Punters of all ilk--whether you play horses or buy lottery tickets, here is good news for you. Stop buying physical, "paper" tickets from the racecourse window or a lottery shop; instead, shift your activity online. Use your phone or tablet or computer to open an online betting account, and purchase your "tickets" online using the internet.

The reason? For the first time in history, the government will allow you to set off your losses against your winnings, and pay income tax only on the "net" winnings if you are wagering through an online betting account. What seems to have gone unnoticed by most is a newly inserted section by the finance ministry In the union budget presented less than a month ago: 115BBJ (clause iii) which prescribes this radical change, radical of course, for the gambling community.