The gambling industry is on a roll as online gaming and new casinos turn sports betting and poker into a mainstream hobby, writes Róisín Ingle
It's a sunny afternoon in Dublin and the poker and fruit machines in one of the longer-established amusement arcades in the city are being pressed into action. Men amble in, sign the registration book at the desk and head wordlessly towards the flashing lights and hypnotic noises.
The gambling industry in Ireland is booming like never before. Bookmaker Paddy Power this week released figures that showed the gambling company is hitting the jackpot thanks to Irish and UK punters spending more on their services than ever before. They reported pretax profits for the six months up to the end of June of €20.5 million, an increase of 12 per cent, putting them on track for a 40 per cent operating profit growth by the end of the year. "And if we are doing this well you can bet others in the country are experiencing similar growth," says Paddy Power, communications director of the company.
And so it has proved. Leon Blanche, spokesman for the private Co Louth-based betting company Boylesports, was coy about the exact nature of its "substantial profits" but confirmed that turnover for the year ending June 2006 was €504 million, up from a figure of €368 million for the previous year, a rise of 37 per cent.
Both companies attribute the boost in revenue to a World Cup betting bonanza, increased online poker activity and more live televised sporting events, not to mention the buoyant Irish economy.
"The industry has been transformed in the last 10 years," says Paddy Power. "It used to be about curtains drawn on the windows of betting shops and men not wanting to tell their wives what they were up to. It's now more acceptable to have a flutter and it's seen as fun. It's become the norm to talk about a football match or other sporting event in terms of odds. It's a cultural shift, the sector has opened up."
He says novelty bets are also responsible for some of the growth. For example, no sooner had Mary Harney announced her resignation as leader of the Progressive Democrats on Thursday than the odds for the various potential successors were being announced by Paddy Power spokespersons. Other bets on the website include odds on who will kill off the Charlie Slater character on Coronation Street and whether we will have a white Christmas this year. It seems punters these days won't hesitate to bet on two flies crawling up the wall if given half the chance.
BELFAST-BASED MICK McGuigan designs sites for tipsters, a business that began five years ago when his casual interest in gambling on horses spawned a profitable business idea. He agrees that the image of gambling has long ago moved from the smoky bookmakers into a realm where the slick technology of online betting on sports and poker games such as Texas Hold 'Em makes it as attractive a hobby for the "boys in the suits as to the man on the street".
"The Internet and sites such as Betfair.com have brought in a whole new raft of punters, some of whom would consider themselves traders rather than gamblers and who can often make a decent living out of gambling. On the other hand the average punter who bets casually for fun now has a lot more choice in how he bets and that variety of choice was always bound to result in increased revenue," he says.
Steve, a self-employed 30-year-old from Dublin, is pretty typical of the new breed of gambler. He spends between €100 and €150 a week on bets, the majority of this figure going on online gambling distributed between punts on golf, football or rugby. He also takes part in a weekly sports competition organised between his friends. "A lot of conversation among my mates and most guys we'd know revolves around gambling," he says. "We play cards together and talk about the bets we've put on during the week. It's a fun hobby. If I lose a couple of quid I'm not going to cry about it, and if I win well happy days."
For Steve, who used to be a regular at the bookies, online or phone gambling is now the more convenient option and he has had an online account for about five years. While he does see how the ease of gambling online could lead to problems he says that he and his friends are in control of the situation.
"If I didn't have the money I wouldn't have a bet, I just wouldn't put myself in a position where I was left short," he says. "I could see how it could become a problem if you have a boring job and you've got Paddy Power or Ladbrokes or William Hill on the screen in front of you. It would be easy to get yourself into a hole by punting your wages or your dole money away."
TOMORROW AN AWARENESS week for the Leinster region of Gamblers Anonymous begins with public meetings where compulsive gamblers and other interested members of the public can learn more about the organisation. A spokesman says its membership has increased in the past few years and that more people are presenting with problems related to online gambling. "The banks are giving everyone credit cards so you have a situation where someone has a €3,000 credit limit, money they don't actually have in reality, and people are losing their month's wages online during the night while their wives sleep," says the spokesman. "In Dublin 20 years ago there were three to four Gamblers Anonymous meetings. Now there are around 30."
Whatever about the victims of the industry, with the lucrative casino market (until now operated in a legal grey area), about to be regulated there is now even more to play for. Paddy Power has announced they will consider going into the casino industry when the area becomes properly regulated.
At the same time, the retail gambling sector continues to yield returns. Bookmakers have been spruced up and now boast plasma screens, tables and even toilets, unthinkable facilities five years ago. Despite these improvements many retail outlets remain unremittingly depressing. While the smoking ban may have cleared the air, on the basis of a trawl around some bookies in Dublin city-centre, it's hard to escape the smell of stale alcohol or sweat or both. Win or lose, these are not happy places, and by late afternoon the beaten dockets crumpled on the floor tell a sad tale.
Not only that, in two of the four bookies visited by The Irish Times this week, female members of staff were being verbally abused by drunken punters. It's no surprise then that women, who seem unwelcome aliens in this traditionally male environment, will choose online options such as Paddy Power's newly introduced bingo service if they decide to try gambling.
In fact, some observers predict women will start to play an increasingly significant part in online gaming, which has been growing by 20 per cent on average per year. It's thought the sector will generate $6.4 billion (€5 billion)for the main players around the world by 2009. Tipster website designer McGuigan suggests that a time could come when stay-at-home mothers could actually start to profit from the gambling boom.
"Maybe it's mad but I have this image of a woman at home with her baby in one arm and her mouse in another playing tight, intelligent poker against drunk Americans to earn a second income that helps support her child," he says. "It would certainly make a change from the traditional image of the useless husband gambling his wages away."
For information on the Awareness Week organised by Gamblers Anonymous call Dublin 01-8721133 or Cork 087-2859552 10am- midnight Mon to Fri or see www.gamblersanonymous.ie