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18+ Responsible Gaming
Gambling is entertainment with a cost, never a way to make money. This page explains the controls every Great Britain licensee must offer you, the warning signs worth taking seriously, and where to get free, confidential help at any hour.
Deposit limits
Set a daily, weekly or monthly cap before your first deposit. Increases take 24 hours to apply; decreases apply immediately.
Reality checks
A timed on-screen reminder showing how long you have been logged in and what your balance has done since.
Time-outs
Lock yourself out for 24 hours, a week, a month or six weeks. It cannot be reversed early.
Self-exclusion
Six months to five years with one operator, or across every GB licensee at once through GamStop.
Rules worth keeping
- Decide your budget before you start and treat it as spent the moment you deposit.
- Never borrow to gamble, and never use money set aside for rent, bills or food.
- Set a time limit as well as a money limit — sessions stretch without one.
- Do not chase a loss. Increasing your stake to recover is the single most reliable way to lose more.
- Do not gamble while upset, bored, drinking or unable to sleep.
- Take the odds seriously: the operator holds a mathematical edge on every product, always.
Warning signs
Any one of these is a reason to pause and use a time-out:
- Spending more time or money than you planned, repeatedly.
- Hiding the extent of your gambling from family, a partner or friends.
- Borrowing money, selling possessions or missing bills to fund it.
- Feeling anxious, irritable or low when you are not gambling.
- Believing a win is "due" or that a system will recover what you have lost.
- Neglecting work, study, sleep or relationships because of it.
Protecting under-18s
It is a criminal offence for anyone under 18 to gamble with a licensed operator in Great Britain, and an offence for an adult to enable it. If a young person shares your device, install filtering software such as Net Nanny, Qustodio or CYBERsitter, keep payment details out of saved browsers, and never let anyone else use your account.
If a friend or family member is struggling
You do not have to handle it alone. GamCare runs support for affected friends and family, and Gamblers Anonymous has a companion fellowship, Gam-Anon, for the people around a gambler. Keep the conversation about behaviour and money rather than blame, and encourage a GamStop registration — it removes the option far more effectively than willpower alone.
Making a complaint
Complain to the operator in writing first. If it is unresolved after eight weeks, escalate free of charge to its alternative dispute resolution provider, named in its terms and approved by the Gambling Commission. The Commission itself does not settle individual disputes but does act on reports of licence breaches.