Local betting shops basicaly dead in your area? walked into mine and nearly cried

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chapmanwins

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So I popped into my local on the way home from site. Same shop ive been using for what, 14 years now. used to be you couldn't get near the counter on a saturday, blokes three deep arguing about the 3:15 at Kempton, telly going, that smell of biros and disappointment lol.

today? Me, one fella asleep in the corner and the girl behind the counter scrolling her phone. She actually looked surprised someone walked in. Told me they barely cover the rent now and head office is "reviewing the branch".

I still do my coupon by hand. I don't want an app telling me what to bet and I sure as hell ain' t putting my money in magic internet coins. but im starting to feel like a dinosaur. anyone elses local actually still alive or is it just mine going under?
 
mate same exact story here. the one near me shut completely last year, its a vape shop now. tells you everything
nothing wrong with doing your coupon by hand btw. some of us still like knowing where our money actually is
 
chapmanwins said:
today? Me, one fella asleep in the corner and the girl behind the counter scrolling her phone.
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Grabe same here talaga. Before, the shop near us super dami tao, now parang ghost town na. Kasi everyone has phone na diba? why you will still go out pa. Convenience talaga, and also nobody sees you so more private. Sad but ganun na ngayon, what can we do.
 
here in spain still some shops but is only the old mens, 60+ you know. they go for the coffee and the company more than for the bet i think. the young people all in the phone. is a little sad but is normal no? everything change
 
It is the same process every industry goes through. Video rental, travel agents, record shops. Once the online version is more convenient AND cheaper to run, the physical version only survives where it offers something online cannot.

For betting shops that "something" is the social side, watching together, cash in hand without an account. That is a real thing for some people but it is a shrinking market. The shops that adapt (viewing areas, food, machines) hang on. The ones that are just a counter and a coupon are finished.
 
funny reading this, here in indonesia everything gambling is illegal so we never even had the "shops'. you guys are lucky you got to experience that. for us its always been online with vpn or nothing
so be a little sad for what you lose but at least it existed for you
 
chapmanwins said:
anyone elses local actually still alive or is it just mine going under?
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My own side the shop never finish o, but e don dey reduce small small. The owner been tell me say profit no be like before. People dey like online sef because of bonus and the payment dey fast. No shop fit give you 200% welcome bonus na, so how dem wan take compete? The thing tire me sha but na so e be.
 
cryptowine said:
ok grandad
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Ha, fair enough. But the "social side" Harry mentioned IS the point for me. Half the reason I went was the banter. you win a few quid, the lad next to you groans, you take the mick. You cant get that off a screen.
And before anyone says it - yes i know online is "convenient". so is eating crisps for every meal. Convenient isn't always better.
 
the "social side" lol. you mean a damp room full of old men coughing and a carpet that hasnt been cleaned since the 90s. romantic stuff
meanwhile im up 0.4 btc this month from my sofa. ill take the screen thanks
 
US perspective, slightly different angle for you guys. We never had the corner bookie culture like the UK, it was always Vegas or illegal. So the "death of the shop" thing barely registers here.
But the real story is'nt shops dying, its what online is turning INTO. New York just went scorched earth on sweepstakes casinos last year - AG went after like 26 operators, then Hochul signed an outright ban on the dual currency model. Meanwhile they STILL wont legalize proper online casino, only sports betting. So you can bet the NFL on your phone but you cant legally play online blackjack. Makes zero sense.
 
The shops were never the interesting fight here. The interesting fight is the state deciding which online gambling it likes and which it bans.
 
jackpot_jones said:
hey wait a minut online casino is legal in the US now? thought it was banned everywhere over there
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No. Thats my point. Its legal in about 7 states (NJ, Michigan, Penn etc), illegal in most others including huge ones like California and Texas. Sports betting is way more widespread than casino. People mix these up constantly. Sweepstakes casinos were the loophole a lot of restricted-state players used and NY just killed that loophole.
 
canada here, ontario went regulated online a few years back and the shops were basically gone before that anyway. you see the odd one but its slot machines and lottery tickets now, nobody standing around with a coupon. that era is done up here
 
shops are for boomers. everything is online now, why this is even discussion lol. next thread we will cry about fax machine
 
Im gonna get nostalgic here so bear with me.

Started betting in a proper shop in 1989. No tellies at first, you got the results off a tannoy and a man writing on a board. The regulars all had nicknames. There was a fella we called Tuesday because thats the only day he ever won. Old boy used to do the same 50p yankee every signle day for 20 years and when he finally landed it the whole shop bought him a drink.
You knew the staff, they knew you, they''d hold your slip if you were short til friday. When my dad passed, three of the lads from that shop came to the funeral. I hadn't seen them in years. Then the machines came in (the FOBTs) and it changed. Got darker, less chattin, more blokes feeding fifties into a screen on their own. The community bit died years before the internet finished the job honestly.
I do all my betting online now like everyone else. Its better in every measurable way. But I don't think anyone replaces what thet shop was in 1995. Not the same thing at all.
 
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