Safer Gambling: Tools, a Self-Test and Where to Get Free Support

The NHS says you can refer yourself to a gambling clinic near you, or ask a GP about services in your area.^{8 (source)} Gamblers Anonymous meets in local groups across England, Wales and Ulster.^{9 (source)} None of these services charges for help, and none of them needs you to have reached a crisis first. Talking things through early is often the easiest point to change a habit.

The tools are usually found under “Safer gambling” or “Responsible gambling” in the account menu. A limit works best when it is set before you start playing, at an amount you would be content to spend on any other night out. Lowering a limit usually takes effect straight away; raising one often comes with a waiting period, which is deliberate.

Some sites also offer loss limits and session limits. These are separate from a deposit limit and are worth using alongside it. In a land-based casino, some machines and membership cards let you set limits too, and staff can explain the casino’s own scheme.

You can also exclude from a single business, which must have its own self-exclusion arrangements, and multi-operator schemes cover land-based gambling of the same type in your area with one application. Once you are excluded, the business must close your account, return your balance and remove you from its marketing lists.

Self-exclusion relies on you as well as on the operators: the Gambling Commission is clear that sticking to the agreement is your responsibility. Blocking software for phones and computers adds another layer, and combining it with a bank block makes a lapse much harder.

The Gambling Commission keeps a list of the services offered by the larger banks. If your bank is not on it, ask its customer service team; card providers increasingly offer the same feature. A block stops payments to gambling businesses, so it works even on a site you have never used before.

Credit cards cannot be used to gamble in Great Britain at all, so a debit card block covers the main way money reaches a gambling account. Some people also move savings to an account without a card, which adds a pause before money can be spent.

For a fuller picture, GambleAware offers its own free gambling harms assessment online.^{7 (source)} It takes a few minutes, asks about the effect gambling is having on your life, and points you to the support that fits your answers.

It helps to talk about the effect you are seeing, such as missing money or broken plans, rather than to argue about the gambling itself. Protecting shared finances is a reasonable step, for example with separate accounts. The NHS page on gambling harms lists services for families too.

Gambling is only for adults. If you are worried about a young person, the National Gambling Helpline can advise, and the parental controls on phones, consoles and broadband routers can block gambling sites at home.