Journalist Wanted - Gambling Commission Complaint

unholyangel

mrsmehere wrote: »

I do wish you success OP in this. I think most of the replies received here haven't understood that you were playing slot machines and therefore wouldn't see that the way you were spending money, the many deposits over short time frame and amounts per deposit in relation to the maximum possible win and all over a good few months, Is a clear indication of a problem regardless of their personal financial situation.
I hope you get somewhere in your quest even if it only helps a few people, something good has come from your situation.

Spending a few hundred quid a day on slot machines isnt a "problem" for someone with lots of money. The transactions posted in the original thread and probably the most out of the ordinary transactions. Kind of like movie trailers, they put all the best bits in to make you think its great/back up their view.

I know a lot of people that will play a fruit machine for hours and they dont have a gambling problem.

As for the risk outweighing the "pot"......well i can tell you, there are a lot of dumb people in the world. An online site i moderate has a gambling feature - several actually. People regularly complain that its a "fix", its not. They just dont understand how it works. One of them (for example) is one member putting up a bet. Another member takes that bet. The system generates a 1 or a 0. Whoever gets the 1, wins. Your win (or loss) ratio will always be around 50% but not exactly as it needs to be random to some degree.

What members dont realise, is that the more bets they place, the bigger the streaks. Most members use a system where if they win, they stick another small bet up. If they lose, they increase the bet. Now thats all fine and well when it only takes 2 or 3 bets to change your win/loss ratio. But when you've placed even 10000 bets.....you need 10 bets to change your win/loss by even 0.1%. Win 10 in a row, you'll have hardly made any profit (as you keep your bets small when you win). Lose 10 in a row? It can completely clean you out.



Anyway......the OP would be better writing to the betting chains head office and asking what exactly their policy is for spotting "problem gamblers" and what telltale signs their staff are trained to notice.

At the end of the day, we can go round and round and round in circles. Theres no point trying to reason with the OP. He keeps calling them regulations when they're not etc. You cant help someone when they wont help themselves.

I think this thread would be better suited to praise/vents than consumer rights imo.

michael1983l

I have spoken to my local constituency office and they agree that the wording of the Code of Practice is not clear enough and that there is conflicts of interest in the parties looking after the welfare of the sonsumers. This is going to be brought up in the house of commons.

Hintza

I'm just glad I didn't get involved in this thread early on.

OP surely if you feel there should be a change in the law you can join an organisation that specialises in helping gamblers with a problem. This would be far more productive than just approaching your MP's office.

http://www.gamblersanonymous.org.uk/

wealdroam

michael1983l wrote: »

This is going to be brought up in the house of commons.

When????????

NCISROCKS

wealdroam wrote: »

When????????

Not at all I suspect.

liam8282

I don't think the OP will have any success, but I do think it would be nice if they did!

Gambling has changed rapidly over the past 10 years, with the introduction of gaming machines and online gambling.

You only used to be able to play Roulette and the like in a controlled environment such as a Casino, where you would have to be made a member and have a waiting period before you could start to bet, making it much harder.

Nowadays you can walk into any bookies and there will be anything from 3 gaming machines upwards all offering instant gaming. Making it much more accessible and therefore much easier for people to become addicted.

There are also more and more bookies opening up, all probably down to the introduction of these gaming machines.

I agree with both sides of this argument, it is the persons own responsibility when gambling, but I also think regulations need to be much stricter and it should be made more difficult for people to gamble.

michael1983l

wealdroam wrote: »

When????????

When he returns from the Party conference next week, he is writing to the department in charge of the Gambling Commission asking for their input he is then going to forward his findings to the house of commons with some reccomendations. My MP has a highly regarded reputation in the government and is currently being fast tracked. I suspect as the consituency office seems to think I have a point to at least some degree, the minimum that will happen is the right people will get asked the right questions.

michael1983l

NCISROCKS wrote: »

Not at all I suspect.

I will take great pleasure in proving you wrong in a week or so's time when I receive the promised written response on the findings. There's no sympathy for people that have been caught in the gambling trap no matter the circumstances surrounding it, yet it is still a compulsive addiction much like that to smack, crack or prophepol. But as our government has legalised Gambling you all seem to think it is harmless fun and if you get into trouble it is because you are a weak character and that fault lies 100% on the gambler.


Not many industries carry such strong regulation but the ones that do are :-

Alcohol
Tobacco
Non perscription medication
perscription medication
lottery
cosmetic surgey
laser eye treatment.


All of the above are life changing if things go wrong, and gambling is grouped with these. Do you not realise the significance?

NCISROCKS

michael1983l wrote: »

When he returns from the Party conference next week, he is writing to the department in charge of the Gambling Commission asking for their input he is then going to forward his findings to the house of commons with some reccomendations. My MP has a highly regarded reputation in the government and is currently being fast tracked. I suspect as the consituency office seems to think I have a point to at least some degree, the minimum that will happen is the right people will get asked the right questions.

Who is this MP with a highly regarded reputation?

AsknAnswer2

michael1983l wrote: »

Hello,

I will make this very brief as I do not want to go into too much detail in the public domain. I hope to gain the support of a journalist willing to publish my story on a national level if possible.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: