Paddy Power...

Gambling company, Paddy Power, has been taken to task for encouraging a ‘problem’ gambler to bet so much money that he lost his five jobs, his house and access to his children. A spokesman for the Association of British Bookmakers shed crocodile tears, predictably. He knows - as we know - that ‘problem’ gamblers are good customers for bookmakers… if by ‘problem’ we mean punters who lose more money than they win. Any punter who wins regularly - through good luck, skill or, more likely, inside knowledge - will quickly have his account terminated. Bookies don't gamble; almost every transaction is a 'sure thing'.

The bookies’ target customers are likely to be poor, luckless, desperate, lacking in self-control, with an addictive personality, who remember the occasional wins and forget their losses. The shops are in the poor parts of every town, alongside the pawnbrokers and fried chicken take-aways, and gambling adverts monopolise the ad breaks in every televised sporting occasion on Sky. The ads present gambling as a fun lifestyle choice for gregarious young men. Winning, according to the ads, is as simple as pressing the ‘cash out’ button on a smartphone. Persuading people to spend money they can ill afford to lose is what the bookies exist to do.

Paddy Power has been asked by the betting regulators to make a voluntary payment of £280,000 to a “socially responsible” cause. According to the Guardian, “Paddy Power has posted a record annual pre-tax profit of €167m (£130m) and the £9bn business is set to enter the FTSE 100 index of Britain’s biggest listed companies this week after increasing its size by merging with rival Betfair”…

Delivering beer in Wigan...