Responsible Gambling

Gambling should be entertainment you pay for out of money you can afford to lose. It is not a way to earn a living, and it is not a way to solve a financial problem. Every game on every site has a built-in edge for the house, which means that over enough bets the result is not luck — it is arithmetic. Anyone who plays for long enough with money they need will lose it.

That is worth saying plainly on a site like this one, because the casinos we write about are outside the UK’s self-exclusion scheme and are usually outside the UK regulator’s reach as well. If gambling is causing you harm, this is the worst corner of the market to be in. The sections below are practical: what to watch for, what tools exist, and who to contact in the UK.

Signs it might be a problem

Problem gambling rarely announces itself. It usually starts as something that is still fun, and the shift happens slowly enough that the person it is happening to notices last. The following are the signals that come up most often. None of them on its own is proof, but several together is a pattern worth taking seriously.

• Playing longer or for more money than you planned. You set a limit in your head, and you routinely go past it.
• Chasing losses. Depositing again specifically to win back what you have just lost — the single most common marker.
• Borrowing to play. Credit cards, overdrafts, loans from friends, buy-now-pay-later, or selling possessions to fund deposits.
• Hiding it. Being vague with your partner or family about how much you play or how much it costs, or hiding statements and notifications.
• Playing to manage feelings. Gambling when you are stressed, anxious, low or bored, rather than because you want to play.
• Thinking about it constantly. Gambling occupying your attention at work, in conversation or when you are trying to sleep.
• Neglecting other things. Missing work or study, skipping meals or sleep, letting bills go unpaid.
• Restlessness when you cannot play. Irritability or anxiety on days you do not gamble.
• Losing track of the total. If you cannot say with confidence what you have spent this month, that is itself a warning sign.

If you recognise two or three of these, it is worth acting now rather than after the next loss. The tools below work best when they are set up early.

Tools you can use

These are the standard player-protection tools. Where they exist, they are usually found in your account settings under a heading such as “Responsible Gambling” or “Safer Gambling”, and they take a few minutes to set up. A limit that is set in advance is worth far more than a decision made in the middle of a session.

Deposit limit	Caps how much you can pay in over a day, week or month. Once set, it is normally irreversible for a cooling-off period — that delay is deliberate and is what makes it work.
Loss limit	Caps what you can lose in a given period rather than what you deposit. Better suited to players who deposit small amounts repeatedly.
Session reminder	A reality check that pops up after a set time — usually 30 or 60 minutes — showing how long you have been playing. It does not stop you, it interrupts the session.
Time-out	A cooling-off period of 24 hours up to six weeks during which you cannot play, but the account stays open. Useful when you want a break without closing anything permanently.
Self-exclusion	Longer, and usually for a minimum of six months. The account is closed to play for the whole period and reopening early is generally not possible.
Account closure	The permanent version. Ask for it in writing and ask them to confirm that marketing contact has stopped as well.
GamStop	The UK-wide self-exclusion scheme. It covers every casino licensed by the UK Gambling Commission — and, by definition, none of the casinos listed on this site.

Why offshore casinos are different

Deposit limits, loss limits, time-outs and self-exclusion are not universal features. In the UK they are conditions attached to a Gambling Commission licence, which is why every UK site offers them. A casino licensed in Curaçao or Anjouan is not bound by those conditions, and the tools are not always there.

If you already play at a site with no player-protection tools, the options that do not depend on the operator are the ones below.

Blocking software

Blocking software sits on your device and blocks gambling sites at the network level, so it does not depend on the operator cooperating. It is the most reliable single step for anyone who wants to stop, because it removes the moment of decision rather than relying on willpower at 2am.

• Gamban — gamban.com. Paid subscription, covers phones, tablets and computers. A number of UK banks and gambling businesses provide free licences to customers who ask.
• Gamblock — gamblock.com. Paid, and particularly difficult to remove once installed, which is the point.
• BetBlocker — betblocker.org. Free, funded as a charity, and blocks tens of thousands of gambling domains across your devices.

None of these will stop you borrowing a friend’s phone, so they work best alongside a self-exclusion and someone who knows what you are trying to do.

Support organisations

All of the following are UK-based, free to use, and confidential. You do not have to be in crisis to contact them, and you do not have to have stopped gambling.

GamCare	0808 8020 133 — free and confidential, open 24 hours a day. Individual counselling, group sessions and support for family members. gamcare.org.uk
National Gambling Helpline	0808 8020 133 — the single national number for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, operated by GamCare. Also available by live chat through the BeGambleAware website.
BeGambleAware	begambleaware.org — information, self-assessment tools and the helpline’s live chat. Funded by the UK gambling industry but editorially independent of it.
Gamblers Anonymous UK	gamblersanonymous.org.uk — free peer-support meetings across the UK, in person and online, based on the twelve-step model.
Gambling Therapy	gamblingtherapy.org — online support and text-based counselling, available worldwide, for both players and the people around them.
NHS	Speak to your GP. There are NHS gambling clinics in several parts of the UK offering specialist treatment, and a GP referral is the usual route into them.

If you are in crisis

If you are in immediate danger, or you are having thoughts of harming yourself, contact emergency services on 999 or go to your nearest A&E. The Samaritans are available on 116 123, free, 24 hours a day, or by email at [email protected].

If the immediate problem is money and access, install blocking software today, contact your bank about a gambling block on your card, and hand control of your finances to someone you trust for a period. These are reversible decisions that buy you time — and time is what you need most.

For family members

Gambling harm does not stay with the person gambling. Partners, parents and children deal with the financial consequences and, often, with being lied to about them, and the shame involved makes it very hard to talk about. Being angry about the deception is a normal reaction; it is also not the same thing as being able to fix it.

• GamCare runs a dedicated service for family and friends on the same number, 0808 8020 133, including one-to-one and group support.
• Gam-Anon — gam-anon.org — meetings for the families and friends of compulsive gamblers.
• Gambling Therapy — gamblingtherapy.org — has a separate support service for affected family members.
• Practical steps: separate bank accounts and cards, a gambling block on your own cards, and asking the operator in writing to close the account. Note that a casino is unlikely to act on a request from a third party, so this works best with the player’s agreement.

Our GamStop alternatives page covers what to do when the usual UK protections do not apply, and are they safe explains what an offshore licence does and does not protect you against.