Responsible Gambling
Practical information, without a lecture
This is not a disclaimer parked at the bottom of the site. If you are reading it because something feels off, the practical information is below, with no lecture attached.
What Responsible Gambling Actually Means
The money you play with is money you can lose entirely without it changing your week. You decide the amount before you start, not during. And gambling stays one of the things you do rather than the thing you do. Nobody needs a longer definition.
Signs Worth Taking Seriously
These are behaviours rather than feelings, because behaviours are easier to be honest about:
!
You have gambled with money set aside for something else – rent, bills, food or a debt payment.
!
You have gone back the same day to win back a loss, having told yourself you were finished.
!
You have hidden how much you play, or how much you have lost, from someone close to you.
!
You have borrowed to gamble, from a person, a card or a lender.
!
You play for longer than you intended most times you sit down, not occasionally.
!
You have missed work, sleep or plans because a session ran on.
!
You feel restless or irritable when you cannot play.
!
The wins have stopped feeling like anything and the losses have not.
One of these on one occasion is worth noticing.
Several, or one repeatedly, is worth acting on.
Tools You Can Use Today
Every UKGC-licensed operator is required to offer these, and they are all set from inside your own account:
Deposit Limits
A cap per day, week or month. Increases are subject to a cooling-off delay; decreases apply immediately.
Loss and Session Limits
A ceiling on what a session can cost you, or how long it can run.
Reality Checks
An on-screen reminder at an interval you choose, telling you how long you have been playing.
Time-Outs
A break of 24 hours up to six weeks. Your account is locked and stays locked.
Self-Exclusion
A minimum of six months with that operator, and it cannot be reversed on a whim. That is the point of it.
Independent Support
GamStop
GamStop excludes you from every UKGC-licensed gambling site in one action, rather than one operator at a time. You choose six months, one year or five years, and once active it cannot be lifted early. Registration is free and takes minutes.
BeGambleAware
BeGambleAware offers free, confidential advice, a self-assessment tool and a live chat staffed by trained advisers. You do not have to be in crisis to use it, or to have decided anything before you get in touch.
National Gambling Helpline
Free, confidential and open 24 hours a day, every day of the year. They will talk to you whether you are the person gambling or the one watching someone else do it.
Adults only
This site and every game we write about are for adults aged 18 or over. 18+.