Gambling Advice to
encourage Safer,
Smarter Gambling
We want to ensure that we play our part in promoting safer, smarter online gambling. So we’ve established a responsible gambling guide to encourage – help, advice and education on a single page.
Gambling can be an enjoyable form of entertainment and that’s how it should remain. It should never become harmful to you, your family or damage your financial situation.
Signs Of A Potential Gambling Problem
Firstly, its important to understand that a gambling problem can happen to anyone of us, regardless of who we are or how much money we have.
The signs of a gambling problem usually starts with us as human beings. A persons day to day attitude can involve numerous mood swings
involving high’s and low’s. As a result, this can be due to the uncontrollable urge to gamble by spending way more money than a person can afford.
Below are further warning signs of a potential gambling problem, as a Gambler:
- Spending more money on gambling than you can afford.
- You become secretive of your whereabouts and your gambling.
- Spending more money chasing loses.
- Arguing with family and friends about money.
- Neglecting responsibilities at work and home.
- Neglecting to pay bills or rent.
- Borrowing money from friends, family and financial institutions.
- Betting higher amounts of money for longer than usual periods.
- Feelings of irritability, anxious and depression.
- Pulling away from family and friends.
- Credit card limits are at the maximum.
Signs if you suspect your loved one has a potential gambling problem
- Addiction problems will not be admitted easily.
- Changes in their personality, even show with signs of depression.
- Running errands take unusually longer than normal.
- Selling off of house hold and valuable items.
- Excuses to leave work or taking a lot more time off work.
- Always strapped for cash.
- There can also be a minimal or lack of food in the house.
Responsible Gambling Tips Playing It Safe – Stay In Control
For some people gambling can change from being a form of entertainment into an addiction. Gambling research finds that gambling addiction may be inherited from loved ones.
Further to this research, if a loved one had a gambling addiction, then the chances of a youngster going down the same path in later life is high.
To keep your gambling enjoyment safe below we have briefly discussed several tips on how to stay in control:
Set Yourself A Deposit Budget and Betting Limit
Its good practice to set yourself a deposit budget before you actually deposit real money at any casino. This means that you don’t have to deposit all of your budget in one single deposit. Rather deposit smaller amounts from your budget at a time.
As a result, this can save the urge to deposit more if you lose all your money in a very short space of time.
To make your money last a reasonable time period, set yourself a betting limit for the casino games you want to play. It’s not necessary to bet maximum bet for each game spin, or each turn of the card game.
Deposit Limit Help Tool
A deposit limit help tool is available at most online casinos. The deposit help tool will help you manage your deposits by setting a limit amount on the amount of money you wish to deposit on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.
You can usually find this help tool in your account settings. Remember that once you have set a deposit limit, the software is written so that you can’t override the system.
Decreasing deposit limits can be done at any time and takes effect immediately. However, to increase your deposit limits is allowed but a prescribed 24 hour cooling period is automatically set before the request is updated.
Expense Tracker Help Tool
At the same time as setting your deposit limits, most online casinos and betting sites offer the option of an expense tracker help tool. To gamble responsibly, its advised that you keep track of your expenses and profits.
The expense tracker will do all this for you. You will be able to check expenses over a certain time period or even get an all-time report.
Many gamblers have multiple accounts at several betting sites for a number of reasons. A good example of this maybe due to different casino games that are available at other sites or perhaps better promotions.
If you have multiple accounts, a suggestion is to open a spreadsheet. There you can perform your own expense entries month to month allowing you get gamble more responsibly, according to your profits or losses.
Cooling Off – Time Out
Most online betting sites will offer their clients a cooling off or time out help tool. This is done by going to your account setting or by emailing customer support asking for a cooling off period.
The cooling off period can be anything from an hour to several weeks, depending on the operator or your email request.
Once this the cooling off period has been set, your account will essentially be locked. This will result in no further deposits as well as no further email marketing correspondence to you.
Only once the cooling off period has expired, will your account be opened and then you may continue as normal prior to cooling off.
Help Tool For Self-Exclusion
As a further help tool, all online gambling sites offer a Self-Exclusion tool to help manage gambling addiction. This is in line with gambling regulations set out by licensing and regulating authorities.
To find the Self-Exclusion tool, start with your account settings there you will find the self-exclusion options. Also, you can choose to self-exclude yourself for the duration the gambling site offers.
If this option is not available at the gambling site, we advise you to email their support center with instructions requesting self-exclusion.
GAMSTOP Safe Gambling Self Exclusion Help Tool
GAMSTOP is an independent organisation created to assist gamblers with self-exclusion in the United Kingdom.
At GAMSTOP there are certain control tools that are in place to help restrict your online gambling activities.
The tools in place will prevented you from using gambling websites and apps run by gambling operators licensed in United Kingdom, for the period of your choosing.
Registration only takes a few minutes, followed by proof of identity. After registration has been completed, you will be in a data base system designed to prevent you from gambling at websites in Great Britain.
Finally, although the responsibility is with the people who register for the program, there is a responsibility with the gambling operators to take reasonable steps to ensure you don’t open any new gambling accounts that you may attempt to open.
More Responsible Gambling Programs
Canada
https://www.problemgambling.ca/gambling-help/
https://about.olg.ca/responsible-gambling/
https://www.responsiblegambling.org/about-rgc/governance/
New Zealand
https://www.gamblinghelpline.co.nz/Home_452.aspx
https://www.gamblingtherapy.org/
https://www.choicenotchance.org.nz/
Other Countries