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Has gambling become the great British addiction?

26 March 2022

9:00 AM

26 March 2022

9:00 AM

Jackpot: How Gambling Conquered Britain Rob Davies

Guardian/Faber, pp.400, 14.99

Might Bite: The Secret Life of a Gambling Addict Patrick Foster, with Will Macpherson

Bloomsbury Sport, pp.256, 14.99

When I was 14 my father took me to a bookmaker’s and encouraged me to place a bet. He wanted to show me the futility of gambling, I think. Big mistake. I picked a horse called Maroof at 66/1 in the Queen Elizabeth II stakes at Ascot. My father put on 50p each way.

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