Anybody been in the shops

I don't like to disturb the girls behind the counter from watching celebrity love island on their phones!

my son a manager of billys but he is on holiday ron but the fact they let him take a holiday when the festival is on says a bit , not a lot of footfall expected but the fobts will be busy !

I'm popping out later to go to the local Hills. There's never more than 5 or 6 people at the best of times and today will be no different I would imagine. I'll report back.

The quietast  gold cup day the shop has ever had.

Watched the 1330 on Tuesday in badblokes before going to the pub. Outside the three of us only a half dozen others in watching and that included the two behind the counter.

Hadn't been in that shop since before covid but use to be about 15 folk in at that time.

Then went to the pub and no one else in was watching it.

Very sad to say the shop never took a bet over 60 quid on the gold cup

How do you think the National will go Ronnie in terms of takings compared with the previous few years?

Sparrow.
Very  sad to say  the shops are in decline  the last year has  been worrying. Take it from  me its not going to  get better
Hope you are well.
Ronnie.

Sparrow.
We have seen the great days of betting  in the 80s and 90s sad to say great days  gone  forever.

My dad was an on course clerk Ronnie from the 30s until the 60s and goodness knows what he would think of the game now. Trust you are well too.

Bumped into a colleague t'other day who has been in the betting shop game for 40 years.
Asked him how it was going at the battlefront.

Slips are well down - nutters are up.

Had to call the peelers when some clown started beatin' onee of the crack cocaine machines up, after he done a mere nifty notes.

Kudos to the guy for surviving so long

Sparrow.
Look for the white umbrella

the coral fella stephens  spent all day telling viewers punters were queing 6 deep atound thed block all day to bet on all chelt races today

Ronnie, they have entirely brought this upon themselves, killed their own business. Lunacy but true.

1st poster.
Can I ask you a question  would you believe  what a coral pr man would  say

no just repeating what he said about turnover,but with the uber rich that turnover could come from a 100 high rollers

Typoon .
Very  sad to say  I agree  the game  has gone but plenty  of people  in the firm will be making  plenty

things evolve man..everything is changing weekly...no reason to visit a shop anymore.

Been in baldy shop every morning this week between roughly 9 and 10

About 5 or 6 customers at most, quite often I was the only one for 20 minutes or so

However, there is another baldy shop in a nearby town of similar size which is always very busy (and takes some big bets apparently). Can't explain why

4 Betting Shops in my Town closed down in the last couple of Months.

4 Betting Shops in my Town closed down in the last couple of Months.

Rico, I like betting in shop because I like to put on and collect in readies

It's also a social thing, or used to be
Many a time the whole shop cheering on the last leg of someone's Yankee

That's 8 now Acey

That's funny... Remember 8 Ace in Viz?

falling like flys now Reg.

Rico.
If you were going  to do a safe you would be better  off doing  Greggs than a lbo as they  is nought in the lbos safe

Hope you are well

The thing is Ronnie, the constant patronising commentary and non stop virtual racing turns the most hearty punter mad.

1ST Time poster.
Give the pr guy a ring and ask him  why  Ronnie says the the shops are dead what price  you will get a reply.

when i done the safes there was no alarms ron...all alarmed to the hilt these daze.

Rico.
Spoke to a pal of yours this week told me your game is so hard. Would you agree

Greggs do an App now, cash going , you pay into app,select and  pay via app,collect in priority lane in shop, get loyalty points towards freebies.
It's very popular.Shops open earlier and close later, very user friendly outfit.

Business is booming, just announced big bonuses for staff.

Pay a nice dividend too, expecting another special tbh.

There's got to be a joke to be had with breadnbutter talking about Greggs

brutally hard ron..all controlled by gps/bot..unless you play over 3f out..but thats gambling

Rico.
Could talk about  the old days all day long a guy only last week said to me do you remember  Matty Steele a proper  bookmaker. No doubt  you remember  him.

yes knew matty well from my early brough days.

Rico.
Could  you beet him.
Sweet dreams off to bed as all day tomorrow.

Rico and gambling are contradictions in terms Ronnie, a clueless moron who hides behind welching and bluster!!

probably 20 yrs since i had a bet in a shop,only ever go in few times a yr to pick one of those baldy fred,s race cards up if i,m passing,even big laddies in normanby high st closed near me ,shop stillempty and derelict

Didnt even make it to a shop. thats 1st time in 20 years. Offering naff all to get out of bed 4. Gone are the days e/w  1/4 odds a place and betting to around 102 %. Price boosts all gone.

MFRAUDY doesnt even bother sleeping outside the shops in his sleeping bag to get on TOMS chosen these days,

I retired in 2003 and in the years leading up to I had imagined (happily) many an afternoon in the betting shop when there were no racing near me. Like many on here, I haven't had a bet with any bookies in over 10 years, maybe one a year I set foot in a betting shop for a peak because I got time to waste. In the town there are three betting shops within 100 yds and if I'm passing I glance in and there hardly anyone in there and if they are they are likely to be feeding the Fobts.

They've become museum pieces. Can't see any way back for them.

I went into a local Laddies to watch the last 2 races from Cheltenham yesterday and I could not believe I was the only one watching the racing and there were 3 people on the FOBTs. Just remembering the days when Unsinkable Boxer landed a massive gamble....I watched it across the road from my house in Will Hills (no longer there) and it was standing room only..amazing atmosphere and the best time ever. Very happy memories like already said on here...sadly gone forever

ronnie rails Mar 24 22:11 
Rico. Could  you beet him.

not back in those days ronnie..like most didnt do any work and guessed.

Slipped away quietly after the arrival of the pink…..gone completely…..

I went into the local Jenningsbet to watch the 4.45 on Thursday and there were 4 (old boys) watching the racing and 3 people on a row of 5 sports betting terminals.  Think there were only a couple on the fruit machines.  Positively heaving by comparison

Just pop in on GN day, to put the daughters 3 picks on and that's about it. Sold my own LBO in 1982 could have kept it for another 20 years i guess, but i'm sad to say bookies have had their day.
  Only thing i could suggest would be some of them going into collaboration with ****/betfair to give exchange prices but taken for cash with perhaps an 8% commision taken by shop, with customers able to watch SIS pictures on large screen. However it's probably too late now as young people really have little to no interest in racing.

2 of the 3 on the SBTs were Eastern European, the other a young black fella.

If that is the case then stewards then surely enough in about 50 yrs or so horseracing will be a thing of the past??

to be fair 5 races on itv,all races on ruk,online etc,bookies wont be full of people after racing starts ,in the old days they,d be full/filling up after the last race/ 4th race on card on itv.ch 4 racing

40yrs ago 6 pubs in my vicinity where busy most days/nights...

5 now shops/flats.
things evolve.

I was a relief bookie manager in the late 80s and recall taking over 1,000 slips on a regular Saturday.  The quietest shops in the area took at least 400.  Reckon they might struggle to take that in a week now.

Just following Greyhound Racing to be something we used to enjoy.

I fear you are correct sparrow.

When i had my 2 shops, it was Portman park only on cartoons,, along with 2 dog meeting in the morning and 2 in the afternoon.
Evening racing Mon-Wed-Fri and Wolver on Sat which i never stayed open for.
Far too much to bet on, thats whats driving punters away, and far too much racing, it could do with losing 400 meetings a year.

I sometimes pop in on Saturday mornings, generally 4 or 5 in, all 70 or so.

Once you get knocked back online, if you go in the shops you can get on for £25 ew or similar no probs. The trouble is the big betting races offer terrible odds. The books offer the same online & retail, but as you get much better place terms online, the win odds are hugely restricted.

So if you don't get the enhanced place terms, there is really terrible value in the shops.

No wonder people don't bother if they understand anything about how stuff works.

The Bookies know this, so are strangling their own business slowly, which suits the business model to push everyone online.....

want everyone online so they can monitor you and get rid if you don't suit them.

look at the shops.  these cards, the mugs think they are some kind of loyalty nonsense, they are purely so they can monitor your betting.

Same with the supermarkets Hulk, went to get easter eggs for grandkids, £6 or £3-50 with loyalty card

Say 10 years ago there were 17 shops within a three mile radius of me, now there is three left. One each, Power, Fred and Hills.

I do not associate betting shops with horseracing anymore. Instead I associate betting shops with spending a penny, and the fobt. Who'd want to be associated with the crack cocaine of betting?

I think I heard there was an increase of over 60% more betting clinics than a year ago. This was despite the reduction of stake money on fobt from £100 to £2 per spin. Clearly, this is not an effective policy to arrest this gambling disease.

I firmly believe a total ban of fobt on high street betting shops is inevitable and only deterrent. I understand what this would mean to the staff but, this disease is instrumental in the social demise of the players and on their families.

Perhaps a lot of the people playing the machines are on crack cocaine anyway.

I agree with all of that 1mp.

gambling no dif to smoking,drinking,drugs.  wonce in,in for life.