trouble is, it's not just hundreds - there were blokes on the radio today lost 10s of thousands - their own fault I know but these machines make it easy for people to get addicted especially as some are £100 a go
the machines are so cleverly designed to lure folk in and keep them there by raising their hopes that their false promises will come true. maybe not this time, but next time. or the next, but keep hanging on because it will happen. maybe. but of course it doesn't and it's no longer about hopes but just getting back what you lost. if it was a person doing that to another it would be emotional abuse but because a machine is doing it...
while i agree wholeheartedly, the thing with these machines is that they are designed specifically to keep you spending. the lights, sounds, pace etc of them are designed to stimulate brain activity specifically to keep people hooked/spending as much and as quickly as possible. a horse race etc has to run it's course (quite pleased with that ) and therefore there is a delay from placing the bet, anticipation to the potential reward/pay off. The machines are designed to minimise this time and take as much as quickly as possible. the odds literally are stacked against people in so many ways.
No one is having a gun pointed at them making them do it .... They are adults and can such make their own choices beit gambling, drink , drugs , smoking , etc ...
When I lived down south there was a row of shops at the end of our road and one of them was a bookie. He used to park his gold Rolls Royce outside the shop and it never used to amaze me watching the continuous stream of scruffy down and outs shuffling in and out spending their last few quid in a vain attempt to "get one over the bookie". I used to feel like shouting at them "WHO DO YOU THINK OWNS THE ROLLER!!!!!"
the nanny state at its best. no personal responsibility ban everything. few more empty units on the high streets. the tax revenue generated is £2.9 bn at least that is what a quick google told me. all that will happen is the same people will find a different avenue for their gambling how much will go offshore? Just saying.
How people think that they have a chance against these machines, that are controlled by a COMPUTER, is beyond me.
That's no justification. No one is saying ban them, just limit the stake to £2 a go. As @Ermintrude aludes to, these machines are designed to manipulate people consciously and subconsciously...they learn each users pattern of behaviour and manipulate it. We all have tolerances to when we think 'give up', these machines drip feed users. I appreciate many people think it's a simple binary decision...possibly the same people that buy that one extra pint, have one more mars bar or bag of crisps, order two sets of drill bits rather than the one you need right now. It's sophisticated stuff. I don't think it's nanny state asking multi billion pound industries to stop targeting vulnerable people...two people a day top themselves due to gambling addiction....it's not definitely adults btw, no one polices the machine and it doesn't ask for proof of age. The tax revenue arguement is utter horsesh*t as is the thousands of job losses....google the companies behind this share prices, this tax revenue pours offshore. If you tolerate this, then our children will be next.
Bookies know their demographic, that's why they mostly appear in communities that can least afford it. They know that most people walking through the door are gamblers. They already know their weaknesses and these machine exploit them to the maximum. Of course there's no gun pointing at their heads, the bookies know they don't need to.
I remember the footballer Paul Merson having his life plastered allover the papers due to his drink and gambling habits. He was given lots of coverage and sympathy fur the huge debts he racked up gambling. He was able to get help,probably due to his status and he was able to sell his story to refill his coffers. Your regular punter hooked on the machines wouldn't get much support, no one to sell his story to (or anyone to listen to). If you choose to put money on a horse or a football score you do get a chance to look and calculate the odds - the machines don't give you that option, they are instant, pull you in with their impossibilities. As Moon said, it's a computer you're up against. As the OK GO song says "The House Always Wins!" Sent from my BND-L21 using Tapatalk
My point was they will do it elsewhere, online whatever. You could say similar about the supermarkets pumping out loads of Marmitee sugary food ... the obesity crisis, the alcohol makers ... how many people have had their lives ruined by alcohol. Take a look around there's lots of things that bring harm. Do you want everything dictated by government and policed. This is an easy target.
People have to take responsibility for their own actions ..you could spunk 100s on bingo , the lottery ,place a grand on a grey hound , the pier at Weston .let alone all the online betting or on your phone or drop 5k at the casino ...there is no difference ...flashy lights or not ..
Did you have the friend who sat in the pub watching the fruit machines? They would always say they knew when they would pay out - that was when computers were quite as sophisticated. That friend would throw pound 50ps or pound coins in them and then usually have nothing left and either borrow money for the rest of the week or sponge a pint of everyone. The machines entice people in without any real notion of the odds and thinking they have a chance. At least with bingo you have a social and it's not over in seconds. The person placing a thousand on a horse actually had better odds - if you have a decent wage you have something to fall back on, when in reality most of the people playing these machines are spending their last few quid and have little or no support. I've been padt a few bookies today and most of them have posters stating it's gambling awareness week or something like that - let's hope there is a genuine response to gambling habits. Sent from my BND-L21 using Tapatalk
If a bookie goes bust ,his own addiction “greed” has got the better of him . There is a big difference between want and addiction . The biggest problem the way I see it ,is , why do you give vulnerable people free money ? This is what needs stopping and being allowed to use credit cards to gamble , mmmmm wonder why they don’t stop this ?
