Would someone please post London's compulsive gambling numbers. What is the level of their problem with games being fixed? Teenage gambling? Gambling related suicides? Is there economy crumbling due to gambling? The pound is pretty strong. How about South Africa? With all of the problems they have there, where do they rank gambling?
I point this out because I was in both places in Dec/Jan and local bookmakers thrive in both locations. I know this is not news, I am only stating the obvious. London's books are extraordinary and accessible everywhere. William Hill has thousands of locations. South Africa has bookies, totes as they call them, literally adjacent to neighborhoods.
This topic has been discussed ad nauseum on this site. I have debated this topic in public forums, written papers, called in local and national radio and TV shows until I am goddamn blue in the face.
How many times have we had to make the extremely valid point that a fixed game is against Vegas interest? We have less freedom that the country we left because of it. Separation of religion and state? Gotta be kidding right? Whatever happened to states rights?
I point this out because I was in both places in Dec/Jan and local bookmakers thrive in both locations. I know this is not news, I am only stating the obvious. London's books are extraordinary and accessible everywhere. William Hill has thousands of locations. South Africa has bookies, totes as they call them, literally adjacent to neighborhoods.
This topic has been discussed ad nauseum on this site. I have debated this topic in public forums, written papers, called in local and national radio and TV shows until I am goddamn blue in the face.
How many times have we had to make the extremely valid point that a fixed game is against Vegas interest? We have less freedom that the country we left because of it. Separation of religion and state? Gotta be kidding right? Whatever happened to states rights?
My feeling is that it's very simple. People that want to bet sports do, and people that don't, just don't do it. The law has no factor into the equation. These people are in serious denial, if they think that sports, in particular, the NFL, are not already "gambling devices." I think it should be legalized, because there is clearly a market for it, and there is nothing they can do to stop it. Legalizing it would not force a single person that is opposed to it to ever place a wager, or even look at a line. It's pretty funny how even ESPNews even posts the line now on Sat nights when they run the matchups on the ticker. I don't know what these people are so afraid will happen if they legalize it outside of Vegas. These same people say it's perfectly fine to bet on dice, cards, wheels, horses, dogs, and slot machines. And they want to try to tell me that I can't bet on the Patriots? Needless to say, I'm not listening.
Maybe someone should point out to them not only can you bet on sports in the UK, you can bet on the sports through the TV set you use to watch the game! Or how about the fact that you can usually bet within two blocks of the stadium, before walking in. Or the fact that up until the gambling bill lost some momentum, it seemed every team was going to build a casino and a stadium together. I love this stuff, like I said about Minnesota it won't happen right now, but the more the NFL has to make itself look utterly stupid with its arguments, the sooner they lose their value. The sooner they lose value, the sooner politicians are going to ignore the NFL's people as just plain crybabies.
Its also noteworthy that the Brits bet very modest amounts in spite of the favorable legal environment. One tabloid proclaimed 'Punters set to wager a record GBP 300 million' on last year's 2 week European soccer tournament. Their version of the superbowl (fa cup final) does not focus on the betting lines, and the average citizen is totally ignorant of the odds. The only event that does generate national interest is the Grand National horse race, where just about everyone has a 'flutter' (small wager) on the outcome.
