01Adults only
Gambling is for adults. In the UK you must be 18 or over to gamble, and the casino articles on this site are written for readers of legal age.
02Keep it a pastime
- Decide on a budget before you start, and stop when it is spent.
- Set a time limit and take regular breaks.
- Never chase losses or borrow money to gamble.
- Do not gamble when you are stressed, upset or have been drinking.
- Treat any win as a bonus, not as income.
03A quick self-check
Answer these honestly, just for yourself. Nobody else needs to see the result.
- Have you bet more than you could really afford to lose in the last few months?
- Do you need to gamble with larger amounts to get the same feeling?
- Have you gone back another day to try to win back what you lost?
- Have you borrowed money, sold something or missed a bill because of gambling?
- Has anyone told you that your gambling is a problem, even if you thought they were wrong?
- Do you feel guilty about the way you gamble or what happens when you do?
One “yes” does not mean you are addicted. Several of them, or a yes that keeps coming back, are a good reason to use the tools below or to talk to one of the free services on this page.
04Warning signs
It may be time to stop and talk to someone if you spend more than you planned, hide your gambling from people close to you, feel anxious when you are not playing, or gamble to win back money you have lost.
05Tools that help
Licensed operators must offer deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion. In Great Britain, GAMSTOP lets you exclude yourself from all licensed online gambling sites at once, free of charge.
06Deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion
Every operator licensed in Great Britain has to give you ways to control your play, and you can usually find them in the account settings under a heading such as “safer gambling”.
- Deposit limits cap how much you can pay in over a day, a week or a month. Lowering a limit normally works straight away. Raising it comes with a waiting period, so the decision is not made in the heat of a session.
- Reality checks and time limits show a reminder of how long you have been playing, or end the session when your time is up.
- A time-out locks your account for a short spell, from a day up to several weeks, when you want a break without closing anything.
- Self-exclusion closes your account for at least six months. During that time the operator must not let you gamble or send you marketing, and you cannot undo it early.
Self-excluding with one operator does not stop you signing up somewhere else. That is the gap GAMSTOP covers: you choose a period of six months, one year or five years, and every online operator licensed in Great Britain has to block you for that whole time. Many UK banks also let you switch on a gambling block for your card in their app, which adds another layer.
07NHS gambling clinics
In England, the NHS runs specialist gambling treatment clinics with psychiatrists and psychologists who treat gambling harm and related problems such as depression or anxiety. You can refer yourself, or ask your GP about services in your area. The NHS gambling addiction page lists the clinics and how to contact them.
If you are thinking about harming yourself, do not wait for an appointment. Call 999 or go to A&E if you are in immediate danger, or call NHS 111 for urgent advice.
08Free, confidential support
- National Gambling Helpline (GamCare): 0808 8020 133, free and open 24 hours a day, or gamcare.org.uk.
- GambleAware: advice pages and self-help tools at gambleaware.org.
- Gamblers Anonymous UK: local meetings at gamblersanonymous.org.uk.
09If someone close to you gambles
Gambling harm reaches partners, children, parents and friends, often before the person gambling admits there is a problem. You do not have to wait for them to ask for help before getting support yourself.
The National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 also talks to people worried about someone else’s gambling. Gam-Anon runs free meetings for relatives and friends, often on the same nights as Gamblers Anonymous meetings but in a separate room. The NHS clinics can support family members too.
A few practical steps protect the household while you look for help: keep your own money in an account the other person cannot reach, avoid paying off their gambling debts for them, and keep a note of what has happened. That record is useful if you later speak to a debt adviser.