Gambling involves a risk of losing money. It is not a way to earn income and cannot resolve debt or other financial problems. Money needed for essentials should not be treated as available for gambling.
Signs that gambling may be causing harm
Observable changes can include:
- spending more than intended or repeatedly increasing stakes to try to recover losses;
- gambling with money set aside for bills, food or other essentials;
- borrowing, selling possessions or using credit to fund gambling;
- hiding gambling activity or giving misleading accounts of losses;
- repeatedly trying to stop or cut down but returning to gambling;
- gambling interfering with work, study, sleep or relationships.
These signs do not establish a diagnosis. They indicate that gambling may be having harmful effects and that further support may be needed.
Steps available through an account
Remote gambling operators must prompt new customers to set a financial limit before the first deposit and provide accessible account-level controls for limits. These controls can be used to restrict future gambling through the account. UKGC-licensed casinos must also provide responsible gambling tools, including self-exclusion. The available controls can be found in the account’s responsible gambling or safer gambling section.
For immediate action, the account can be used to set a limit or activate self-exclusion. If the controls cannot be found or used, the operator’s customer-support route can be used to request help accessing them. UKGC licensees must offer an internal complaints process and access to an approved Alternative Dispute Resolution service.
Where to seek help
No verified names, addresses or phone numbers for independent gambling-support organisations were available for this page. Providing unverified contact details could direct someone in difficulty to the wrong place.
The immediate verified route described here is through the gambling account: use its responsible gambling controls to set a financial limit or self-exclude, and contact the operator through its own support channel if those controls are inaccessible. UKGC-licensed casinos are required to provide self-exclusion tools. The operator’s complaints process and approved Alternative Dispute Resolution service concern complaints about the operator; they are not a substitute for specialist support.
Age and safeguards in Britain
Operators must verify a customer’s age before allowing deposits into a gambling account. Gambling is restricted to people who meet the applicable legal age requirement.
Other safeguards apply to online gambling in Britain. Online slot autoplay is banned, and each slot spin must last at least 2.5 seconds. Remote gambling operators cannot accept credit-card payments for gambling, including credit-card funding routed through a money service business. They cannot accept wallet payments where the wallet permits credit-card funds to be used for gambling. For online slots, the maximum stake in a game cycle is £2 for an individual under 25 and £5 for an individual aged 25 or older; at least 2.5 seconds must pass from the start of one game cycle before the next can begin.
These rules and account tools do not remove the possibility of loss. Gambling should not be used to address financial pressure.