All bets are off....

I went to Great Yarmouth Dog Stadium yesterday with some friends. No I'm not talking about the local shopping mall, I mean the actual stadium. I'm not a gambler, except for the odd lottery ticket, but I've never been before so I thought "why not"?

There is a very good reason why I don't gamble; I am a very sore loser. The thrill of winning is exciting - exhilerating even. But if I don't win: keep your distance from me and don't say a word until I've made it clear it's safe to talk to me. It's not just hard core gambling that winds me up - it's board games, fruit machines, even the 2p slot machines at the arcades. I will keep pumping those coins until a huge wad of coppers has fallen into that little stainless steel tray. Not that I want to take a mound of 2p's home with me of course....I'll just swap them in for a mound of 10p's and spend them on the toy grabber instead.

I don't have an addictive personality - after losing on 9 out of 10 races I decided to call it a night. I don't feel the need to go to the bookies every day and check up on the betting odds. However, if I win anything up to a fiver on the scratchcards I just go back and buy more with the money. I think it's fairly reasonable tactics. Anything extra on top of the £1.00 I've spent on the card is an unexpected bonus so spending it would mean nothing to me. I'd rather gamble with £2.00 and possibly end up winning £2,000 then go away with £2.00 which I'd spend on shit anyway. I could buy much better quality shit with two grand.

Betting odds and tactics were discussed last night, which I think is bollocks anyway. On one race two of the dogs I'd bet on were tipped to win. They came 4th and 5th out of 6. Again, I looked at the odds for the other races and most of the favourites came nowhere near. This could of course be a total con to get people losing their money, but if it was genuine then that just goes to show that gambling is a mugs game. I've yet to meet a rich gambler, but then maybe I haven't travelled far and wide enough. Have you ever met a rich gambler...?

One other thing I have to get off my chest, which some of you may not agree with, but......parents will you please leave your f**king children at home when you go out of an evening???!!! I don't think taking young children to a place where grown-ups are gambling away their wages/pension/mortgage is particularly appropriate. In fact I'd say it was setting a pretty bad example. Or maybe not?? Maybe it's useful for children to watch their college fund dwindle away on "Wednesday Wacker" on track 3. It might help them see that gambling is bad. But it is also a good point to prove that grown men do actually cry.....!