138 replies to this topic

[nails]

random reply - are there tablets that play the likes or farmville ?

[Bencrest]

random reply - are there tablets that play the likes or farmville ?

 

Probably, but I don't play Facebook games. I keep getting requests for Farmville and Farmville 2 and I haven't bothered to try either of them. Are they Flash based? If so I'd assume they don't run on Apple, but I don't see why they wouldn't work on a Windows tab, and probably Android tabs too.

 

All I really use my little laptop for at the moment is media (mainly music), forums, Facebook, and FME. I've been offered first dibs on an Acer Iconia tablet, dual core AMD C50 which is a basic CPU but I reckon it'll just about do for FME. Seller away for 4 weeks though

Edited by Bencrest, 22 January 2013 - 10:38 AM.

[Bencrest]

... I'm taking up darts again. Used to play for several pub teams between the ages of 16 and 20, and have played a few times since then - but my last few jobs cocked it up with late hours on the nights I used to play. That and I drifted back into machine playing.

 

It'll give me something to do when out and about which is more constructive than machine playing, and who knows, now I have a driving license I may look into joining a team again so I can drive about. I'm sure the local club needs another player

 

Not sure if I can be arsed to pop out tonight or not, if I do I don't plan on gambling though, will probably be going through Auto Trader and eBay again looking at cars!

Edited by Bencrest, 22 January 2013 - 08:43 PM.

[Bencrest]

Well, that's January out of the way, and not a single penny gambled on anything.

 

Feeling much more comfortable when out and about now, gambling hasn't crossed my mind when I've been in town. Today's been a bit of a crap day (family stuff, yay!) but I've just been watching some Youtube videos and will go on my PC later for some emulation or simulation if I fancy playing machines. I've given up my 'vicarious' gambling as dad put it - basically, if he was on a machine, I was getting my gambling kicks through watching / advising him, whereas now I'm going off to play darts or something instead. If he needs me for a skill continue or something he can always wave me, it's a pretty quiet club on weeknights

 

I guess it helps having a car now, because I have something which is going to take (presumably) a reasonable chunk of my income over the next year, especially insurance e.t.c.

 

The real challenge will come when I next go to see the grandparents in Bridlington, as that's always been a time when I would waste hours on the seafront. Even the £5 machines, I'd typically take a £100 stake and have a cash card on me, basically a splurge for fun with no intention of making any money. 

 

I'll have to plan something else to do, seeing a film, bowling or something, but until I actually get on the sea front and get the sights and sounds of all the amusements, I have no idea how I'm going to feel!

 

Apart from that though, things seem to be going well. Will keep posting the odd weekly or so update, and will be totally honest if I give in (like I said, I have no intention to do so!).

 

Although there's not many others of you who have given up (or are in the process of giving up) this year, feel free to post with your experiences and stuff so far, strength in numbers and all that

Edited by Bencrest, 01 February 2013 - 06:23 PM.

[nails]

paid for the following -

 

cats vet bill, new car battery, paint, holiday balance and a few more things out of the profit pool.

 

i feel much better to have put it to good use instead of spunking it back.

 

 

 

salou here i come

[yorkstar]

I to am still on the wagon not 1 gamble for a month, it certanly is challenging especially when so much time was used gambling, mix in the fact that i do enjoy a good flutter,the addiction,the spare time, the buzz of winning 

and some other factors dont make it easy, sites like this and others do help and the good old emulators.

 

A few mates are going out tonight including the casnio asked me but not sure that wil be a good idea, im also going to blackpool in march for a gig and staying other is going to be a near impossible task especially if i bump into a good classic.

[frankie77]

i wish you all the best ben, i know i have tried many times and used the games on here and reels to get the thrill. I know it sounds a bit silly but maybe helping your dad and watching his game is helping as you are still getting a bit of excitement but not getting wrapped up in the 'having to win' situation. Again it sounds tripe but take one day at a time, don't try to jump ahead ( a do this ALOT) and you will find that suddenly you will look back and it's been 6 months, 12 months, 2 years but i congrats for how your doing today.

[Bencrest]

Funny thing is, I'm really getting my kicks from the emulators. Last night for example, I was having a bit of a punt on a £25 layout, hit a block just below the jackpot, and found myself saying a certain expletive at my computer screen (I won't repeat it here!) - but it's pretty much how I would have acted in an arcade. I was never an obviously angry, sweary person in arcades, but would sometimes mutter something under my breath if (for example) a board was an obvious £2 block or similar. 

 

Makes me wonder why I went back to gambling after my last attempt at not giving up. I mean I get all the entertainment I need from the machines on my PC... so perhaps my gambling in arcades was about money after all, no matter how much I try and dismiss it as me just going out to 'pass the time'?

 

Too complicated, for now I'm sticking with a bit of FME

[Bencrest]

At midnight it will have been 44 days since I last played a machine, or gambled in any way / shape / form. 

 

Well, apart from still being on the electric deathsticks (sorry, e-cigs) and still drinking - but only late at night (for example, not had a drop yet). My other main vice is food.

 

That's something for me to deal with later though - first up had to be the machines. Losing money I couldn't afford, maintaining credit card debts e.t.c. meant I was never in control of my finances, something I'm trying to sort out now

 

How do I feel about not gambling? It's not crossed my mind that much since my last update, however I've been playing FME most nights, even if just a 30 minute session before going to bed. I tend to set 'challenges' - trying to hit 100% payout as an example. Can be quite easy on some layouts, on others you are relying on hitting a streak at the right time.

 

Just thought I'd pop in and update anyway. Not fallen off the wagon (yet!). Hope the others who are giving up are getting on OK as well

[I have finished]

I am only going to join in this for Lent, as this started yesterday. For those of you that have read the thread on what techs do these machines run on thread that I posted yesterday, I have decided to give up real gambling for Lent. I thought that chocolate would be too easy, so I thought I'd try to stretch my limits. I will still play on MFME, as there's no real money involved. I just hate it when I play on a DOND, and win nothing back! Also, because of my blindness, I only do it for the sound effects, winning the money is like another extra! I usually know, for example, that a cash register sound effect usually means I have won, and I know various oldschool jackpot sounds, fight night and the Simpsons being my favourites!

[Bencrest]

I am only going to join in this for Lent, as this started yesterday. For those of you that have read the thread on what techs do these machines run on thread that I posted yesterday, I have decided to give up real gambling for Lent. I thought that chocolate would be too easy, so I thought I'd try to stretch my limits. I will still play on MFME, as there's no real money involved. I just hate it when I play on a DOND, and win nothing back! Also, because of my blindness, I only do it for the sound effects, winning the money is like another extra! I usually know, for example, that a cash register sound effect usually means I have won, and I know various oldschool jackpot sounds, fight night and the Simpsons being my favourites!

 

I've given up gambling, but still play FME. In some ways, it is a crutch. However, playing it long term, at reasonable percentages, and setting stake-limits like you might use in a pub / arcade, can show you quite how nasty modern machines can be

 

In an unusual story, on a shift I worked in the arcade one night, I had a blind gent that I helped to play machines - he wanted to play the 10p / £5 selection but couldn't work out what was going on. He actually did well, him and his wife appreciated the help, he had good fun, just being talked through every step (basically I provided an honest commentary, including realistic odds of winning each gamble, not displayed odds).

 

Before then, I'd never really considered someone with impaired vision playing a hi-tech AWP. Obviously things like Bar X, with their colour coded large symbols and lack of small text could be possible. Certainly an interested night, was it not for the fact it was a very rare 'quiet' night, I probably couldn't have helped him.

[I have finished]

Hi Bencrest. That story has really made me think. Usually, people don't care about VI or totally blind people in Banbury which is my home area. There are only 2 places I used to go, and that was our local bowling alley which was loud, and one of our pubs called the Grand Union which had a DOND which has recently been replaced with a BFM Cops and Robbers! My parents wouldn't know the difference between an Epoch and an M1A/B machine, for example, so it's great to hear from someone who actually helped out a visually impaired person and I'm glad they had fun too! It would be great though if whoever controls the volume can adjust it to a reasonable level, not just muted! I think that's out of order, but I can see how the sound can annoy people.

That's 2 days of no gambling for me! I'm doing well!

[yorkstar]

Still going strong myself and its still hard must have to admit i had a bet on futy last week but dont think this counts as very rarely put bets on sky vegas put 10 pound free in my account to try and lure me back to on on line fruites, whacked it on v manu match and that was that.

[Bencrest]

Still going strong myself and its still hard must have to admit i had a bet on futy last week but dont think this counts as very rarely put bets on sky vegas put 10 pound free in my account to try and lure me back to on on line fruites, whacked it on v manu match and that was that.

 

That's not that bad, just be careful you don't do as I have done in the past and followed up a small punt with anything bigger

 

I had a couple of free no-deposit bonuses, one from Grosvenor casinos (I used the one in Broadstairs when I was down there a couple of years back) and one from someone else, anyway I logged in, lost both times and obviously didn't deposit any more. Nothing gained, nothing lost, nothing gambled. 

 

I keep an eye on these because I had one from Sky Vegas a year or so ago, £5 no-deposit bonus, put it on Rainbow Riches, few spins in I won £45 and withdrew it. I imagine these days they are a lot tougher on the wagering requirements.

 

While you could argue that logging into a casino and playing a no-deposit bonus is a form of gambling (even though I didn't stake / deposit any real money), I take pride in the fact I didn't make a follow up deposit, which is clearly what the casino wants when they give you an offer like that

[Bencrest]

Still not gambled, not done any more 'no deposit bonuses' or similar. Actually quite in the swing of it now, spending more time tinkering my with PC and driving about (can't believe I left it so long, was driving about today really enjoying it!!).

 

Something that I have noticed though is that dad's 'winning streak' all but disintegrated. In fact, screw that, lord knows how much he's put in the tickets without a major win. I dread to think. I'm sorry for him really, although hopefully he'll see what they are like and change his playing habits. He's got a lot on his mind at the minute though - waiting for a priority appointment for a minimum triple - and more likely quadruple heart bypass - so I think he's gambling more on the basis there's a 50/50 chance of surviving the operation given his other health issues.

 

Both parents have made wills, and I'm being given power of attorney to handle things, since my sister would probably sell the house and shove all the money up her nose. Complicated, but he's had worse ops before so staying confident and he's not letting it get him down, just think it's made him lose track of his gambling a little.

 

So, yeah, I'm still not playing. I've treated myself to a new convertible laptop that should be here tomorrow, it's an older HP 2730p which is a 1280x800 screen. This means it should be able to run 1600x1200 layouts in portrait mode - at least that's my plan. However, something I hadn't realised until a minute ago is that it's not a multi-touch screen, so lord knows how I'll be able to do skill-stops on it. Might have to set a checkbox for the cancel button on some layouts, boot them, jam the switch on and hope it doesn't give a 'stuck button' alarm

 

Should be here tomorrow, I'll see how I get on. I paid £125 + £10 delivery, which I think is a pretty good price for a metal alloy laptop with SL9400 (decent old Core 2 Duo CPU), I was looking at an Asus Iconia W500 with AMD C-50 CPU for £175, but thought the CPU would cripple it.

[Magz]

Good choice on the CPU. I got an Asus Aspire One, and although it has 4GB RAM and I retro fitted an SSD, it's still a little sluggish - fine for what I needed it for but given the choice I'd go for a "proper" CPU.

 

Hope your Dad's OK Ben...

[Bencrest]

Good choice on the CPU. I got an Asus Aspire One, and although it has 4GB RAM and I retro fitted an SSD, it's still a little sluggish - fine for what I needed it for but given the choice I'd go for a "proper" CPU.

 

Hope your Dad's OK Ben...

 

Well, as well as can be - thanks for asking!

 

He seems normal enough but can only walk for about 20 metres before being completely knackered. Otherwise he seems pretty much the same as usual! 

 

To be fair he's had so many health issues the past couple of years, he nearly died in hospital last time (woke up at 4am being given the last rites by a Catholic priest even though we aren't Catholics!), they moved him from the ward to a side room and we thought they were just being nice - it was only after he started to get better they admitted it was because they expected him to snuff it, and it's easier if people snuff it in side rooms!!

 

He's been through serious stuff before, he's very strong willed and I'm sure he'll get through this. Doesn't like the idea of not being able to drive for 12 or so weeks after - although I'm kinda looking forward to it. I can be the family taxi driver

[curlywill]

Hi ben nice thread you got here, i too have given up all forms of gambling(since the start of this year) and so far so good... can honestly say i havent been tempted once!

 

I used to gamble on pretty much everything, fruities, scratchcards, the pull tabs mentioned earlier on in the thread, sports betting you name it ill bet on it!

 

 But decided to kick it this year, not cos of the money just to prove to myself i can do it if that makes sense.

 

The only thing gambling related ive done is playing the emus and sims and i had a £10 no deposit on sky vegas... which i turned into £60 pound on rainbow riches withdraw tyvm! luckily that didnt tempt me into anything else

 

Keep on going mate it gets easier as you go

[Bencrest]

With me, it's been a case of what to fill the 'void' with, that's been left behind from gambling. In my case, it's been more FME, darts, learning to drive (which also gives me something to spend the money I'm saving on!!) - and also getting back into PC gaming. Since doing this I'm finding that I'm not even thinking about gambling / machines throughout the day, which is awesome! Makes sense really - I used to gamble out of boredom quite frequently. Looking back the logic was a bit stupid - I mean I barely ever went to a cinema, or any other 'worthwhile' pursuit, but thought nothing of taking £300 to an arcade.

 

So - £10 for a movie lasting 2 hours was too much for me, but £300 for a gamble lasting 1 hour was acceptable? Gotta love that gambling logic!! I was a right tight-arse when I was gambling, always looking to shave pennies of a deal, do things the cheapest possible way, but apparently more than happy to spunk thousands in bandits over the course of a year!

 

Well done on the £10 NDB at Sky Vegas - few years ago I got one of them, but £5 NDB, seem to recall being amazed it let me withdraw £45 with no wagering requirement! Not sure if you can still do that, or if they have the normal 30x or 50x wagering requirement, but it doesn't really matter to me. 

 

Thanks for appreciating the thread! I thought it would be a nice little place for any of us who are giving up to give updates, chat about times we fall off the wagon (hopefully not!!), and just generally give eachother support if required

[CrAzYbAr]

It's been 4 months now since I touched a £70 Jackpot machine and I feel a lot better for it. I still gamble a little yes, but it's nowhere near how bad I was. I just stick mainly to £5 machines and when my cash is gone, it's gone. No more days of taking lots out a cashpoint just to feel comfortable, there are more important things in life!

 

Do I have any more money though? Actually no...That's because most of my other interests have taken up the bankroll...I DJ now, I've spent a good 500 on CDJs and a mixer, and then I have to buy my CDs to burn, USB sticks, and the music of course. Other things I've done are get more takeaways, as I don't have to put any serious money aside for fruit machines anymore. So when I feel too lazy to cook, I think nothing of knocking on a housemates door and seeing if he wants to order something. And the quiz machines. I do enjoy playing these, games usually last a while and I just like learning all the 'important' facts. Sometimes I just sit down and have a session on Million Pound Drop, never lost more than a tenner going for the Jackpot.

 

We've got a number of Japanese students come over as well, so where I would usually go to the library on Wednesday and just do any Japanese study alone, now I normally go to the SU bar with some of them for a more group study session, have a couple drinks(non alco) and shoot some games of pool as well. So I don't have a huge sum of money more, but I know that it is mostly money well spent now.

 

Anyone who is giving up all forms of gambling, you'll do well and feel so much better for it! Ganbatte kudasai!