Thread title covers everything really! Just bought lottery tickets for the first time in years today, probably as a result of three blokes in work continually talking about their football bets and so on... Dunno if I'll keep it up or how long for!

Anyway, do you gamble in any fashion?

I'll buy the occasional lottery ticket, I used to play fruit machines (when I worked in a pub and could see how much people had put in before me - best night was my last quid bringing me up £32) and recently I've dabbled in Black Jack at friends birthday parties where they've had those 'fun' tables with professional dealers. And I've played poker twice.
Both times I've played 'fun' Black Jack I've at least doubled my money, and I've cleaned everyone else out at Poker.
I have no temptation to go to a casino and try it out in the field, as it were.

I used to play poker with my uni flatmates and then later with work colleagues. Never anything more than £10-20 buy in and it was all in the name of fun. Any winnings I made I'd spend on the group eg get pizza/drinks etc.

Play the lottery occasionally and get £10 or so.

Lottery only. Very rarely win anything.

Forgot to ask, how often do we all gamble?

The lottery's on!

And I didn't get a single number!

I'm almost religious about not gambling, but I'll only preach if you want me to.

I'll "gamble" as in give a donation to charity, and maybe win a hunk of dead pig. We have a meat raffle for the local bowels club which I've bough several tickets for over the last 20 years or so.

I will never buy a national lottery ticket because the skim is too high and the charity donation is too low.

I did bet £2 on a dog once. It was a best mate's 40th birthday - actually a really good time with a surprising number of hot young ladies due to a concurrent hen night. I lost my £2. I had more fun just guessing than placing money on them. I had most fun doing unrelated stuff like being sociable and eating chips.

No, gambling is a fool's game.

If I get drunk I'll buy a Kebab.



I'll buy a lottery ticket, very occasionally.

I used to play cards for money a long time ago, and I was pretty good/lucky/whatever, but some people get themselves in too deep and I've seen more than one mate's relationship blow-up; so now I'll play poker with friends and family for chips.

Oh and a quid on the sweepstake at work.

That about covers it.

For fun yes
The lottery on roll overs
Sweepstake at work for Grand National
Done the Dogs a couple of times with work
and the odd charity raffel ticket if someone comes around the office
Oh yes and last year went to a beer festival at Ascot so bet there - made 380 on the day - sheer luck

Other than that no - dont think I have ever been in an actual bookies

Would like to go to Las Vegas as part of a tour of the West coast just to say I had been

Personally so long as you can afford it and realise that there is no such thing as a poor bookie or a poor casino then I see no problem with it - its just another form of entertainment

I used to buy lotto tickets. I don't any more. There seems little point.

I buy raffle tickets at festive dos. I actually won a box of biscuits. Then again, there were enough "prizes" for everyone there.

I think gambling, even buying into the national lottery, is something of a mug's game. It promises much, but delivers little. On the whole, punters are losers, with only a tiny percentage ever getting back what they've paid in over the years.

I bet on the odd sporting event if I think the odds are good, play the odd game of poker and occasionally go to the races. So probably gamble two or three times a year. I never buy a lottery ticket.

I buy the odd lottery ticket now and again, but that's all.

Bought my first scratchcard a few weeks ago (found a quid in the car and I don't need the money for parking any more)

Other than that a few years ago I used to hammer the bookies for their free offers and lay them off against using the betting exchanges using matched betting and arbing.
From just a £200 initial float I ended up with about £500 profit, could have been significantly more but the low starting float meant I excluded myself from some of the best new member offers (e.g. had to take a £50 free offer instead of the £200 free offer that was running as I didn't have enough to lay it off.

So I wouldn't call the latter part gambling (as I always knew regardless of the outcome I would have a guaranteed profit) but never play the lottery, might do the odd one when there is a high jackpot but who knows