Apart from spell 'ever' properly... bugger, perfectly decent gag knackered by my itchy posting finger.

What have the Mayans every done for us?

No it doesn't, taxing something to the point it becomes unaffordable simply drives it back into the criminal world. In the UK Red Diesel (agricultural non taxed fuel), cigarettes and alcohol all have their own black-markets because tax rates have increased them beyond what some people are capable of paying. Taxation at point of consumption/purchase as a means of prohibition or social control is fundamentally unfair as it penalises those on lower/normal incomes. The best way to ameliorate harm is to EDUCATE people about the real harm a specific activity or substance may have and provide counselling/help for them if they need/want to quit such activities.

I'm in agreement here with AdZ. Further, gambling here is a simple addition to other everyday activities. You go down the pub to meet your mates and watch the football, you quickly pop into the bookmakers next door and place a bet on. Most seaside resorts have slot machines for 1-5[p per go which jkids use, these same resorts will often have racing simulation games that kids and adults can play together. In the UK you are exposed to gambling in all it's various guises at an early age, it's not swept under the carpet, it's there in most high-streets, openly on display.

People aren't stupid, they know that in gambling the house/bookies invariably win in the long run BUT to ignore the excitement, fun and social interaction that comes from that a £10 bet on the Grand National or a fiver on your team beating your mates team in the FA Cup final is simply burying your head in the sand. I gamble approx £20-£30 a month, I expect to lose it, if I win it's a bonus, if I lose... hey, it was a good laugh trying.

Gambling isn't a problem in the UK in the same way that cannabis consumption is not a problem in the Netherlands. They often say prostitution is the oldest profession, but I think it all started with two cavemen, one turns to the other and says 'I bet you this fur-rug I can get her to have sex with me for these glass beads".

So do Governments without morals.

888 Holdings is not a UK company, to avoid paying Corporation and Gambling Tax they are registered in Gibraltar (Gibraltar != UK) http://www.888holdingsplc.com/Contact_Us.asp

The way it used to work was this. You'd go in and place your bet, say £5 on a horse/dog at whatever event it was you wanted to bet on. If you opted to pay tax there and then you'd be levied a 45p (9%) charge, so you would hand over £5.45. If the dog/horse/driver won (say at 10:1) then you'd get your stake back (£5) plus your winnings (£50), but the tax was kept by the Govt. If you opted to not pay tax on the initial bet then you'd still get your £5 stake back and your winnings minus 9% of the value of your winnings (so £45.50). The initial tax almost acted as a type of insurance policy against greater tax if the bet came in. You always had a choice on paying the tax though.

The law changed in 2001 in a (successful) bid to attract gambling business to the UK the 9% tax was dropped (you no longer pay tax on the bet or the winnings) in favour of a direct corporation tax (and later a specific Gambling Tax which I believe is 15%) on profits. Additional sources on UK betting history regulation: http://www.betasia.com/features/how-to-win/business-life/89/uk-gambling-laws.html VAT (our Sales Tax) is levied on Bingo companies as well whereas it is not levied at bookmakers http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/budget/5195359/Budget-2009-Treasury-must-come-clean-on-bingo-tax-say-operators.html

Even professional gamblers (probably) do not have to pay tax on their winnings http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/bimmanual/BIM22017.htm
This shows that having expertise or being systematic (‘studying form’) is not enough to create a trade of being a ‘professional gambler’. Some ‘professional gamblers’ do carry on a trade, for example, where they receive appearance money for appearing on television programmes. They are providing a service to a customer (the television production company) for reward. Whether their gambling winnings are proceeds of that trade would depend upon the facts.

I'd agree, it's not a case of who 'did' it, rather more a case of who's continuing to do it.

Oh come on, someone mod this up :-)

Leninium... it sounds like something you'd cover your kicthen floor in.

Turn all truck cabs into Faraday cages?

Which makes Avery, MacLeod & McCarty the creators of the language the book was written in then.

Or alternatively giving you greater control over the vehicle you are driving rather than relying on it to decide which gear to take.

As my financial advisor often tells me. "Past performance is no indication of future returns". You may be a fine driver for all I know, but that idiot about to plough into you and send you flying out of the front windscreen isn't.