Safer gambling help for UK players

Help right now

UK support services

• GamCare: Runs the National Gambling Helpline and live chat, free and confidential, for anyone affected by gambling, including family and friends.
• BeGambleAware.org: Independent information on gambling harms, a self-assessment and routes to free treatment across Great Britain.
• GAMSTOP: Free self-exclusion from every online gambling site and app licensed in Great Britain, for six months, one year or five years.
• Gamblers Anonymous UK: Peer support meetings, in person and online, for people who want to stop gambling.
• Gordon Moody: Residential and online treatment programmes for people with severe gambling problems.
• NHS gambling support: How to get NHS help for gambling, including specialist clinics you can refer yourself to.

Signs gambling is becoming a problem

• You spend more money or time than you intended.
• You chase losses, playing on or staking more to win back what has gone.
• You borrow, use credit or dip into bill money to gamble.
• You hide how much you gamble from family or friends.
• You feel anxious, low or irritable when you try to cut down.
• You gamble to escape stress or to feel better.
• Gambling crowds out work, sleep or time with people.

Gambling cannot fix a money problem. If you are gambling because you need money, stop and talk to a free debt advice service such as those listed by BeGambleAware; winning back losses is not a plan.

Tools every UK-licensed site must offer

Deposit limits. A daily, weekly or monthly ceiling on what you can pay in. Lowering it takes effect straight away; raising it involves a cooling-off period.

Reality checks. On-screen reminders of how long you have been playing and what you have won or lost.

Time-outs. A short break, from a day to a few weeks, during which you cannot log in to play.

Self-exclusion. A longer block at that operator, usually six months or more, during which it must not let you play or send you marketing.

On a site that shares a platform with sister brands, ask whether exclusion covers the whole group. To block every licensed site at once, use GAMSTOP.

GAMSTOP and other blocks

GAMSTOP is the national self-exclusion scheme for online gambling. Registration is free and takes a few minutes; you choose six months, one year or five years, and licensed operators must prevent you gambling with them for the whole period. It does not end automatically after five years: you have to ask for it to be removed.

Two other layers help. A gambling block from your bank stops card payments to gambling merchants, and blocking software on your phone and computer stops gambling sites loading at all. Used together with GAMSTOP, they close most of the routes back in.

Keeping play in proportion

• Set your budget before you start, from money you can afford to lose, and stop when it is gone.
• Decide on a finish time and use reality checks to hold yourself to it.
• Do not gamble when you are upset, after drinking, or to win back losses.
• Take regular days off, and keep other hobbies in the week.
• Treat any bonus as optional. You never have to accept one.

If someone close to you gambles

Choose a calm moment, describe what you have noticed rather than making accusations, and listen. Avoid paying off gambling debts or lending money, even with the best intentions, because it can keep the problem going. GamCare and BeGambleAware both support family members and friends in their own right, and talking to them first can help you plan what to say.

Keeping gambling away from children

Only adults may use gambling sites. If children use your phone, tablet or computer, keep casino logins private, stop your browser saving passwords, log out after each session and consider parental controls that block gambling sites. Never let anyone under 18 use your account or your payment cards.

About BetNook.co.uk

BetNook.co.uk is an information site for adults and does not run any gambling service. We may be paid when readers open accounts through our links. Read how BetNook.co.uk works and our disclaimer.

Keep reading: every BetNook guide for UK players, or compare sites on the full UK ranking.