Chapter 47: A Risky Bet

One of the main industries in Gibraltar is 'gaming'. This is their polite term for gambling, an industry that preys on human greed, and will suck away all your savings if you let it. Perhaps this is why Gibraltarians refer to it by the less innocuous term 'gaming'.

It's only a game, or is it?

Much of the 'gaming' industry is now online, with all kind of websites allowing you to throw your money away at any time of day or night. Moreover, gambling that used to have a strong social element, such as Bingo, is now online. However, even in Gibraltar (the hub of 'gaming') it's not all online yet. Gibraltar actually has four betting shops. Considering Gib only has 2 supermarkets, this seems like quite a lot.

More betting shops than supermarkets!

I recently discovered this when I decided to put a bet on at the weekend. The Six Nations rugby competition (comprising the four UK nations and France an Italy) had just started, and Scotland were to play Wales in their first match. Despite not being a 'gamer', I decided to put a bet on Scotland to win. I wasn't sure of Scotland's form, but I thought it would make the match a bit more interesting, as with respect to Scotland, often their matches can be tedious to watch.

This is actually a game.

There are many online 'gaming' apps as I said, but they generally want your life history to sign up, and then will spam you relentlessly to suck more money from you. I just wanted an occasional flutter. So I went into a betting shop in Casemates Square. I walked up to the counter to place my bet. Scotland to win, a £10 bet, £15 back if I win. I paid my stake, and that was it. Probably the simplest transaction I've had in Gibraltar!

The betting shop on Casemates Square.

The match turned out to be a really exciting one. Scotland were playing Wales in Cardiff, and had not won there since 2002. But that was nothing compared to the £15 I had riding on the outcome! Scotland were 27 points ahead by the beginning of the second half, and I was just planning what I would spend my winnings on. However, then disaster struck and Wales got back into the match. Scotland had a player sent off, then another, and Wales kept scoring and getting penalties. By the closing minutes of the second half Scotland's lead had dropped to just one point. Then an injury slowed the game down, and allowed Scotland to compose themselves and attempt to score. While it was an unsuccessful attempt, it meant they kept the ball and retained their one point lead. This was enough to secure their first victory in Cardiff in over 20 years, and win me my bet.

26-27 = £15

I was in town the next day, and decided to try to collect my winnings. It was a Sunday evening around 6pm. I've previously spoken about how Gibraltar closes early on a Sunday, or doesn't open at all (Chapter 45), so I didn't expect the betting shop to be open, but thought I would try. To my surprise it was. I'm not sure what the betting shop's opening hours are, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were open later than McDonalds. Anyway, I presented my winning ticket to the cashier, and got £15 in hard cash (well Gibraltar pounds - only redeemable in Gibraltar, see Chapter 43) in return. So a big thanks to the Scotland Rugby team!

Not so much hard cash, as hard to spend outside Gibraltar!

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