Quote Originally Posted by NYCBlue View Post
It should be treated as a disease because it obviously is one. And it's also obvious that these people need help not punishment. Has Ivan Toney's 10 month ban cured him of his addiction? I doubt it. Gambling advertising, shouldn't be allowed on shirts, in stadiums or on TV. It's ridiculous.

I once worked with a bloke who gambled on his phone all day. He gambled on sports he had no idea about. He even gambled on cricket. I can't remember who he bet on, but he thought his team was going to win because they had over 100 points and the other team didn't have any. I tried to explain cricket to him, but I might as well have been speaking to him in Welsh.
A very good friend of mine will gamble every last penny away without fail every month. He'll message me if Surrey will win etc and he doesn't know anything about cricket. He messages my friends about snooker etc. Interesting studies have been done on it, the winning doesn't really matter, it just allows you to place another bet which is the far bigger rush. The excitement comes from thinking you might win and it completely rewires your brain. It is a really sad illness and completely changes your personality. The bookies are evil.