dunno how to tell you this compo but las vagas has shut

whats happened to all the brilliant pool tables

I know there are instances but all I am saying is that I never see them and I am only commenting with what I see with my own eyes. I've been out in London, Sheffield, Birmingham, Liverpool and Newcaslte over the last 4 months and never seen a single fight. I could count on one hand how many times I've seen trouble over the last few years in fact and I'm out most weekends. The press would like you to believe every city is like a bad dad in Basra on Saturday night but the truth is that if you keep your head down, stay in decent establishments every night and don't mill around at 4am waiting for it to kick off then you'll be fine and enjoy yourself.

I can agree with what your saying to a certain level, but as you know, i think you've met him, i have a mate who is one of them volunteer specials police thingys, he's down church street every friday constantly locking people up every hour for drunken behaviour.

I think you, like me aswell, stay clear of the trouble and just get wrecked, if you want chew you can normally sniff it out, and to be fair the bars we go to aint full of that much chew its the others we avoid that are.

Shades is the worst bar in the town and was recently shut down because of the trouble in there. I personally wouldn't go in there and then complain there was fighting, I'd take it was given.

Between the top end, Church Street and the Marina there must be the best part of a thousand people out on a Saturday night. I bet less than 10 throw a punch.

Well exactly, stay out of the sh*t holes and don't hang around the road on Church Street and you'll be fine. I've never seen any trouble in the likes of Loons, Showroom, Pearl Bar and Lloyds plus anywhere on the Marina. If people want to go to Shades then they should know it'll kick off at some point.

I'll bat you if you edit one of my posts again.

I love watching all the drunken idiots at 4am outside nexus work there way into a police van for sod all

Vibes is the worst by all accounts but again it's somwhere I've never seen any trouble.

Even if you do see trouble it's not like it ruins your night, there will be bobbys or doormen on top of it before you know it. I can't genuinely believe that anyone who has been out down the town in the last few years would be put off by the amount of trouble you see . Especially in the decent bars.

I've seen chew down the marina as well .. it happens al lthe time but as Mr Tax correctly says its not exactly basra... two or three dickheads spoiling it for everyone else and the cops have to tidy it up... Hardly violence on a massive scale though..

Co-incidentally (and know this totally contradicts everything I just said) I ended up down church street for a couple of drinks the other week..it was fookin horrible full of pissed up kids looking for a fight.. the worst thing being was as I was totally sober and this seemed to amplify the situation.. There'll be a cold day in hell before I venture down there again..

re: the casino debate. I think it'd be an excellent addition to the Marina.

I've been to the one at Teeside Park and it's a good night out. I don't want to go all chipfireball on you here but I played poker there on Friday night approx six months ago. £10 buy in and came 3rd out of 69 players. £430 in the sky rocket. Plus £20 profit off the roulette wheel from the £10 free voucher they give you when you sign up. I'd be surprised if many people in the world can boast a return of 4500% from their only trip to a casino!

There's a very large Chinese following for casinos and they'd bring an awful lot of revenue to the town as they've got money to waste.

Despite what the councillors think, no-one would turn into a gambling addict if a casino was brought here anymore than if they set up a new supersized Wetherspoons.

Your right there TPP... Saw 3 fights on Saturday night, The most I've seen down town. 1 in Showroom, 1 in Yates' and 1 in Nexus. Think it comes with the time of year. It annoyed me a bit but didnt make me wanna go home or not go out again in future.

is that because you won them all though?

i seen that one in showrooms, i didnt mind it actually as the lass i was with from work i managed to pull her out the way of it and got an ellish grope of her tits and arse, and she thought i was a hero.

Good times all round

Haha... Quality that one in Showroom was quite funny with the Bouncer struggling against the guy who was bigger than him. Wish I tried your tactic now Yubep.. Still for next time

This shows how out of touch the council are.

If they went to most medium sized towns and cities in the UK they will find that they have at least one casino. I don't understand why they think Hartlepool is 'too good' for one?

Do they not realise that affluent towns and cities have them?

For a town which is full of places you can gamble, I can't believe the council will think a casino would cause problem gamblers from scratch.

As has already been pointed out, a casino would create jobs (directly and also for suppliers of goods and services), and would bring visitors into the town.

I really do feel sorry for the Mayor, it seems like every time he wants to drag the town a step forward all the self-serving old twaaats hoy it back again.

I'd welcome a casino there - it's not like there's many other great (or feasible) ideas on the table.

People who gamble already gamble, on the machines in every pub in the town, down Seaton Front or in any of the numerous bookies. Yet it sounds like a casino is being rejected on some pious moralistic grounds.

With a casino you've got a totally new leisure offering for the town, all the supply chain benefits, and it's well located to provide a good night out for townsfolk and people from the surrounding areas.

Let's just hope they've rejected the casino 'cos they've got a brilliant and innovative proposal up their sleve

Agree with both you and PIN.

There's nothing worse than coming up and against people whose first thought to everything is to look for reasons for proposals not to go ahead. I've come up against these type of people before at work and they're quite frankly, pathetic.

To not even consider the idea of the casino on the basis of the reasons listed is short-sighted, nit picking, moronic and stopping the area from progressing. '"preventing vulnerable people that gamble beyond their means" and "not in the best interests of the people of the town." and "We need to send out a message about Hartlepool and I think a 'no casino' message is a good one to send out."

What kind of bollox is that? There's no actual reasoning there, they're all talking the first bit of pure shyte that has entered their little brains. As chip has already pointed out, if people want to play roulette and poker beyond their means then it's a lot easier to do it in your own house on-line than in a casino that is open for a few hours on a night where it's humiliating to be seen wasting your money away.

That point about sending out a 'no casino' message is beyond comprehension. What possible fcking good would a message about Hartlepool being a 'no casino' town bring to the place?

It reminds me of the councillor who was on the front of the Mail not so long wanting that bar on the front in Seaton closed down because of the trouble in their. I know lads who went in their regularly and never saw the slightest bit of bother. Instead of promoting the place (which must surely come under his remit unless he has good reason), he did his best to damage the place and put people off. He has his wish now as the place is shut.

It's not offer I feel sorry for the Mayor but you can't help it having to deal with these tools everyday.

it's just a vendetta against him, if he said he wanted a leisure centre there and youth club which he would personally fund they'd turn it down.

Old farts who think he has no place to be there.

So all the councillors are wrong ?
They just don't want another gambling establishment.
I'd bet anyone if everyone in the town was given a vote the answer would be no.
They are hardly going to open one because a few people on here think there should be.
If you like playing cards get your mates round and the copper jar.
If ur bored stopping in get urself up the Cleveland hills.
It's lovely in the spring and summer and some lovely pubs as well.
If ur bored in the winter make love.

Thats bollocks, why did they not veto the bet365 shop at the top of the town then?

How come bookies are ok but a casino is not?

I have no problems with people opposing the idea but I am yet to see a justifiable reason why it shouldn't even be considered. The councillors are saying they won't even consider applications...thats moronic to say the least.

I am yet to hear of a decent idea for it to be used for apart from the two that Chip mentioned and unfortunately these days finances will probably stop the majority of these plans.

A casino would not only be popular but also profitable and sustainable. A fooking ice rink wouldn't be. And it'd be shyte for anyone aged over 13.

How does one manage that if you aren't the owner of a car?

Use a bike like chip does.

Telling us to go out of town does not solve the issue of restoring jacksons landing.

You've said a lot of silly things in this thread but thats the stupidest.

This encapsulates what's wrong with this town, councilors promoting themselves to the post of protector of morals, to decide what's best for the town when they haven't got a bleedin clue about sod all themselves. So out of touch with anything normal people do or want, they are trapped in a permanent state of political constipation, obsessed with their own limited world view, what do they approve of...?

Did you know that there are around 300,000 known problem gamblers in the UK, although figures have not been updated since 1999.

Gambling addiction is classed in the same category as drug and alcohol abuse and three-quarters of addicts suffer from depression.

The Department of Health said that anyone with a gambling problem who seeks help from the NHS will be offered support and, if necessary, treatment to help them overcome their addiction. Who's going to pay for this

Statistics show that those on low wages are the ones most likely to lose their money while a handful of wealthy casino owners get richer. Usually it is wealthy foreign corporations that exploit the gambling market, sucking profits out of a local area.

Even if gambling does promote tourism and social regeneration in an area, the end does not justify the means. Gambling teaches the principle of getting something for nothing and it encourages financial waste, greed and lack of self-control. These wrong values are antithetic to a healthy community regardless of whatever benefits we imagine a casino might be bring. But casinos are shown to depress an area anyway.

The majority of casinos are going up in poor areas even though research from the British Gambling Prevalence Survey shows that those on lower incomes are three-and-a-half times more likely to become problem gamblers.

But the council will still open pub after pub after pub after pub after pub

I mean, for feckulations sake, shades is till open,

I havent heard so much bollocks in all my life, can I just ask you a question that noone has brought up, what is about 100 yards to the left of jacksons landing, oh yeah thats right the Mecca, the counsil didnt have an objection to that did they