Responsible Gambling

The Tools That Change Behaviour

Most of the control you have sits with you, not with a casino. Five tools do most of the work, and they work better together:

• A budget – a fixed sum you can afford to lose, set before you play and never topped up in the same session. Treat it as the price of the entertainment, not as a stake you expect back.
• A time limit – a clock outside the game, or a session limit or reality check in the account where the casino offers one.
• A one-casino exclusion – a break or self-exclusion on a single account. It reaches that account only, and not always the other sites of the same operator.
• The national scheme – GAMSTOP, which covers every online operator licensed by the UK Gambling Commission at once, but not sites licensed overseas.
• Blocks – a gambling block in your banking app and blocking software on your devices, which work on your side rather than the casino's and also keep under-18s in your home away from gambling sites.

A one-casino exclusion is the weakest of these, because it ends where that account ends. Blocking software reaches every gambling site it lists, whoever licenses it, and a bank block stops card payments to gambling, though not a crypto deposit.

At a UK Gambling Commission licensee, deposit limits must be offered. Outside that system they are the casino's choice, so check what an account lets you set before the first deposit, and set the limit before you need it.

How GAMSTOP Works and What It Does Not Cover

GAMSTOP is a free national online self-exclusion scheme for Great Britain. You register once and choose 6 months, 1 year or 5 years, and every online operator licensed by the UK Gambling Commission must then block you.

The exclusion does not lapse when the period ends. You have to contact GAMSTOP to reactivate, and a cooling-off period follows before anything changes. Northern Ireland sits under a separate gambling law.

Two things sit outside the scheme: land-based venues, and sites licensed overseas, which are not connected to it. A GAMSTOP registration does not block a casino without a UK Gambling Commission licence, so on those sites only the blocks and limits you set yourself remain.

If you are registered with GAMSTOP, you made that decision for a reason. This site is not a way around it, and our comparison of casinos not on GamStop is not written for you. Help is free: the GamCare National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 answers 24 hours a day, with live chat as well, and Samaritans take calls on 116 123 at any hour.

Bonus Terms That Work Against Stopping

A bonus is money you have to play through before it is yours, and the playing through is the point. Illustrative figures: at 40x the bonus, a £50 bonus means £2,000 in stakes before it can be withdrawn. These are the terms that keep a session going:

• Short expiry – a few days to complete wagering pushes long sessions and larger stakes.
• Daily and weekly offers – free spins for a deposit every day, reloads on set weekdays and weekly tournaments give a reason to come back on a schedule.
• Cashback on losses – a share of losses returned as bonus money, with its own wagering, turns a loss into more play.
• Loyalty ladders – levels and points earned by volume reward staking more, and points that expire reward staking soon.
• Deposit-triggered extras – spins or prizes for a number of deposits within a week reward depositing often, not winning.

If you notice a bonus deciding when you play, decline it. A non-sticky bonus at least plays your own money first, so you can stop and withdraw before the bonus money comes into play; a sticky one cannot be withdrawn and ties the whole balance to its terms.

Free Help

Every service below is open to you, and to the people around you:

• GamCare National Gambling Helpline – 0808 8020 133, free, 24 hours a day, with live chat as well.
• GambleAware / BeGambleAware – information on gambling harm and a self-assessment.
• NHS National Gambling Support Network – treatment for gambling problems through the NHS.
• Gamblers Anonymous – peer meetings with people who have been where you are.
• GamFam and Gam-Anon – support for the families of someone who gambles.
• Samaritans – 116 123, at any hour, for anyone struggling to cope.
• NHS 111 – the NHS phone line when you need help and are not sure where to start.

Banks can help too: most UK banking apps, including Monzo and Starling, have a gambling block that takes 48 hours or more to lift, though it does not stop crypto deposits. Gamban, which is paid, and BetBlocker, which is free, block gambling sites on your devices.

A Short Self-Check

Answer these honestly. One yes is a reason to pause; several are a reason to call the helpline:

• Money – do you spend more than you planned, or money meant for bills?
• Chasing – do you play again to win back what you lost?
• Time – do sessions run longer than you meant, or late into the night?
• Secrecy – do you hide how much you gamble from people close to you?
• Mood – do you gamble to escape stress, or feel low after playing?
• Workarounds – have you looked for a way around a limit, a block or a GAMSTOP registration?

Choosing Where You Stand

If you gamble within a budget, with limits set and time to spare, keep those limits in place and check them whenever a casino changes its terms. If any part of the self-check rang true, the GamCare helpline on 0808 8020 133 is the first call, and it costs nothing.

If you have decided to stop, act on every layer, because each one covers a gap the others leave:

1. Withdraw what is left – take out any balance first, so no money waits for you in an account.
2. Self-exclude at each casino – on every account you hold, including sites outside GAMSTOP.
3. Register with GAMSTOP – to be blocked by every online operator licensed by the UK Gambling Commission.
4. Turn on the bank block – in your banking app, where lifting it takes 48 hours or more.
5. Install blocking software – Gamban or BetBlocker on every device you use.

We are not counsellors, and we cannot act on a casino account. How we work is explained on our about us page, and if something here is unclear or out of date, contact the editorial team.