Magpie86

As far as I can tell it means the biggest UK bookies can offer better odds in other EU countries as a loss leader that pulls all their business, forcing local bookies from those countries out of business and creating themselves a European monopoly for themselves.....all in the name of avoiding a monopoly. Understandably some countries don't want to let that happen and would rather grow their own local gambling industry to the point they can compete on a level playing field. But i might be a cynic. So fuck, it still has nothing to do with us. Unless you sign up for it and they get what they want in which case it means "Bloody Brussels" dictating our laws. Or something. Right, just to clarify. It's not so British bookmakers can operate loss leaders, or stopping other countries from having local bookies develop. Those countries don't allow small bookies to develop, they completely ban them. Instead their governments operate the bookmakers, which means instead of allowing entrepreneurship, instead you have a state controlled market, so all of the proceeds from gambling are instead treated like a form of tax. Given we currently have a recession, small businesses should be encouraged, not outlawed. The reason I have a problem with these monopolies, is that they artificially mean that as consumers (if you bet that is), we get worse value on the odds bookies offer us. If half the EU had open gambling markets, then every bookmaker in the EU could compete for business there, and prices across the continent would get lower. And as for bloody Brussels dictating laws, the only good thing I think that comes out of the EU is free trade, and this current situation isn't even allowing that! Anyway, this whole discussion is hard to get you head around and pretty dry. To spice things up, the campaign launched the naked petition, which features a sexy girl who’ll dance and strip when you sign her body. And she’ll send you another photo, which, trust me, you’ll want to see. It’s all still to get better deals on gambling, but have a look And I am a Magpie! It's not the sort of thing you'd want to go round telling people unless it was true.

Hi guys, I see this is the Betting and Games Forum, although it mostly seems to be gaming! Please move this if it's in the wrong place. Anyway, the EU has recently ruled that it's ok for governments like Portugal, Germany and Greece to operate state-run gambling monopolies in those countries. Doesn't sound like a big deal. Except it has repercussions. Now that gamblers in those countries can't use the bookmakers of their choice, there is less competition between suppliers. This means that anyone, no matter where they live, has to pay more if they want to bet on football. And it's all because politicians want to get more revenue for themselves. There's a petition at www.right2bet.net trying to make betting cheaper for everyone. God knows I lose enough money as it is.