mid-table

I have a lot of respect for Steve Palmer, his golf tipping record speaks for itself, but this programme is showing that he is just a mug punter away from that. Trying to get a bankroll from betting on Monmore dogs on the high street is not exactly shrewd. The guy Andy who bets £1 at a time and enjoys it has the right idea. Plus he's punching well above his weight.

It's a bit of a paradox. Betting shops can greatly enhance the lives of people, especially elderly people. Gives them structure in their day, people to meet, and keeps their brains active. They tend not to bet much money though, so the bookmaker needs to prey on the vulnerable as well.

My two pence; Don't ban but restrict maximum stake to somewhere between £2 and £5 per spin for roulette, and 50p per spin for slots. My life would be significantly better over the last 14 years if those maximum stakes had been in place. I would still play them but I would have gained far more enjoyment out of them. To the people who can't understand how some people can become addicted, that's fine, I don't understand everything either. But just because I don't understand it doesn't mean I don't accept it as truth. A quick example of how something can quickly escalate is here http://www.pieandbovril.com/forum/index.php/topic/196804-scots-punters-wagered-l4200000000-on-fobts-in-1-year/?p=8020561 As for the documentary, it was everything I expected; Manager is a company man who believes the company are trying to help people, but he wants to make as much money as possible. A number of customers who love their time in the shop and without that community and continuity would have fairly empty lives. A few people who live desperate lives as slaves to the FOBTs.

Join the Broughty next door and I can get you in as many rollups throughout the week as you want. We had a former captain at Ballumbie join us this year who is delighted he now has regular games with four different groups of people on different days of the week. PM me if you're interested.

Can't remember the last time someone said 'you're brilliant' to me. Or 'it's gone in' for that matter.

I have to admit that I'm absolutely staggered that people have a problem with courtsiding. It is a matter of fact whether something has happened. If a bookmaker offers a price and you think you know the outcome, then there is nothing wrong, nothing immoral, and certainly nothing illegal, with backing that outcome. If you are offering odds then the onus is on you to get them right. If you can't get your own information, or act on it, fast enough, then you need to rethink how you offer odds.

I see nothing wrong with courtsiding whatsoever. If a bookmaker is offering odds, then it's their responsibility to make sure that their odds reflect the current state of play in the event. It's not as if the 'thing' hasn't happened, it has, it's just that someone was quicker to process that the 'thing' had happened. If something happens in Melbourne at 14:00:00, and bookmakers only find out about it at 14:00:03, then that's their problem.

Sorry but I cannot understand why anyone would not get custom fitted for a new set of golf clubs, regardless of their ability.

You may well be right, but for all the wrong reasons. I turned over somewhere in the region of £3,000 on football bets last weekend, to me £260 is nothing to turn over. Blue4578 would turn over over £100k on football bets every weekend back in the day. It's not about the volume of money, it's about the behaviours. To that end, you may be right. But to say 'wow, £260, that's like loads of money, you must have a problem', is more than a bit naive.

I think that's a bit unfair and one dimensional.

Agree on that one.

Haha, that's a shuddering thought. I'd hang myself by my moustache if I looked like that.

No it's not, it's Martin. His online persona, Facebook name etc, is Eugene though.

Haha, my favourite topic, there was an old thread on this from about 8 years ago that went in one of the culls, which ended up in one of the bitterest disputes I have seen on here that went on for months. For the record, the correct answer is 9 dart finish.

Yes No

If you are an absolute bellend with an over-inflated sense of self-importance then yes, I agree.

Played Trump today. Very nice indeed. For a random regular Wednesday, some of the flags were in remarkably tricky positions. Shot 77, +5, which I would am fairly happy with. Was out in one under par, I found the back nine quite tricky, particularly in today's wind.

Three quarters of the way through the year, I can say that I have not put a penny into an FOBT in a bookmakers. I've actually only put on two bets in bookmakers all year, the £2k double on the referendum and the Ryder Cup, and an ante-post football bet tonight. I have played roulette online a couple of times, nothing disastrous though.

I played the Nairn Dunbar 5 day open about 4 years ago. Really like the course, clubhouse setup is first class too. I remember watching a first round match come up the last from the clubhouse, the guy who was 1 down holed his second shot for an albatross to take it to extra holes, then birdied the 19th to win.

Yes, playing about 5 times a week. In club championship semi-finals, two other semi-finals and a quarter final out of the 5 matchplays I entered this year. My strokeplay is always likely to throw up a treble bogey somewhere, but matchplay I've won 12 out of 13 matches this season. I'm trying to play every course in Angus this year, and Monifieth Medal is currently top of the 11 I've played so far.

Downfield; 1 wet course for £685 Monifieth; 2 classic links courses for £450 links and £180 club, total £630.

Played it at the weekend, course is okay but it's wet as you like. I'd go with Monifieth as well, but with a choice of three clubs, you need to choose carefully. The Monifieth is not doing particularly well, the Broughty is growing in numbers, and the Grange is the biggest.

To an extent. Shafts have moved on at a faster pace, but you would definitely notice a difference hitting modern clubheads compared with 20 year old clubheads.

No chance.

Successfully made buffer zone tonight. Standing on the 13th tee level par, I decided to finish birdie, birdie, birdie, par, double bogey, quintuple bogey. My 3,3,3,3,6,9 finish will take some beating. Wasn't even a bottle job, just duffed a chip on 17, then took on a risky drive on 18, hit it about 2 yards left of target and lost it. Once I'd taken 5 shots it didn't matter as stableford par adjustment would make it a 6 anyway.