Odds and Apps

Did you know that as I write this blog the Venezuelan Ladies under 17 football team are pitting their wits against their Italian equivalent? Don't worry if you didn't I am not even sure that the majority of the good people of the two protagonists are sat on the edge of their seats huddled around the TV or radio hanging on the every word a South American John Motson. So, how is it that yours truly know about this iconic sporting event? Well...it's all to do with the Grand National, an annual flutter and the downloading of a couple Apps. Having performed a kind acupuncture on the list of runners and riders for tomorrow I thought why not avoid the annual trip to the betting shop and take a leap into the 21st century and have an online dabble, after all Vic Paddy Ray et al make it sound easy and entice you with offers. It was after the download and looking at each of the sites that the only thing that's easy is the losing of money. I listened to a debate the other week about why the number of people with gambling addictions is rising, it was similar to the debate I heard about binge drinking...the main cog in the wheel was ignored, the ease of obtaining your addiction. Off licences and supermarkets have made it so easy and in relevant terms inexpensive to obtain alcohol in greater quantities than ever, the new look book makers and their cyberspace offshoots have the same affect. Now, I know, that some of the few who read this will be saying" it's up to the individual" and in many ways your right. However, when an individual becomes a vulnerable individual then that attitude changes and when there a suddenly thousands of vulnerable individuals then everyone's attitudes need to change. Which brings me back to our young ladies football match. As I'm not a gambler I chuckled at first,shook my head and moved on, deleting the app, if I was a gambler there was a host of in play options with ever changing odds all just one click of a button, and another click and another click away and before you know it you could have lost more money the they took at the ground. And if under 17s international ladies football isn't your thing, you could always try, well, almost anything... My old grandad used to say he knew people who would bet on two flies crawling up a wall...have a bang on that!