Home / Responsible Gaming
18+ Responsible gaming
Gambling should be a paid-for pastime, not a source of income. Below are the tools every GB-licensed operator has to give you, the signs that play is becoming a problem, and where to find free help day or night.
Deposit limits
Choose a daily, weekly or monthly ceiling when you register. Lowering it works straight away; raising it only applies after a 24-hour cooling-off period.
Reality checks
Pop-up reminders at set intervals that show how long your session has lasted and how much you have won or lost.
Time-outs
Pause your account for a day, a week, a month or up to six weeks. Once set, the break cannot be cancelled early.
Self-exclusion
Close access for six months to five years with one operator, or with every GB-licensed site at once via GAMSTOP.
Habits that keep play safe
- Fix a budget first and think of it as already spent once deposited.
- Only gamble with spare money - never with rent, bill or food money, and never with borrowed funds.
- Give yourself a time limit as well as a spending limit.
- Accept losses. Raising stakes to win money back usually means losing more.
- Avoid playing when stressed, low, bored, tired or after drinking.
- Remember the house always has a built-in edge on every game.
Signs to take seriously
If any of these sound familiar, take a break and use a time-out:
- You regularly spend more money or time than you intended.
- You keep how much you gamble from people close to you.
- You borrow, sell belongings or skip bills to keep playing.
- You feel restless, irritable or down when you are not gambling.
- You think a win is overdue or that a system can win back losses.
- Work, study, sleep or relationships are suffering.
Keeping under-18s safe
Gambling under 18 with a licensed operator is illegal in Great Britain, and so is helping a minor to do it. If children use your devices, add parental-control software such as Qustodio, Net Nanny or CYBERsitter, do not store card details in the browser and keep your login to yourself.
Worried about someone else?
Support exists for family and friends too. GamCare offers help for people affected by someone else's gambling, and Gam-Anon runs groups alongside Gamblers Anonymous. Talk about behaviour and money rather than blame, and suggest signing up to GAMSTOP - a block works better than willpower.
Making a complaint
Raise the issue with the operator in writing first. If it is still unresolved after eight weeks, you can take it free of charge to the operator's alternative dispute resolution (ADR) provider, listed in its terms. The Gambling Commission does not resolve individual disputes, but it does investigate reported licence breaches.