Addiction To Online Gambling Soars

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/addiction-soars-as-online-gambling-hits-2bn-mark-8468376.html

We've seen the government get involved in the smoking of tobacco, the buying of cheap booze, and recent concerns over obesity.

Isn't it now time for them to step in and reverse the lax on-line gambling laws, that Tony Blair' government relaxed?

/// Key to the strategy which has led to some of the companies enjoying massive growth since online gambling was freed up by Tony Blair's government in 2005 is recruiting new consumers from middle-class professions and among women. ///

[Mick-Talbot]

Do you think 2:16 is good value for Djokovic to win?
I am about to lump on him.

[Mick-Talbot]

I think the new online gamblers are women playing online bingo.
All the blokes I know still prefer to go to the bookies.

[FredPuli43]

The words 'stable' and 'door' apply. If the means of creating an addiction are freely available, the number of addicts to that addiction will increase to whatever the normal level is. There is a set percentage of the population that is cursed with the 'addictive personality'. Alcohol is far more freely available than it was. There are more female alcoholics than there were. The same applies to gambling. Once the means are established , there is really nothing the government can do short of removing it altogether, a course which would be difficult to pursue and very unpopular with the large majority of the population that is not prone to addiction

[RATTER15]

I blame a lot on the constant TV advertising of all these gambling sites and free money to get you started. I think TV advertising of gambling establishments and sites has only permitted in the last couple of years.

Bad news!!! thankfully I never gamble.

[bazwillrun]

Everywhere you look its all about gambling
TV nothing but roulette
Online, Roulette Casinos,Poker etc etc
Shops, lottery ,Scratch cards
High Street, bookies

Its an easy easy money maker, and how ! it will probably if not already overtake porn online as the largest revenue maker.

the money literally just rolls in, ever heard of a bookies or a casino going bust !

Its a mugs game, and in the UK its all down to Blairs government, I remember at the time hearing , might have been jowell (cant remember exactly) saying that they didnt believe relaxing the laws would lead to an increase in gambling addictions.

no and reducing taxes on cigarettes wont lead to an increase in smoking !

If thats not naive then its a downright lie, which for a politician wouldnt be a surprise on both counts

[bazwillrun]

They offer free bets to get you hooked, because just like the cigarette makers know its all about addiction

[bazwillrun]

PC playing up

They should make all advertising illegal, same as cigarettes,stopped it on F1 and TV ads etc, wouldnt stop gambling ,but would go some way to help

[ummmm]

I agree with Baz. People don't realise how addictive it is. It destroys people. All advertising should be banned.

[Mick-Talbot]

It only destroys weak people, I have been gambling for pleasure all my adult life.
I gamble with what I can afford, I hardly ever have a go at the lottery because I don't like the odds.

I already can not lose on my bet on Dljokovic.

[MadMen]

Funnily enough I was only saying about this last night. I was watching telly and there were three or four adverts for gambling sites during the space of one program. With the financial situation as bad as it is, these adverts are no better than the likes of Wonga. Praying on people in desperate times.
I know someone who lost everything through gambling. His job, his home, even his marriage.

[zebo]

And who could not have predicted this when the previous administration made gambling easier? No doubt they'll be portrayed as victims rather than weak willed.

[ummmm]

//It only destroys weak people//

Rubbish, absolute rubbish. My dad and my uncle were gambling addicts, they are far from weak.

[MadMen]

MickTalbot, no thankfully not his life. He hit rock bottom though that's for sure. I don't agree with your weak people comment. I would not class this persona as weak. Not at all. Addiction can take hold of anyone.

[Mick-Talbot]

When it comes to gambling they must have been weak, ummmm.

I don't mean in a physical sense, I mean knowing when to walk away when you are losing. A gambler who can stay in control knows how to do that.

[ummmm]

It creeps up and they end up chasing their losses. If they had stuck to going in the bookies I have no doubt that it wouldn't have turned into an addiction. They were using phone betting, which I suppose is the equivalent of internet gambling back before the day. It doesn't seem real when you're not handing over the hard cash. Very easy to say £100 on XYZ horse, they are just words at the time.

But seeing the physical, emotional and metal damage that it did, and for them both to come out the other side, then they cannot be described as weak.

[ummmm]

*mental

[craft1948]

My cousin married a professional gambler, and they have a very nice life-style. My mate's son who lives in Perth, Oz makes his living by gambling, he's paid for his own house at the age of 34.

[Svejk]

As a life long gambler I agree with everything Mick T says.
Are you sure they weren't just people who liked betting, ummm.
Plus I can't make whisky or fags but I could take a bet anytime.

[Mick-Talbot]

Sorry , ummm but I disagree. I go to the races often and I gamble often, a great deal of my mates like to gamble too. Most have always been in control of it, But some have not.
When a mate is begging you to borrow him 150 quid to get the shopping in for his family because he has blown the shopping budget in the bookies ....then I think he is weak and needs help.


'It doesn't seem real when you're not handing over the hard cash'

That is very true though.