World Cup thoughts

Lol hehehhehehebe.

Russia to beat Spain? Nah can’t happen can it?

Suckers been burned. Not me cos even if I’d av been daft enough to back Russia I’d be sat here gambling winnings on online spinny wheely.

f**k that

I actually organized my world cup sweep and got iran myself and glad cause then atleast i never got accuzed of fixing it. I did have one person tell me he wouldn't do it cause he wont gamble

It’s been a fascinating World Cup so far, by common consensus the best in living memory, and, at 49 years old, it’s the best one I’ve ever experienced by a country mile.

Why is that? A lot of it is down to the unexpected. Lots of shock results. Favourites falling by the wayside. And lots of draws and penalty shootouts. All very exciting stuff.

So just as well we’ve not been gambling. The bookies have been cleaning up; left, right and centre. Look at their share prices!

No pity from me, I’m afraid, if you’ve been gambling on it. We shouldn’t be gambling full-stop. Even if you did call the Russian and Croatian matches (unlikely - very few mug punters ever call the draw) then you’d lump it on the next match and eventually lose. (And we are Mugs.)

And we’re all mug punters; including me. We’re all easy fodder for the bookies. That’s why we’re here; that’s why you’re reading this.

Let us, just for once (and permanently, actually, if we want to live a decent life) not gamble.

We don’t HAVE to and we don’t need to. Office sweepstakes seem Ok to me, so long as you’ve put blocks in place so you don’t gamble for real. It’s the blocks that ultimately make sure we can’t gamble, even if we wanted to. However, for some, sweepstakes like this could be a trigger to gamble for real, so consider this very carefully. Always remember - we need to keep on top of every aspect of our non-gambling journey. We must never tease or torture ourselves - if in doubt, keep well away.

Did I have a team in the World Cup? Yes - Portugal! Will I gamble for real? NO.

Don’t be a sucker; you don’t have to be.

Mixer

I placed a bet with money I didn't have to spare on Belgium to win tonight. They won with the last kick of the ball. I feel incredibly lucky, but also stupid that I put myself in that position.

This World Cup has been a dream for the bookies with all these surprise results. Why do we put ourselves through this ordeal when we're always goiung to end up losing in the end anyway...

If I were you I’d withdraw now and self exclude from where you placed that bet.

You know it makes sense

A thrill I imagine Indigo. Albeit a false thrill that temporarily will supress the urge to gamble and all compulsive gamblers would just end up feeding it back to the bookies anyway. The false high sets many up for the incredible lows. From having been up to hitting the low of losing the profit + initia stakes. Then ploughing more money in to make up the original stake.

Take Godioculs advice above. Get out and withdraw. Gambling is not a pleasure or a crutch. It creates false highs that are designed to feed you further into the trap.

Only one world cup thought today........

COME ON ENGLAND !

WOW.

What a game. Nerves shedded, as per every England World Cup knockout game!

Was it better without a bet? Sure was.

(You'd've lost anyway, 'cos even if you won this game, you'd lose it all - and more - in the end.)

So let's all be WINNERS - - - like our England team tonight!

A quick thought for everyone who (a) betted in the match last night and (b) those who didn't.

(a) Those who betted. A very bittersweet situation, because although you're happy England got through, you're secretly very stressed and gutted you lost. (Because who goes for the draw?)

(b) Those who didn't bet. Absolutely delighted England went through and broke their penalty hoodoo - we're through! And relieved we weren't gambling on it. The beers could flow for good reason!

And let's say you did win, unlikely because mug punters like us don't go for draws. You'd lump the winnings in the next game, or other games, and eventually lose, then chase those losses, and lose even more.

We are PROBLEM gamblers, see. We never hold on to our winnings. It's the thrill of the near miss we crave; not the win!

DON'T GAMBLE. Stop now; ban yourself from bookies and online; links everywhere in this site for how to do that.

Be delighted England are through, not secretly gutted cos you've got empty pockets! (And they'll be plenty of those this morning. The bookies have made an absolute fortune during this World Cup. And remember this - they always do, anyway.)

Sadly, they'll be a raft of new posts here on Gamcare as a direct result of last nights match alone. Some people will have lost fortunes; so let's all understand this and do something about it.

Am I writing with the benefit of hindsight? Nope. The pattern is always the same. Easy wins are always followed by a killer loss and killer chase. As problem gamblers, we fall for it every time. But no more - right?

Mixer

Have to say I'm loving this World Cup! I have no betting interest in who wins it so I can enjoy all the games and cheer for the underdogs (I was always a Favourite bettor). There were a couple of sweepstakes etc. going in the office but I said 'No' as it is gambling whatever way you try to justify it.

Don't place the 1st bet and there can't be a 2nd, 3rd or 100th bet

Enjoy the football without the stress and anxiety that comes with a bet

What leaves a sad taste in my mouth is reading about the sharp increase in domestic violence on the days England play in the world cup.

The increase is 33% when they lose but still 27% when they win.

How sad is it that children and partners have to live in fear because of an angry, probably intoxicated, bully.

I don’t think football betting can be classed in the same league as FOBT / fruit machine / casino betting

Football is not a game of random chance when you crunch the numbers down you will find there are patterns between certain games

You can argue until the cows come home but where you have the option to choose what odds you take you always have a chance

At the very least One result in every game has got to win , you just need to find it some are better at analysing games than others

Unfortunately if you are a gambling addict you have a tendency to try to bet on every single game …..which like anything will mean you will lose more often than you win

nipped wrote:

I don’t think football betting can be classed in the same league as FOBT / fruit machine / casino betting

Football is not a game of random chance when you crunch the numbers down you will find there are patterns between certain games

You can argue until the cows come home but where you have the option to choose what odds you take you always have a chance

At the very least One result in every game has got to win , you just need to find it some are better at analysing games than others

Unfortunately if you are a gambling addict you have a tendency to try to bet on every single game …..which like anything will mean you will lose more often than you win

I used to think that but the last day I had a bet was 27th May I stuck £100 on Scunthorpe to beat Rotherham with 20 Mins left. I don’t honestly think it matters what you’re betting on I started out on my £2 Accas and until recently was betting on some random football games in South America at 3am. Some of those bets were only £2 but I might aswell have been sticking £2k on he roulette tables as I was still up all night, stressed out etc. It’s the same effect just different amounts.

Nipped - I disagree. If you take it down to a pure form. Its gambling on 28 (11 + 3 subs x 2 teams) + 3 (referee + linos) - people to behave how you expect them to. Not taking into account injuries, weather, crowd, atmosphere and occasion. Yes a lot of people would have predicted england to go through vs columbia. No they did not win.

In a pure form you're betting on 31 people to do something that you want them to and what they should do - but they all have their own agendas.

I've been in groups and *VIP services* that analyse the statistics and have betting paterns and the lot. Did I win anything? No - why? Because I'm a compulsive gambler. It all went back in. Plus most of the time I barely broke even anyway.

Its fine looking at statistics, but essentailly by doing that you are placing an expectation that these people are robots and will behave in the same way every time, which they will not.

FOBT are the same as football gambling, they are both designed to take your money and dig you deeper in the gambling trap. I never bet on FOBT because I know they're set up to lose, but I thought I had more knowledge on football and rugby and as such I would do better. Am I still £12k in debt? Yes. Am I a compulsive gambler? Yes. Could I beat the bookies? No - the system is designed to never let this happen.

E

You are missing the point of my post

What I said was odds based betting cannot be classed into the same league as FOBTs, casino and online gambling because the house’s edge is so much higher on these games

For example, on blackjack You don’t have the option to bet that you will receive over 3 cards in your next hand you just receive your random cards you make your decision on whether to hit or stick and all of this is priced at even money with the exception of blackjack ….

However The sheer volume of markets and odds now available in sports based betting allows the punter far more room to manoeuvre than traditional casino games and slots

Will the bookies ever really be beaten long-term – NO it’s a sound business model because you can guarantee if someone is winning, someone else is losing

Can you use what ive mentioned above to your advantage – Yes

Can you make profits – yes

Can you make loses – yes