Responsible gaming

This page is not here as a formality. Gambling is designed to be continued, and limits set before you start work far better than a decision made in the middle of a session.

Set the limits first

Two limits work: money and time. The money should be an amount you accept you may not get back, not an amount you hope will grow. The time should be an alarm, not an intention.

Signals

Six things worth noticing in yourself

No single one of these means there is a problem. Several at once is worth stopping over.

Playing past the budget

Topping up mid-session more often than you meant to

Playing longer than planned

Sessions stretching without any decision to stretch them

Playing to win it back

Continuing because of a loss rather than because you wanted to — a different reason entirely

Keeping it from people

Not wanting those around you to know how much or how often

It reaches other things

Sleep, work or relationships start to be affected

Using money that is spoken for

Money set aside for something else, or borrowed in order to play

What you can do

Set a budget and a time before every session, and write them somewhere rather than remembering them
Set an alarm in advance — your sense of time distorts when rounds are short and continuous
Stop at the limit regardless of where things stand — that is the moment a limit means anything
Use whatever self-limitation tools the operator provides — deposit limits, or a break from the account
Talk to someone you trust. Saying it out loud usually makes it clearer than turning it over alone
Contact a gambling support service in your country if it stops feeling like a choice

A belief worth naming The thought that something is "due" or that "the next one should land" has no mathematical basis. Each round is independent of the ones before it, and that belief is the single most common reason people go past a budget.

The age limit

The services described here are for people aged 18 and over. If a minor shares a device with you, parental controls are worth setting at the operating-system or router level.

This page offers no medical or legal advice. If you want help, a support service where you live is a more appropriate place to find it than any website, this one included.