Responsible gambling

Where can I get support?

You can ask for help with your own gambling or someone else’s. GamCare offers free, confidential support and a helpline available around the clock.

• Gambling Therapy: talk to an adviser through its text-based live support service about your gambling or concerns for another person. Use Gambling Therapy live support.
• Gamblers Anonymous: find peer meetings, including sessions for newcomers and meetings that welcome family and friends. Check the meeting type before attending. Find Gamblers Anonymous meetings.

sistersblog.co.uk is an editorial website for adults. Our role is to explain relationships and direct readers to evidence and support. We do not provide gambling treatment or manage exclusions.

What are the signs gambling is causing harm?

Spending beyond your means, chasing losses or borrowing to gamble are reasons to seek support. The NHS also highlights guilt, anxiety and effects on household finances in its guidance on gambling-related harm.

• You gamble money needed for everyday expenses.
• You return to gambling to try to recover a loss.
• You borrow money or sell possessions to fund gambling.
• You need to stake more to get the same feeling.
• Gambling leaves you distressed or creates financial problems at home.

These are prompts to get help, not a diagnosis. You do not need to wait for the situation to get worse before contacting a support service.

Which account controls should I look for?

Look for financial limits, session reminders, time-outs and self-exclusion. The Gambling Commission sets requirements for these tools on the remote gambling services covered by each rule. Their functions are different; a reminder does not block spending.

1. Financial limits. Set a limit through the account’s safer-gambling controls. Current standards require accessible limit-setting from registration, with increases delayed by at least 24 hours and then actively confirmed. Reductions should take effect immediately unless a technical failure prevents this. Financial-limit requirements.
2. Reality checks. These show elapsed playing time at intervals you select and require acknowledgement. They help make time visible during covered gaming sessions. Reality-check standard.
3. Time-outs. Covered operators must offer breaks of 24 hours, one week, one month, or another reasonably requested period up to six weeks. Time-out requirements.
4. Self-exclusion. This is a formal agreement intended to help you stop gambling. The business must take reasonable steps to prevent access.

Deposit-limit rules are changing. From 30 September 2026, operators must offer gross deposit limits and reserve the name “deposit limit” for that type of control. Those changes are not yet in force at this page’s check date. Implementation notice.

If a control is unclear, ask the operator to explain exactly what it covers before relying on it. In our editorial method, we require evidence for the scope of a rule rather than assuming it applies to every related brand.

How does self-exclusion work?

Request it through the gambling business and keep its confirmation. The Commission explains that the business must close the account, return the money held in it and remove your details from its marketing databases. It must also take reasonable steps to prevent gambling during the exclusion. Gambling Commission guidance.

Ask the business to confirm the websites and accounts covered. Keep a record of the start date, duration and scope. Do not use a sister-site relationship as a reason to try another brand while excluded.

The Commission’s ordinary code sets out good practice: an initial minimum period between six and twelve months, options extending to at least five years, and steps required before gambling can resume after the chosen period. These provisions are ordinary-code guidance, distinct from binding licence conditions. Remote self-exclusion code.

Exclusion can be combined with support and device-blocking software. The Commission recommends considering additional help; an exclusion is not a reason to handle the situation alone.

How can I set boundaries around money and time?

Protect essential spending first, and never treat gambling as income. The NHS recommends paying important bills before gambling, asking your bank about gambling-payment blocks and talking to someone you trust.

If you choose to gamble, decide on money and time limits in advance. Do not borrow to continue or raise the stakes to recover losses. Keep other interests and breaks in your routine. GamCare’s advice on limits and chasing losses.

If you repeatedly override a limit or find stopping difficult, consider a time-out or self-exclusion and discuss the next step with a GamCare adviser. Choosing not to gamble is also an option.

What if someone else’s gambling is affecting me?

You can seek support for yourself. GamCare’s support finder is available to people affected by someone else’s gambling as well as people who gamble. GamCare support finder.

You might want to discuss worries about shared money, a difficult conversation or the impact on your wellbeing. Tell an adviser what you need help with; you do not have to arrive with a complete plan. Gambling Therapy also accepts questions about another person’s gambling.

If you prefer a group setting, some Gamblers Anonymous meeting types welcome relatives and friends. Check the published meeting descriptions before choosing a session.

How should under-18s be protected?

Under-18s must not use online casinos. The Gambling Commission’s age guidance places casinos and online gambling within the activities restricted to adults, and requires regulated businesses to prevent underage access. Age restrictions.

If you discover a child using a gambling account, contact the operator to report it and secure access to your account and payment details. For conversations at home, GamCare recommends an open, non-judgemental discussion about gambling and its consequences. GamCare’s advice for parents.

Review parental controls, purchase passwords and in-app spending permissions on shared devices. GamCare’s gaming-safety guidance explains these measures and the risks around gambling-like purchases in games.

Frequently Asked Questions