanted to. I also spent a ridiculous amount of my days staring at live score websites waiting for goals (always bet on goals!). Most nights I would still be up around 2/3am gambling on South American football - usually chasing losses from earlier in the evening and then I'd be up at 7 for work.

At rock bottom I signed up to Gamstop, blocked myself from every online account I had (dozens!) and I've not had a bet in just over two years and unsurprisingly I don't miss it at all.

Gambling is shit kids and it's so very easy to lose control without really noticing until it's too late.
 

ccfctommy

Well-Known Member
I think it was the Cardiff game where I looked at the pitchside advertising hordings. There was obviously Boylesports and other rotating adds for 888 Casino, Ladbrokes I think it was and Bet365. Four adverts for bookies! There was the obligitory gamble aware add also to balance it out.

What chance have gambling addicts have?
 

lordy_87

Well-Known Member
What shocked me from the Merson programme was the amount of information the bookies compile on each user. They have all the tools to be able to identify and help problem gamblers but instead they use the information to exploit them. Evil companies.
 

stay_up_skyblues

Well-Known Member
What shocked me from the Merson programme was the amount of information the bookies compile on each user. They have all the tools to be able to identify and help problem gamblers but instead they use the information to exploit them. Evil companies.

Yeah it was shocking and busts any myth that they can’t regulate themselves if they wanted to. They have all of the information they need on every online user to spot the problematic gamblers and cut them off/help. Ethically they should and perhaps the first one to stand up and do so might attract some of the casual gamblers to use their services over others. It wouldn’t make up the shortfall obviously but bit of CSR in the industry would be welcome.
 

Torquay Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
I worked at Rolls Royce many years ago and used to phone in bets off the guys on the shop floor to a bookie I knew. All very amicable and he'd buy me a couple of pints at the weekend for my trouble.
One afternoon I was a bit late getting to the pay phone so decided to stand a bet from a navi with hands like shovels. It was a 10p Yankee and you can guess the rest.
I had to borrow a month's wages off my old man who wasn't too pleased.
I remember handing over the cash to the guy and he peeled a fiver off the top for me. I felt the pain as he put it in my hand and said thanks fella.
I was 18 at the time and think I had a lesson and a lucky escape from gambling there and then.
 

speedie87

Well-Known Member
I never got into it as just always thought you’ve never going to win as the whole point of bookmakers is that they set the odds in their favour! Think remember someone saying once with old school betting shops there was a reason why there were loads of counters to pay in and only one to collect.

The use of phones must have made the issue a lot worse, if people had to physically walk to a betting shop and hand over cash when they wanted to have a bet like the old days that would stop a lot of people getting into it.

Thing that shocked me a few years back was seeing a panorama programme on bbc about betting company’s exploiting people. A lot of them were women with bingo style games etc, basically the people who were obviously problem gamblers were being treated like vip’s with their own account managers ringing them up all the time and giving them giving them free credits etc to keep them hooked. One women was in tears as lost everything , her mum had died and this sales women was just trying to get her to borrow money to get back in the game
 

stay_up_skyblues

Well-Known Member
I never got into it as just always thought you’ve never going to win as the whole point of bookmakers is that they set the odds in their favour! Think remember someone saying once with old school betting shops there was a reason why there were loads of counters to pay in and only one to collect.

The use of phones must have made the issue a lot worse, if people had to physically walk to a betting shop and hand over cash when they wanted to have a bet like the old days that would stop a lot of people getting into it.

Thing that shocked me a few years back was seeing a panorama programme on bbc about betting company’s exploiting people. A lot of them were women with bingo style games etc, basically the people who were obviously problem gamblers were being treated like vip’s with their own account managers ringing them up all the time and giving them giving them free credits etc to keep them hooked. One women was in tears as lost everything , her mum had died and this sales women was just trying to get her to borrow money to get back in the game

Yeah I saw that. Tombola I think it is. They have chat rooms alongside the games and sell it as a social media site as well as betting. Rife for stay at home mums, older ladies and the unemployed daytime gambling. Iirc the woman who lost everything was a few weeks clean following a call recording of her breaking her heart to Tombola saying she had to stop. They then rang her saying they’d missed her and they’d put £200 in her account if she changed her mind. Scumbags.
 

Brighton Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
I never got into it as just always thought you’ve never going to win as the whole point of bookmakers is that they set the odds in their favour! Think remember someone saying once with old school betting shops there was a reason why there were loads of counters to pay in and only one to collect.

The use of phones must have made the issue a lot worse, if people had to physically walk to a betting shop and hand over cash when they wanted to have a bet like the old days that would stop a lot of people getting into it.

Thing that shocked me a few years back was seeing a panorama programme on bbc about betting company’s exploiting people. A lot of them were women with bingo style games etc, basically the people who were obviously problem gamblers were being treated like vip’s with their own account managers ringing them up all the time and giving them giving them free credits etc to keep them hooked. One women was in tears as lost everything , her mum had died and this sales women was just trying to get her to borrow money to get back in the game


The chilling part for me was a widow saying that her dead husband’s email inbox was coming in with messages telling him he had lost his bonuses for not depositing enough. Because he’d killed himself.
 

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