Betting shops

BimboBob said:
I was a Ladbrokes betting shop manager in the late 80's. In at 9. Papers up. Open at 10.

Had one bloke in every day at 9.45. Old boy, pocket of 50p's. On the nose for every dog race in the morning. If he won he'd stay for the horses. Was his life. Never spoke to anyone.

Chinese bloke from next door trying to put 100 quid on the nose on a horse. Had to ring up head office to see if they would cover it. More often than not they said no.

It was the days before machines. Before the internet. Very busy at weekends, not so during the week.

The same people in the same stools doing the same bets.

And it was horrible. I saw couples arguing, fighting about money. Old men with fuck all willing on a horse. There was no glamour, or perceived like it is today, just people with addiction not coping very well.

Dress it up like it is today, all celebrities, odds changing every minute, adverts, options, apps etc etc but it still is an industry that profits from an illness.

And football is in league with them.
Click to expand...

Christ I bet you saw some sights,a lot more than you already mentioned as well,they are coming to an end though I reckon
 
salfordbluetrue said:
Gambling and the TV are the 2 main movers in the EPL, the TV companies want liverpool to win the EPL Gambling does not it will lose a fortune, hence Leicester , the last time the bookies raked it in,there to muddy the water and appease the bookies , so get down there and put your house on liverpool and get every one you know to do the same, if you hear a scouser saying they are going to win the league agree with them
I know this is the wrong subject but if we do nothing the FA will carry on.
Click to expand...
Ridiculous to link betting companies with the outcome of the Premier League, you are miles off the mark.
 
BlueHammer85 said:
Not really. If a bunch of old blokes enjoy meeting up having a chat and doing the horses why does that mean they’re a low life ?
Click to expand...

Because in 2019 where everyone on social media has to have a strong opinion everything is either 'right or wrong'.

The word balanced seems to be long forgotten.
 
Paul1970 said:
What do you prefer
Going to the bookies to put your bet on or bet online in the comfort of your own house . I prefer to go to the bookies when I’m back home as I like the social interaction.
Click to expand...
as long as the interaction isn't in a dark alley with tire iron wielding Moose and Rocco.
 
Manchester1894 said:
The worst thing on the high street. Sorry to piss on the party. Gambling is for losers and if interaction in a bookies is what your after then your life has probably sunk to real low.
Click to expand...
A little bit different but what about Poker? That's gambling. Who the hell doesn't like a nice friendly home game with a few bevy's and 6 to 8 buddies?
 
willipp said:
Bookies are disappearing at a fast rate now the roulette machines are all changed. They used to be packed with people playing them, now they are empty. Won’t be many left in a few years.
Click to expand...

Won’t be many left in a few year
What's the odds on that
 
mikemcfc said:
A little bit different but what about Poker? That's gambling. Who the hell doesn't like a nice friendly home game with a few bevy's and 6 to 8 buddies?
Click to expand...
Poker was designated a game of skill by a US Court in 2012. There is an element of luck in any poker game but the fact there are Poker Professionals who earn their living from the game confirms the skill element.

Other gambling like slots, bingo and roulette are pure gambling games, there are no professionals making a living from those as they are a game of chance not skill.
 
BimboBob said:
I was a Ladbrokes betting shop manager in the late 80's. In at 9. Papers up. Open at 10.

Had one bloke in every day at 9.45. Old boy, pocket of 50p's. On the nose for every dog race in the morning. If he won he'd stay for the horses. Was his life. Never spoke to anyone.

Chinese bloke from next door trying to put 100 quid on the nose on a horse. Had to ring up head office to see if they would cover it. More often than not they said no.

It was the days before machines. Before the internet. Very busy at weekends, not so during the week.

The same people in the same stools doing the same bets.

And it was horrible. I saw couples arguing, fighting about money. Old men with fuck all willing on a horse. There was no glamour, or perceived like it is today, just people with addiction not coping very well.

Dress it up like it is today, all celebrities, odds changing every minute, adverts, options, apps etc etc but it still is an industry that profits from an illness.

And football is in league with them.
Click to expand...
I joined William Hill as a shop manager in 1980 and finished 1989. I saw some desperate punters but it depended on the shop location.

London Road Piccadilly was a far different demographic from the Benchill shop in Wythenshawe.

However, in the nine years I worked for Hills I can honestly say there was relatively few disagreements in the shops even in some of the most deprived areas, most punters were friendly regulars who you got to know.

As for Ladbrokes refusing a £100 bet from a regular there has had to be more to it. At William Hill the bet would have been taken without referring to Head Office unless it was a “stranger” placing a bet to win more than £500 or it was a non horse racing wager. One of the regulars who came the the Burnage shop I managed was allowed to place whatever bet he wanted as he was a “losing client”. He was the biggest punter in Greater Manchester doing his cash on a regular basis. One Saturday alone late 80’s losing around £40k which was in the Stationery cupboard waiting to be picked up by Security

It’s not an Industry I’d like to work in now, drug money laundering, open at night and Epos machines controlling everything from calculating bets, cash flow and handling liabilities. There used to be characters on both sides of the counter but not any more.

Btw, the extra marital shagging amongst the staff was off the scale, working in close proximity and then when the shop closed the opportunity was there, it was rife but also quite a lot met their lifetime partners there as well.
 
hammocity said:
As for Ladbrokes refusing a £100 bet from a regular there has had to be more to it. At William Hill the bet would have been taken without referring to Head Office unless it was a “stranger” placing a bet to win more than £500 or it was a non horse racing wager.
Click to expand...

He used to try and put it on the nose on high odd horses. 25/1 and upwards. usually they said no but on occasion he was allowed.

Did you use to wander into the other shops to put a bet on to see how many slips they had shifted in a week? The 2 other bookies in the small town I worked used to do it as well, in the end we just used to meet in the pub with a slip each and have a beer.

We also had loads of cash just sitting around. And yes, being a single-ish man at the time meant a few of the cashiers were fair game.
 
BimboBob said:
He used to try and put it on the nose on high odd horses. 25/1 and upwards. usually they said no but on occasion he was allowed.

Did you use to wander into the other shops to put a bet on to see how many slips they had shifted in a week? The 2 other bookies in the small town I worked used to do it as well, in the end we just used to meet in the pub with a slip each and have a beer.

We also had loads of cash just sitting around. And yes, being a single-ish man at the time meant a few of the cashiers were fair game.
Click to expand...
Yep, the checking of other shops, if I saw another Manager (you get to know them) I used to do the same just tell them our turnover and slippage in return for their info.

I worked all over the North West but ended up running the Area Office in Burnage, had the pick off the cashiers as I was responsible for the staffing of around 30 shops, some absolute crackers (hard to believe when you see the munters who work in shops these days).

One young Saturday girl Helen had such a short skirt and her cleavage on show one day we had punters in who’d never bet before. When she was around 19 she was telling me about how she had shagged a lad from college in a woods the day before and she had got a bit enthusiastic and ended up with pine needles stuck in her arse, I couldn’t stand up from behind my desk for a while.

They were great days and I ended up with a lovely Cashier for a while but we split up through my fault (too many nights out with the lads). It was a decent job at the time, good but not great wages. I’d hate to work in the shops now, it’s changed so much.

Where did you work Bob?
 
hammocity said:
Yep, the checking of other shops, if I saw another Manager (you get to know them) I used to do the same just tell them our turnover and slippage in return for their info.

I worked all over the North West but ended up running the Area Office in Burnage, had the pick off the cashiers as I was responsible for the staffing of around 30 shops, some absolute crackers (hard to believe when you see the munters who work in shops these days).

One young Saturday girl Helen had such a short skirt and her cleavage on show one day we had punters in who’d never bet before. When she was around 19 she was telling me about how she had shagged a lad from college in a woods the day before and she had got a bit enthusiastic and ended up with pine needles stuck in her arse, I couldn’t stand up from behind my desk for a while.

They were great days and I ended up with a lovely Cashier for a while but we split up through my fault (too many nights out with the lads). It was a decent job at the time, good but not great wages. I’d hate to work in the shops now, it’s changed so much.

Where did you work Bob?
Click to expand...

South Coast. Littlehampton and Bognor. Bognor was horrible, flooded by the Butlins lot at weekends.
 
Can someone explain this to me. If you have a load of drug money how does putting it on a bet make it clean??
 
hammocity said:
Poker was designated a game of skill by a US Court in 2012. There is an element of luck in any poker game but the fact there are Poker Professionals who earn their living from the game confirms the skill element.

Other gambling like slots, bingo and roulette are pure gambling games, there are no professionals making a living from those as they are a game of chance not skill.
Click to expand...
really? like i didn't know, but that's fine.
but like i said, Poker is different, but it's still gambling, just because some have skills it doesn't mean that non-skilled addicted gamblers won't chase the action because at the other end of the spectrum they always will, even in poker, everyone knows that. As long as there is an outlet for any type of gambling it can be destructive, but the question isn't what any jurisdiction thinks it is. you said gambling is for losers, yet do you approve of poker gambling then? Not judging here, as like I said i like a good poker game, but it's gambling.
 
Last edited:
worsleyweb said:
Can someone explain this to me. If you have a load of drug money how does putting it on a bet make it clean??
Click to expand...
On the crack machines put say £500 of your heroin dealing money in. Have a couple of £5.00 spins then cash out. The receipt will say winnings £490 or more if you won on your couple of spins. Happy days your money is no longer from selling deals on the street you won it at the bookies.
This is low level money laundering but Kev or whatever his name is now has a legit reason for having a few hundred quid on him if pulled by the police.
 
m7mcfc said:
On the crack machines put say £500 of your heroin dealing money in. Have a couple of £5.00 spins then cash out. The receipt will say winnings £490 or more if you won on your couple of spins. Happy days your money is no longer from selling deals on the street you won it at the bookies.
This is low level money laundering but Kev or whatever his name is now has a legit reason for having a few hundred quid on him if pulled by the police.
Click to expand...
The article posted above says that some firms will even transfer the money directly into your bank account.

Where's that 50k in your bank account come from? Won it at the bookies, didn't I!

Then there are favoured bookies. Ladbrokes, says James, is useful because you can transfer winnings in the shop to an online gaming account. In William Hill's you can ask for your winnings to be credited directly to your debit card, with the cash landing up in your bank the same day. "Look at my account and I am a very successful punter," he says.
Click to expand...
 
Dubai Blue said:
The article posted above says that some firms will even transfer the money directly into your bank account.

Where's that 50k in your bank account come from? Won it at the bookies, didn't I!
Click to expand...
It's not as easy as that the police can look at your account and see the money you have deposited, won, lost and withdrawn. You cannot put 10k in your betfred account and then withdraw it the same day as clean money. They would be all over you. Where as the slots inside the bookies were not regulated.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Unread Posts

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top