A stupid gamble on evil machines....

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Guinness Guzzler said:
Agreed. As an occasional thing I quite like the machines tbh, iirc the average pay out is about 97% or so, so quite often you'll put a tenner in and walk out with a little bit of a profit and feel like you've won a couple of free pints or whatever. More often you'll lose it, but again if it's only a tenner every so often you don't miss it. I'd say I've done better on those machines overall than I have when I do my rare accumulators.

You can see how easily they could get addictive though, the relatively high % pay out makes people think it's with putting extra in to chase their losses rather than walking away, and they're obviously just so accessible, can hardly walk 20 yards in many city centres without finding one.

It's an interesting one though, should we force bookies to remove them just because some people get addicted to them? I genuinely don't know, on the one hand you don't want people ending up in financial trouble because of them, but then there's the issue of personal responsibility, would these people not just find other ways of losing money, online casinos and the likes?
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I've never used one and doubt I ever will. An acca is a way of making a Saturday afternoon in front of the telly a bit more exciting. I'd be gutted if I just walked in, hoyed a tenner in and my fun was over in seconds. (Although with some of my bets it might as well be.:lol:)
 


RestlessNatives said:
I've never used one and doubt I ever will. An acca is a way of making a Saturday afternoon in front of the telly a bit more exciting. I'd be gutted if I just walked in, hoyed a tenner in and my fun was over in seconds. (Although with some of my bets it might as well be.:lol:)
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Don't know why but I quite enjoy watching the git little ball thing spinning around! It whizzes around and I think "eee gan on, stop about now" and I quite enjoy the "buzz" of waiting to see if I've won any money. Soon as I lose any money I think "should have just put the money on a match to add some interest to it" and go another 3 months or so without touching one of the machines. Just glad I don't get addicted easily!
 
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All well and good lobbying the Government, but aren't local authorities responsible for licensing the premesis for gambling? Would be easy for them to prevent more opening.
 
im a pretty big gambler.. however the clue is in the title. Fixed.

got nee sympathy for people who can't comprehend that you're not going to win. even after they have toyed their wages in them, its their own fault.
 
Great piece but it fails to mention the worst of the lot, Internet casinos. Now you don't even have to leave the comfort of your own sofa to bankrupt yourself.

Would ban the lot, make it all illegal.
 
These machines are staying, it's what keeps the betting shops open, high street bookmakers just don't take the money (from horse racing) like they did in the 80's and 90's.
At one point in the early 2000's you were allowed up to 20 machines in a shop, now maxiumum 4.
Don't think the government will do anything now, job losses?
 
I was travelling around Australia about 12 years ago and remember seeing these all over the place. Seem to have been installed in shops, in pubs, in cafes...f***ing everywhere. Often pretty rural places too where people had bollocks all.

An awful awful sight. Could not believe how callous a government could be to stand aside and let it all go on under their noses.
 
myleftfoot1978 said:
I took 10k off the from the bookies last year and was sitting happy as a pig in shit, lost approx 4k during the euro champs and said to myself I am never betting again, never been into a bookies since and shut all my online accounts down as I never want to give them the money back I have won over the years
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Get into matched betting mate. Risk free profit.
 
While removing some of the temptations people will always find an alternative way of gambling.

Drop the spin money down to £2 will mean they will sit there for 4 hours instead of 1
 
Medulla said:
I was travelling around Australia about 12 years ago and remember seeing these all over the place. Seem to have been installed in shops, in pubs, in cafes...f***ing everywhere. Often pretty rural places too where people had bollocks all.

An awful awful sight. Could not believe how callous a government could be to stand aside and let it all go on under their noses.
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Twenty years since I live out there and Pokies were a big thing. The pubs had separate rooms with them in. Can't say I noticed them elsewhere but I wasn't looking.

Epping said:
While removing some of the temptations people will always find an alternative way of gambling.

Drop the spin money down to £2 will mean they will sit there for 4 hours instead of 1
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Only a small thing but it would impact those who nip in for their lunch hour. They may go back after work but if they've got families to get back to, they may not have the opportunity.
 
RestlessNatives said:
Twenty years since I live out there and Pokies were a big thing. The pubs had separate rooms with them in. Can't say I noticed them elsewhere but I wasn't looking.
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I'm going off memory, which admittedly can deceive, but I remember them being really weirdly prominent. There was loads of them even in tiny rural pubs, and I'm sure I recall them in cafes and stuff as well.

Just felt a bit like the government had sold off a chunk of their citizens to these gambling firms. Grim as fuck.
 
It's one of the worst things the government ever did, deregulate the gambling industry imo. I've seen young lads at work who are on decent money get into all sorts of financial difficulties. When it's there on a smartphone it's just numbers and it's far too easy
 
I used to have a gambling addiction on fobts. For about a 15 month period, I think I went in and played them on a daily basis.

They're designed to addict and suck you in, to the point where you're thinking about them constantly - what numbers am I gonna choose, what's the amount I'm walking with, etc etc. They end up dominating your life.

Thankfully I managed to stop and haven't gambled on one for about 3 years. Others haven't been so lucky as to be able to stop...

I think I read the suicide rate for gambling addiction tops any other addiction in the UK, and it doesn't surprise me. These things destroy people's lives, and yet there's 4 in every one of the 30,000+ bookies on the high streets throughout the country. They should be banned, but the Goverment tax them highly, so earn a pretty penny from it.

If anyone's having problems with these machines or just needs to speak to someone who's been in a similar situation then feel free to drop me a PM.
 
Definately a sad sight, many lasses seem to play them including mams from our school who I know have fuck all.
 
We have herna bars here which are basically gambling bars with these machines all over - I don't use them but I've seen mates of mine disappear to them at half time in a match and do in 500quid in 15 min. That's nowt compared to what the Chinese lads hoy in mind
 
duff_man said:
If people want to play on these machines then let them, got no sympathy for them when they inevitably lose
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I'm bewildered to why people would put money into something that you are more than likely going to lose?

It's not even gambling.
 
278 days.

That's how many days I've managed not to gamble. It's f***ing hard work as well. Before this there were many many relapses.

I almost lost my job, my house, my wife and my son through gambling.

And I don't care what anyone says about matched betting. It is not risk free. It is merely a gateway into wanting more and ending up on the slippery slope of destruction like I did. Not everyone has the will power to just stop.

If you're like me then gambling becomes little more than a habit. You don't even realise you're doing it until it's too late. ( I know this sounds far fetched but it's true)
 
Beaker said:
278 days.

That's how many days I've managed not to gamble. It's f***ing hard work as well. Before this there were many many relapses.

I almost lost my job, my house, my wife and my son through gambling.

And I don't care what anyone says about matched betting. It is not risk free. It is merely a gateway into wanting more and ending up on the slippery slope of destruction like I did. Not everyone has the will power to just stop.

If you're like me then gambling becomes little more than a habit. You don't even realise you're doing it until it's too late. ( I know this sounds far fetched but it's true)
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Beaker said:
278 days.

That's how many days I've managed not to gamble. It's f***ing hard work as well. Before this there were many many relapses.

I almost lost my job, my house, my wife and my son through gambling.

And I don't care what anyone says about matched betting. It is not risk free. It is merely a gateway into wanting more and ending up on the slippery slope of destruction like I did. Not everyone has the will power to just stop.

If you're like me then gambling becomes little more than a habit. You don't even realise you're doing it until it's too late. ( I know this sounds far fetched but it's true)
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take care, i hope you can keep up the good work, well done. bookmakers etc are a bit of fun to most but all to easy to fall prey to the bastards.
 
Guinness Guzzler said:
Aye I always think it's a bit shit that casinos and the likes can just ban you if you win too much. Fair enough if you're cheating like, but banning you just because you're good (at the few games that actually involve any level of skill) whilst happily taking as much as they can off desperate people always seems harsh. Obviously I can understand why they do it, just seems daft "come here, if you're good we'll fuck you off, if you're shit you can stay", thanks, don't think I'll bother
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Have you read a book called Enemy Number One about Patrick Veitch ?
 
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