The Kintyre Forum

I see there is another betting shop coming to town !

What's everyone's thoughts on this ?

Far too many shops lying empty in town, it can only be a good thing I suppose.

Are you serious? the last thing any town needs is more betting shops. The LAST thing.

A wee bit of competition never done any harm!

But seriously, it's not a good thing. If I had it my way, gambling would be banned - but the government would never have it, they make far too much in revenue, more so now that there is less money around. It's well documented that in times of hardship, those with the least money tend to gamble more to try to make money!

Well there is not much anyone can do about it now....

It's opening across from the Photographers in Longrow.... Streetwise the clothes shop's place.....

At least it's another shop open ! and will employ some local jobs, if you don't gamble you have nothing to worry about...

Info here ! ->

http://publicaccess.argyll-bute.gov.uk/ ... KX8CH06C00

maxmix

It's quite interesting to note how little opposition there was to this Bookies application. Was it because the last one was on the Main Street?

ChrisA wrote:Are you serious? the last thing any town needs is more betting shops. The LAST thing.

I could think of thinking of worse things to be honest Chris. At least these are licenced controlled places unlike the Internet which is where the real concern of 24 hour 7 day a week gambling can be carried out and with no control. Bit like Public Houses at least they are controlled.....

As I have already mentioned on a previous thread, I remember when there was FIVE bookies in the town.
Of course it is not betting on horses and dogs that brings in the money nowadays.It is the casino-style gambling machines you find inside the betting shop that makes all the money.

Here is a short extract from a previous report from last year..........

"Long gone are the fruit machines of old. In their place are souped-up betting machines offering high-speed, high-stakes casino games, where players can stake up to £100 on a 20-second spin of the wheel. Punters can play with cash, or pay with credit or debit cards at the counter.

This turbo-charged gambling is a niche occupation – fewer than 1 in 20 adults has used a fixed-odds betting terminal in the past year. But within this tiny group, they are phenomenally popular: based on financial statements from the biggest bookmakers’ accounts, the Bureau estimates that £123m a day is wagered on the UK’s 32,000 terminals. The bookmakers keep a tiny proportion of this, but it still adds up to £3.3m a day, or £1.2bn a year, according to the Gambling Commission."

I am not against betting shops.No one is forced to enter,but like drink and drugs it can become an addiction.

What should be remembered is that in order for these places to make a profit, their customers have to lose money which many can ill afford. A plethora of bookies shops in a town shows that there is money to be made, but it must be a pretty sad reflection on the local economy if this is one of the few trades that is flourishing.

I have never patronised bookies shops and never will.

Completely echo bill's comments - betting shops are profiting most from these casino terminals.

I worked for William Hill between 99 and 02 although I don't think they had made an appearance by then. A guy I kept in touch with became manager in Partick near where I stayed until recently and he would say the amount of money collected from these machines at the end of the night was frightening - far, far more than taken over the counter for football, horses, dogs etc.

Writing that has just reminded me of when I started and the manager said she would show me how to empty the 'puggies'. I think the blank look on my face must have been something !

Most of the revenue in bookmakers comes from machines now a days ,especially the roulette's and it is mostly women who play them.Very rarely will you get a woman who stands in a bookies betting horses and dogs like most male punters do ,but because of the machines they will stand playing them for hours.Another big earner in the bookies now is virtual reality races ,where there is no sort of skill attached you just pick a name or a number and hope for the best . Most bookies offer a nice premises to sit in and watch racing where you get a cup of coffee. Gone are the days of he early ones in Campbeltown where you wrote your line on a torn piece of paper and took it to the counter to get date stamped. Its all computerised now.Another big earner in bookies now is lottery numbers where you can win £600 on three numbers for a pound bet ,big attraction .

blueboyno1 wrote: Gone are the days of he early ones in Campbeltown where you wrote your line on a torn piece of paper and took it to the counter to get date stamped.

BlueBoy ,you forgot to put your nom de plume on the slip .When I used to pop into Lafferty's in Kirk St.not surprisingly mine's was Bill

I remember days gone by when you would know punters for years and never found out their real name ,everyone was known by their nom de plume ,and their were some real crackers. lol .

I was back in town this weekend I was hearing from the little guy in
the fruit shop that the Casino / Gaming centre & Bookies is opening
across from Scotbet, one thing is for sure at least the new shop fronts
will make the Main Street look a lot better, the Main Street is looking
terrible at the moment

I see that's another empty shop now as The Chocolate Box has closed
they were a good customer of mine, sad to see another main shop close

Looks like the Bookies and Charity shops are the only ones surviving now !

Hopefully some new jobs get created soon in the town centre, it's certainly
going to be looking bad for any holiday makers that come this year

I don't think anyone knows what the answer is to make the place look better !

Geechygoo wrote:The Chocolate Box has closed

Oh no, That's one of my favourite shops in town, or should I now say was

Pete.

In my view the empty shop status may be due to excessive business rates and or the rents are too high.Just an opinion.