punters

These are challenging times for British punters. If you win too much, your bookmaker could shut you down. If you lose too much, the state might send Big Brother in. This pincer of control and interference in online betting is weirdly at odds with the UK's economic culture, which favours deregulation and free markets - often to society's cost. The way power works, you will hear a lot more about the Gambling Commission's proposed affordability checks than you will bookmaking conglomerates restricting how much punters can stake - and the...