football punters are spending less in their weekly efforts to get rich overnight.

Recession, says Top Turf betting shop owner Mr. Eddie DeMello, has taken its toll. With less money around, betting became "the first thing that had to go'', he says.

Now, operators of the Island's brief annual betting splurge when Crown and Anchor tables liven up the proceedings at Cup Match and the Eastern Counties matches, are also anxiously eyeing the economic climate as the holiday date approaches. Will Bermudians' reputed love of gambling see them throwing caution to the winds as they always have in the past? Mr. Jonathan Baxter of Baxter's Pools says that business this year for his Littlewoods outlet is down by about 24 percent and estimates that his customer base is down by as much as 60 percent.

"The actual volume of people who come in is greatly reduced. They just don't have the money,'' he says.

And according to Department of Finance budget director, Mr. Carl Musson, the amount of revenue scooped up by Government from the taxes imposed on "official'' gambling is expected to fall to $1.6 million for 1992/93. Still an acceptable sum, but falling far short of the provisional total figure of $2.1 million collected from the local populace for 1991/92.

All of which suggests that Bermuda is bucking the trend of the US and Europe (where gambling is reportedly at an all-time high) and shows no sign of succumbing to this last-ditch respite where for so many, hard times can be momentarily blocked out by the thrills of chance and pipe-dreams of opulent wealth.

Mr. Dane Brown, manager of Baxter's Pools is convinced that betting on the British and Australian football pools is still very much a recreational pastime and says that none of his customers "go overboard''. He estimates that between 500 and 600 people, who come from all walks of life, play on a regular basis, placing the same fairly modest bets with his company each week.

"For most people, playing the pools means buying The News of the World and spending the weekend trying to pick the winners. It's just a bit of fun!'' This view is echoed by Mr. Vaughan Mosher of Benedict Associates who says he has only counselled one client in the last five years who has suffered from compulsive gambling habits and Mrs. Dora Whitecross of the Bermuda Credit Association, who confirms that she cannot remember ever having a case where a person with financial difficulties has laid blame on the sport of gambling.

Even so, the subject of gambling arouses something akin to terror in the hearts of most politicians, probably triggered by a sustained show of moral indignation from the majority of Bermuda's church leaders. This, in spite of the fact that Government already enjoys a hefty profit from off-track betting shops and football pools. Supporters of relaxed betting laws are also quick to point out that Government (and church) turn a conveniently blind eye to bingo games and raffles, both of which enjoy enormous popularity and in many instances are used as fund-raisers by quasi-Government bodies and some churches.

Mr. Baxter points out that Government betting tax, set at 20 percent for most forms of officially sanctioned betting, is 30 percent for football pools, because a further 10 percent is imposed in the form of overseas investment tax on money sent out of the country.

"This means that we are, in effect, being taxed twice. There is presently a suit being brought against Government to have this ruling reversed,'' he said.

Mr. DeMello believes that this double standard approach on the part of Government is hard to explain in terms of any moral stance which, at best, is confused and inconsistent.

"They can obviously see the financial advantages in having some kind of controlled gambling here. If Bermuda wants to do something about falling numbers of tourists, there has to be some re-thinking on this whole question.

The trouble is that there are too many people trying to control the way we live, telling us what we can do and can't do. The other islands down south and places like New Orleans and even Connecticut are going for it and we will be left out,'' he says.

He feels that fears voiced about Bermuda's moral well-being are misplaced and totally out of date.

"I've been to all of the big gambling casinos in the States and I've never seen any trouble. In the meantime, all I hear is that tourists don't want to come here any more because there is nothing to do at night. If they can gamble on board ship, or just about any place back home, how are they supposed to react when they're told they can't gamble here?'' Mr. DeMello says that the Club Med building would provide the perfect spot for a casino and that if gambling were allowed in the hotels, overseas investment in new properties would perk up overnight.

"Let's face it, the way our tourist business is going, we are going to have to come up with some other way, either casinos or a state lottery, to raise revenue within the next ten years. And with all these people who are so against it, not one of them has come up with a single idea of how we are going to compete with other destinations and revive our economy.'' TO ARE YOUR READY? Crown and Anchor operators are hoping the recessionwon't cut too heavily into their annual Cup Matchtake this year. Pictuted running atable at last year's holiday is Mr. David Corday, centre, and his son Scott.