F rom Gloucester to Taunton, from Swindon to Severnside, everybody's at it – gambling, that is. At the very top of the tree is the Euro Millions lottery – or is it Euro Billions? I don't know.

What I do know is that the weekly rollover jackpot is now being announced over the public address system in the supermarket.

Our own National Lottery is run by a private company. Now that seems a sure fire way of making money without having to do very much at all except a bit of advertising.

You certainly don't need to go cap in hand to the bank in order to keep your business going!

I could have a 60ft yacht and all the trappings of wealth and status in no time. No trusting to lady luck – no problem.

It's the punters, the general public, who pray to Lady Luck, stroke their rabbit's foot or walk naked backwards around the garden at full moon moaning some mantra that's supposed to entice the gods of good fortune.

I fully admit that I've had the odd flutter but having more losses than winnings has taught me one thing; I don't like losing. And I'm not the sort of person who trusts luck.

I also get totally confused with all the computations of entry. Thunderball, Lucky Dip, Double Sevens, and goodness knows what else. What does all that mean? Choosing six numbers is about my lot.

So what's the most I've every won? Sixty pounds, and that was many years ago. After that the infrequent tenner – very infrequent. I get the impression that they throw a few of them around when they think the losers – the majority of the population – are losing both interest and hope.

I should also admit that gambling doesn't excite me. Horseracing – racing of any sort, in fact – doesn't excite me. Neither does card playing, the spinning of a roulette wheel or the rolling of dice. It leaves me cold, possibly because my brain is more numerate than I realise and is calculating what chance I've got of getting my money back, let alone acquiring more.

Gamblers get excited at the prospect of gaining more and sceptical old me is utterly convinced that all I will do is lose what I have.

With the internet and easy access to more sophisticated gambling (plus bingo, of course) a new form of gambling is easily available; Foreign Exchange Trading. Geeks who have some experience of dealing with foreign exchange, even if only in Luton Airport's departure lounge, set up a website teaching you how to make money from foreign exchange.

I don't get it. If you're that good at it you make money for yourself and don't set up websites teaching others how to do it (or not do it).

That old saying springs to mind; those that can't, teach – or being useless at it, persuade others that they know what they're doing, set up a "how to make money in foreign exchange" website and make money that way.

I'm too cynical for my own good. You have to trust someone, after all, but trusting comes from the heart and mixes with instinct coming from the head. In my head logic is also spouting an opinion and so far it's winning.

I must be sounding like a right old Scrooge, but honestly, I'm not. Raffle tickets for good causes run by good folks who volunteer their time and with good works at the heart of it all have my support.

In fact, I even bought two tickets for the Tintern Duck Race. I'm gambling but don't mind losing. I suppose that's really what it all boils down to.