PinchBet on Responsible Gambling
Even though we are not a bookie ourselves, nor have earned any money on our service up until today, January 2016 (but indeed have cost ), we would by this article like to communicate our take on Responsible Gambling. Our view will perhaps differ slightly from what you read in other places.
First of all, we would advise anyone engaging in betting activities to carefully keep track of profits and losses, regardless of whether betting is just a leisure activity or if you’re trying to make an extra income out of it. To most punters the biggest potential problem with gambling will, needless to say, go hand-in-hand with the losses.
Unfortunately, bet365 – which in most respects is the bookie that we would recommend – changed the way historical bets are being displayed so that the customers no longer can get an easy overview of his or her performance over time. Bet365 advocates ‘Responsible Gambling’ principles to their customers and given that, we must say it’s a huge disappointment to see them take away the perhaps most important ‘Responsible Gambling’ tool that a customer can use to control their betting behavior. To add to the absurdity bet365 sends out messages to their customers urging them to “keep track of the amount you spend gambling” while at the same time making it more difficult for them to do just that. It’s like a politician; they say one thing then do another.
Encountering severe losses is by far the biggest risk with gambling. Therefore, and here we share the view of most bookies advocating ‘Responsible Gambling’ principles, you should only gamble what you can afford to lose. And remember to avoid chasing losses; i.e. increasing your stakes to win back funds you have lost. This rule cannot be emphasized enough. A punter who has built up his or her bankroll several times the initial amount, can easily lose everything with just a slight loss of discipline and self-control. That is why strict bankroll management is of highest importance.
Apart from losing money, spending too much time engaging in gambling activities can also become a problem. However, how much time one can or should spend is obviously highly individual. A good rule is to ensure you maintain good relations with your family and friends and don’t spend time on gambling at the expense of quality time with your beloved ones. This level is of course also individual, but our advice would be that you under no circumstances risk any relationships because of your interest in gambling. Hence, try to keep track of the amount of time you spend on gambling.
If you start to notice that gambling has become a problem, many bookies offer control functions such as deposit limits, activity alerts, time-out functions, self-assessment questionnaires and self-exclusion options. These are good things and please make sure to make use of them; we don’t wish to see any of our followers getting problems with gambling.
Having said all this, with high discipline, self-control and know-how the bookies can be beaten. And here is where we likely differ in our view on Responsible Gambling. Others may tell you that gambling shall always be a leisure activity only and that you will lose in the long run. We don’t agree with this. Our own statistics of more than 2,500 picks in a little over 9 months with an ROI of 9.4% (2015) clearly shows that it is indeed possible to beat the bookies. PinchBet aims to continue to beat the bookies so that they get the head-ache and you get an extra income.
/The PinchBet team