Gambling adverts everywhere

Yes and it's getting worse so this can only be a bad thing for the youngsters of today.
The ex minister who gave the green light to the gabling companies to advertise was on radio this morning basically saying he made a mistake.
He should hang his head in shame.

The ones I disapprove of are the daytime ones (during Jeremy Kyle and the like) which are targeted towards people stuck at home without much human interaction. They promise this fun, social bingo platform where you'll win money and make new friends (and, having played through a match bet on online bingo, I can honestly say it was one of the most tedious experiences of my life!).

BUT, these adverts are there to do a job and are aimed towards their target demographic (hense Ray Winston during the football and the likes of Barbara Windsor during GMTV).

Relentless? Yes, Exploitivie? Potentially, but don't forget that, whilst we're all on this forum because we are unable to control our gambling, there are millions of people who can enjoy a fiver on the football without the compulsion to chase losses and increase stakes.

The regulation of gambling in this country could use a little reform but let's not sleepwalk into a nanny state. I don't want them to reintroduce prohibition because 1-in-100 drinkers is an alcoholic. Likewise, I don't want to see 'casual' gamblers have to forgo their betting because some of us can't control it.

I would like to watch a sports match without seeing 2 or 3 betting ads (at least) every advert break

Andy.

Disagree with Phil

Seems pretty clear that the gambling industry is built on addicts. As if people putting on a £5 aaca every 2 months are gona prop up the 10,000s of bookies, the 1,000s of online sites, the constant advertising.

No chance. And no, again I don't have facts to back this up. The gambling industry will never fund independent research into this as the data would cause the house of cards to collapse.

The government won't fund for same reasons. Gambling addiction is a form of taxation which targets lower income, generally.

The occasional gambler is in reality an irrelevance to the industry. But in the pretend- boulsheite world of the industry, is a necessary smoke screen to let the game carry in. It's almost like the right of the occasional gambler is a HUMAN RIGHT! no less ; )

The establishment have made regulation (in any area) a dirty word. The UK has deregulated since Thatcher at a rapid pace. There is greater inequality and the majority are suffering more than ever before.

Regulation post-WW2 brought the NHS, greater equality, social mobility.

The establishment promote de-regulation, in reality, to allow wealth to be concentrated in the hands of the establishment.

There's a bloody obvious problem here which should be sorted by the government. This is about public health and safety.

Caveat - on an individual level gambling is always our personal responsibility and I would question whether early recovery focus on 'the industry' is in reality a sneaky distraction from accepting personal responsibility.

Louis

Hi Louis,

Nothing wrong with a disagreement, that's why it's a debate thread.

I couldn't agree more with your caveat though. I made a similar point on the thread titled 'Rigged' which accused bookies of match-fixing and FOBTs of not being random. This was my underlying point, focussing on, and apportioning blame to regulation, advertising, the 'legitimacy' of random games, match fixing, email offers, ease of access to gambling etc. etc. is a means of avoiding the real issue. If this were a 'general' gambling forum (rather than a recovery one) then these would probably all be, perfectly reasonable, topics of conversation BUT, for us, it's (in my humble opinion at least) a bit of an irrelevance.

Good thread though 🙂

Agree with Louis.

It's blindingly obvious the industry's profits don't come from Granny's fiver a year on the National. It's also blindingly obvious the government have no intention of stuffing their cash cow genie back in its bottle. The public were softened up to the idea of wide spread gambling by the lottery which opened the door to the free for all that exists today.

Yes there's an element of personal responsibility that should come into play but with the industry being allowed to target dewy eyed innocents increasingly including minors at will there's a wider responsibility on the government's part. A responsibility every post deregulation government so far has chosen to ignore.

For me this is one of the things I'm finding the hardest at the moment.
It's everywhere

I enjoy going to watch my team play on a Saturday and gambling companies now sponsor 2 of the main trophies in Scottish football.

Live games have electronic bill boards at the side of the park flashing up bookies names every 2 mins.

Britain as a whole has sold it's soul to gambling companies

I counted 5 different adverts/companies promoting such a wonderful gambling experience within a few hours of evening TV. They are also sponsors to TV programme like big brother. Pandora's box is truly open.

It's a win-win situation for the industry. Advertising counts towards expenditure. Cheaper tax bill.. Bonus money also counts as expenditure again its written off the tax bill. And of course it gets the message out there that gambaling is cool and trendy and all your freinds are doing it.

You can learn to turn the adverts into a reminder of why it is you stopped. Thus turning a negative into a positive

I agree with Deano. I only just saw this thread. I see the ads as an irritation just like a BT Sports football match being sponsored by B-ET 365 but I like "turning a negative into a positive". I have to go see my GP in half an hour and will walk past five shops within 300 yards of each other. Morally wrong in my opinion but nothing illegal about it. I just hold my head up high and go about my business.

I agree with most or all of the points above. The simplistic way to put this is there is too much advertising and there are too many bookmakers. Smoking is bad for you for obvious reasons. Until fairly recently smoking was advertised everywhere via T.V. adds, sports sponsorship and billboarding. This has now gone to the other extreme, UK ban on advertising, no sponsorship etc. Even the shops have to cover up the shelfing where the cigarettes are kept and health warnings have been added to the packets. The same financial arguments were made about smoking, there is too much involved, T.V. companies and the government profit too much, and I do believe this was true. I think now the same cycle is happening with gambling. The difference is that gambling affects a silent minority (I do not know how big this minority is) while smoking could potentially affect the majority. I would love to see the same thing happen with gambling advertising. Certain regulations have been put in place like reminders of time you've gambled and maximum stake per bet and the appearance in small print of a helpline etc, meanwhile the volume and level of advertising has gone through the roof. When I first put a football coupon on I used to do 1 or 2 pounds and would look at my friends putting on 5 or 10 pounds thinking that's too much to put on. I have since gambled thousands. I would argue that advertising £100, £200 bonuses and even £50 worth in free bets to match your 1st stake are extreme amounds of money and this should definetly be regulated as these amounts signal serious levels of gambling straight away. You would never be allowed to advertise half of some peoples weekly wage on smoking etc. Thanks for all the knowledge and discussion folk. Steven

Cardhue puts it brilliantly above so please read that.

Obviously the advertising is to get people reaching for the dream like a zombie with outstetched hands. Its almost a perfect scheme where the punters ignore the real odds anyway. Punters believing in luck! The advertising is all twisted to promote images of winners.

These images stick in minds. Nobody shows images of repeat losing then chasing to try and save some face. Nobody shows images of extinction gambling

To repeat,its been deregulated to keep the money concentrated in the hands of the establishment and its a direct form of taxation on the poor.

I will go further. They must be rubbing their hands together almost laughing as they cant believe that we fall for it. Thats one of the thoughts that pained me most in recovery. I fell for something that all rationality should have told me to stay well away from. I funded the lifestyle of people that were just using me.

Entertainment? Dont make me laugh. Try it without the money element and the machines/ other forms of "entertainment" become dull as dishwater

Gambling is just an irresponsible thing so I find it hard to discuss careful gamblers vs addicts. Its clear that the dens are not mainly funded by low level gamblers.

There is generally less sympathy for a gambling addiction compared with other addictions.

They argue that we can walk away but can we? Its created countless addicts and untold misery. In a caring and civilised society there has to be protection and regulation.

Best wishes to everyone on the forum

It's been discussed above that unlike smoking gambling affects the minority, fast forward 10 years and this may no longer be the case

I just wish they would hurry up with the blanket online self exclusion scheme. It's not looking like it's going to be in place until next year now. It will be the answer for so many. The adverts will be just noise once you have taken the step to self exclude from all of them.