Gambling

[Carbo]

Just a small question, really. I've noticed that a great many people on here gamble, which isn't surprising; however, what is surprising -- shocking, even -- is the volume of cash that people appear to put down.

I've seen people talking about thousand pound wins, and far more about large three figures.

Now, in what is essentially a two and a bit horse race (the draw being a fairly remote possibility), to win that type of money, even on accumulators, must mean a fair amount of cash is being bet initially.

I'm not an oligarch or anything, but I get paid decent wages, and yet would never dream of putting that amount of money -- although I have, occasionally, gambled and won on boxing (I think my biggest win was on Calzaghe to beat Hopkins on points, for which I won about 70 quid plus stake, which shows you how much I am willing to wager).

So, what's the crack? Are we inflating our wins and bravado, or are we just a forum of complete junkies?

What would you guys say is an average bet?

Second, do you guys have a system? I would imagine that the only way to beat the bookies consistently, is to grind the numbers and take things astutely and carefully, but is there a system you have? That is to say, are there any methodical, semi-pro gamblers here, or are you all just flutter types who really know boxing well, and have a punt when you think there's money to be won?

[ArtOfWar]

Boxing is quite easy to make money on, although you do have to put large amounts on in most cases if you want big returns, because the odds aren't the best in a two horse race. However, boxing accumulators can net you some decent cash for small stakes.

Horse racing gives good odds and it's on every day which is why so many people bet on it. It can be a fecking killer though. I had 25 quid on a horse yesterday (Overdose) which had been getting talked about a lot for the last couple of weeks. The piece of s**t came nowhere.

Thankfully I had 15 on Hopkins to win on points and Dawson by any method. That paid out 51 quid including stake. If your gonna bet stick to boxing.

[n1ebf]

i like an odd bet on a fight cos I like to think I can outdo the bookies at boxing. Last night is a typical sort of occasion I would have a few quid on, however, I thought about it, and although I'd have loved to have backed Groves, I couldn't see past Degale stopping him in about 7 rounds....so that really put me off yesterday.


Course don't get me started on Larry O'Connor or whatever his face is who did Fury Mcdermott. Although I remember only gambling a modest sum of cash on the outcome of that fight, I seem to remember his decision left me about 400 quid out of pocket that I'd have won!

[ShadrachSimmo]

Boxing is quite easy to make money on, although you do have to put large amounts on in most cases if you want big returns, because the odds aren't the best in a two horse race. However, boxing accumulators can net you some decent cash for small stakes.

Horse racing gives good odds and it's on every day which is why so many people bet on it. It can be a fecking killer though. I had 25 quid on a horse yesterday (Overdose) which had been getting talked about a lot for the last couple of weeks. The piece of s**t came nowhere.

Thankfully I had 15 on Hopkins to win on points and Dawson by any method. That paid out 51 quid including stake. If your gonna bet stick to boxing.

I had that donkey on my lucky15 yesterday! Raging. Boxing isn't the hardest sport in the world to win money on. I wouldn't say i was a gambling junkie i do spend quite alot of money on gambling. Cant say that i win more than i lose but not many do.

[jameswilson]

Iv bet on boxing 3 times, 75 quid on Hobson to beat Mac in their first fight. 200 quid on Baldomir to beat Gatti and I bet during the fight on McDermott to beat Fury, think I put 100 quid down at 2/1 in something like the 4th.

I wont bet on boxing or sport ever again, between leaving University and joining the Navy I was pretty fearless with sports betting, lost a lot on the sports betting side of things but fortunately online poker more than made up for it, at the time I always wished I could stop sports betting tho, fortunately I now have absolutely no desire to ever bet on sport and just have my job and online poker. Just playing online poker for a living drove me to insanity tho so I joined up with the aim of leaving the Navy at around 35 to go back to poker. Even qualifying for and playing live events didn't excite me at the end so I'v probably made the right choice, just playing when I feel like it now and that makes me much happier. Plus I feel I hve much more respect from family and friends, I'm sure people can imagine my parents didn't really wanna know me when I told them University had meant fornicate all and I was just gonna live in Bath looking at a screen for 6-7 hours a day, even tho back then I probably earnt more than I do now.

In terms of sports betting at my peak I'v bet £6300 on a football match and won, biggest loss in one go was 2 grand on Villareal to beat Athletico Bilbao, I remember that one extremely vividly, it would have been about 4 years back now, Villareal were 3rd in the table, Bilbao second bottom and when I saw the stats at the end of the game (Bilbao won 1-0) Bilbao had 1 shot on target and Villareal had something like 12 shots on target. During that time for some reason I never fancied betting on boxing. The odds were always so god awful, close fights usually had a guy at 1.9 and the other 2.5 something like that, and obviously the ones where someones fighting a journeyman were usually 1.1 so I hardly ever fancied it.

[SteveDow]

I'm a lawyer in the City so earn very good money and I do place fairly big bets on several sports but only at weekends usually otherwise it would be too distracting at work. I won a lot yesterday on Hopkins but boxing can be a bit hit and miss as I've had dodgy judging decisions go against me a few times.

For me, whilst gambling is partly about making money, it's mainly about the buzz. There really is no feeling quite like winning a big bet (other than the obvious) and in addition having money on an event adds interest. That said, you do have to be careful not to get carried away as making rash decisions usually costs you lots of money.

[freddydoesdallas]

I'll normally have a bet on the live fight each week, some will be bigger than others and it mainly depends on how the bookies have priced them up. If they've got it wrong then i'll take advantage of the value in it.

Last night the bookies had Groves priced at 14/1 to win on points. I couldn't see it happening so avoided that but saw a few people on here say they couldn't turn it down. Bookies do believe the sky hype far too much

[palooka]

I'm too tight to gamble; I have the odd pound bet with teddys toupee but that's because he is useless and knows nothing about boxing.

There's a mate of mine who blows a lot on roulette machines and I know of someone who has a real problem with gambling and my brother has blown an absolute fortune at it so I am wise about gambling.

[freddydoesdallas]

Gambling addiction is massively on the rise in the UK with both sexes falling victim - online bingo being the hook for females. People are being financially ruined up and down the country every day of the week because of it. It's sad. However, I wish I was the person who dreamt up Betfair. Taking x percent of every single mug punter's losses, in every race or event that's run, is genius.

Betfair was a great idea. I don't personally think it's that bad a problem in the UK though. Some people have addictive personalities and will always end up with issues with something. The overwhelming majority of people treat gambling as a form of entertainment, just like the overwhelming majority of people enjoy alcohol but a small percentage can't

[palooka]

Gambling addiction is massively on the rise in the UK with both sexes falling victim - online bingo being the hook for females. People are being financially ruined up and down the country every day of the week because of it. It's sad. However, I wish I was the person who dreamt up Betfair. Taking x percent of every single mug punter's losses, in every race or event that's run, is genius.

I was reading the business pages today and Betfair are in a load of trouble; share price tumbling, middle management leaving.

[jameswilson]

Gambling addiction is massively on the rise in the UK with both sexes falling victim - online bingo being the hook for females. People are being financially ruined up and down the country every day of the week because of it. It's sad. However, I wish I was the person who dreamt up Betfair. Taking x percent of every single mug punter's losses, in every race or event that's run, is genius.

I'm amazed the government haven't clocked on and started taxing gambling winnings by around 10%. That'd enable the MPs to vote themselves a nice pay rise. Maybe Lembit Opik could claim a holiday in Dubai using the extra cash. Allegedly.

[freddydoesdallas]

Gambling addiction is massively on the rise in the UK with both sexes falling victim - online bingo being the hook for females. People are being financially ruined up and down the country every day of the week because of it. It's sad. However, I wish I was the person who dreamt up Betfair. Taking x percent of every single mug punter's losses, in every race or event that's run, is genius.

I'm amazed the government haven't clocked on and started taxing gambling winnings by around 10%. That'd enable the MPs to vote themselves a nice pay rise. Maybe Lembit Opik could claim a holiday in Dubai using the extra cash. Allegedly.

Wasn't that only voted out about 15 years back?

[Andypittcov]

The Strong survive and the Weak get ruined.

[freddydoesdallas]

Gambling addiction is massively on the rise in the UK with both sexes falling victim - online bingo being the hook for females. People are being financially ruined up and down the country every day of the week because of it. It's sad. However, I wish I was the person who dreamt up Betfair. Taking x percent of every single mug punter's losses, in every race or event that's run, is genius.

I'm amazed the government haven't clocked on and started taxing gambling winnings by around 10%. That'd enable the MPs to vote themselves a nice pay rise. Maybe Lembit Opik could claim a holiday in Dubai using the extra cash. Allegedly.

If there was a tax on winnings the revenue would need to offer some sort of allowance on losses. The amount they would be paying out in allowance would dwarf the tax it received.

You used to pay 9p in the pound when you placed the bet and avoid your tax on your winnings or you could leave it and pay 9p for every pound you win

[ArtOfWar]

Iv bet on boxing 3 times, 75 quid on Hobson to beat Mac in their first fight. 200 quid on Baldomir to beat Gatti and I bet during the fight on McDermott to beat Fury, think I put 100 quid down at 2/1 in something like the 4th.

I wont bet on boxing or sport ever again, between leaving University and joining the Navy I was pretty fearless with sports betting, lost a lot on the sports betting side of things but fortunately online poker more than made up for it, at the time I always wished I could stop sports betting tho, fortunately I now have absolutely no desire to ever bet on sport and just have my job and online poker. Just playing online poker for a living drove me to insanity tho so I joined up with the aim of leaving the Navy at around 35 to go back to poker. Even qualifying for and playing live events didn't excite me at the end so I'v probably made the right choice, just playing when I feel like it now and that makes me much happier. Plus I feel I hve much more respect from family and friends, I'm sure people can imagine my parents didn't really wanna know me when I told them University had meant eff all and I was just gonna live in Bath looking at a screen for 6-7 hours a day, even tho back then I probably earnt more than I do now.

In terms of sports betting at my peak I'v bet £6300 on a football match and won, biggest loss in one go was 2 grand on Villareal to beat Athletico Bilbao, I remember that one extremely vividly, it would have been about 4 years back now, Villareal were 3rd in the table, Bilbao second bottom and when I saw the stats at the end of the game (Bilbao won 1-0) Bilbao had 1 shot on target and Villareal had something like 12 shots on target. During that time for some reason I never fancied betting on boxing. The odds were always so god awful, close fights usually had a guy at 1.9 and the other 2.5 something like that, and obviously the ones where someones fighting a journeyman were usually 1.1 so I hardly ever fancied it.

Jesus, that's some serious betting. What made you put down 6 grand on one game? Were the odds that good, or was it the team? I don't know how you got over the 2 grand hit, it pisses me off losing a fiver.

I take it you were doing nicely off online poker. Is that something to get into?

[palooka]

I've never had more than a couple of grand in my life; it must be lovely to have the means to gamble it.

[Fatsam]

I like gambling on boxing because it can give me a win/win scenario, last night i lost money but i wanted groves to win.

[freddydoesdallas]

If there was a tax on winnings the revenue would need to offer some sort of allowance on losses. The amount they would be paying out in allowance would dwarf the tax it received.

You used to pay 9p in the pound when you placed the bet and avoid your tax on your winnings or you could leave it and pay 9p for every pound you win

I know but I'm 99% sure the revenue were facing a strong legal argument that they needed to offer allowances on losses if they were taking tax on winnings. The revenue reasoned that if that were to be the case people would be writing of 'gambling losses' against their tax liabilites left, right and centre. So they scrapped the tax.

In the States you can offset gambling losses on your tax liabilities. That's why their gambling laws are so restrictive.

I didn't know that, cheers for the info

[SteveDow]

Gambling can be great fun but of course it can get out of hand very quickly which is why any gambler should follow the below advice (given to me by a professional gambler who used to gamble hundreds of thousands a year as his full time job):

1. Never bet what you cannot afford to lose. You must always have the mindset that once the bet has been placed that the money is now gone. Never be dependent on the winnings or go "all in" no matter how confident you are of the bet winning.

2. Never chase your losses. This is the single biggest problem gamblers have and it can lead to financial disaster. If you have a big bet that loses switch the computer off and go and do something else rather than look for ways to win your money back quickly.

3. Only gamble on sports you have a good knowledge of. So many people bet on stuff they have on the Tv out of boredom. This is a sure fire way to lose money easily.

Pretty basic advice but important advice for anyone who bets regularly.

[lefthook82]

there is some easy money to be made on boxing (famous last words)

i remember betting 500 on unders in the Maidana v Ortiz fight and Id never seen either throw a punch in anger at the time. Just on reading about how they fight

Boxers tend to behave themselves by and large. Those who are meant to get knocked out get knocked out and those who are meant to win normally win

You get anomalies when a boxer shows you a side you weren't expecting (Groves yesterday, Mitchell v Prescott(3 figure loss there ), Morales v Maidana (I don't remember that defense in his prime) but by and large they do what you expect

[lefthook82]

i will always do at least one chaser bet. sorry but its in my nature

[freddydoesdallas]

Gambling can be great fun but of course it can get out of hand very quickly which is why any gambler should follow the below advice (given to me by a professional gambler who used to gamble hundreds of thousands a year as his full time job):

1. Never bet what you cannot afford to lose. You must always have the mindset that once the bet has been placed that the money is now gone. Never be dependent on the winnings or go "all in" no matter how confident you are of the bet winning.

2. Never chase your losses. This is the single biggest problem gamblers have and it can lead to financial disaster. If you have a big bet that loses switch the computer off and go and do something else rather than look for ways to win your money back quickly.

3. Only gamble on sports you have a good knowledge of. So many people bet on stuff they have on the Tv out of boredom. This is a sure fire way to lose money easily.

Pretty basic advice but important advice for anyone who bets regularly.

The above is very true. I stick to football, boxing & speedway plus athletics when i can get into it

[Pat Butcher]

I don't gamble but a couple of mates do.

One of them bets heavily on football, got his betfair account up to around +16 grand during the world cup and he was betting between £500 - £1000 a time. His betfair account is now down to 4 grand and he doesn't earn a vey good wage, I'd be suicidle.

Another lad I know bets quite heavy. 1st time I met him was at the Khan - Kotelnik fight (his bird and my missus are friends) and at the bar he told me he had 2 grand on Khan to win. His missus didn't know. He earns good money not sure how much but I know it's a lot. He told me he once lost 12k in a day betting on horses and other stuff, said he calmed down with the heavy betting after that.

[Andypittcov]

Yes all good rules stevedow but he forgot to tell you one of the most important: never bet when you've had a skinful.

[m1kee50]

Gambling addiction is massively on the rise in the UK with both sexes falling victim - online bingo being the hook for females. People are being financially ruined up and down the country every day of the week because of it. It's sad. However, I wish I was the person who dreamt up Betfair. Taking x percent of every single mug punter's losses, in every race or event that's run, is genius.

I'm amazed the government haven't clocked on and started taxing gambling winnings by around 10%. That'd enable the MPs to vote themselves a nice pay rise. Maybe Lembit Opik could claim a holiday in Dubai using the extra cash. Allegedly.

Mr Current Affairs! Opik got voted out at the last election!