Responsible gambling

Signs it has stopped being a game

• Betting more than you planned, or more than you can afford to lose.
• Going back to win losses back — the single most reliable warning sign there is.
• Borrowing, selling things, or using money meant for bills, rent or family.
• Hiding how much you play, or lying about it to people close to you.
• Needing bigger stakes to feel the same thing.
• Playing to escape stress, low mood, boredom or sleeplessness.
• Feeling restless or irritable when you try to cut down.

Two or more of these, over the past year, is the point at which the free self-assessments on BeGambleAware or GamCare are worth ten minutes of your time.

Ways to stop, weakest to strongest

Willpower alone fails most people, because the operator's product is engineered against it. These are barriers that do not depend on you being strong at the wrong moment — stack as many as you can.

Barrier	What it does	How to set it
Deposit & loss limits	Caps what you can put in per day, week or month. Reductions apply immediately; increases must wait out a cooling-off period.	In the operator's account settings — every GB-licensed site must offer them.
Time-out	Locks your account for 24 hours up to 6 weeks. Short, reversible, good for a bad run.	Operator account settings.
Self-exclusion at one operator	Closes your account there for at least 6 months and stops its marketing to you.	Operator account settings or support.
GAMSTOP	One registration blocks you from every online site licensed in Great Britain for 6 months, 1 year or 5 years. It cannot be lifted early.	Free at gamstop.co.uk.
Bank gambling block	Your bank declines gambling transactions, usually with a 48-hour delay before it can be switched off.	In your banking app — most UK banks now offer it. Gambling on credit cards has been banned in Britain since 2020.
Blocking software	Blocks gambling sites and apps across your devices, including ones GAMSTOP does not cover.	BetBlocker is free; Gamban is available free to many UK players through GamCare.

GAMSTOP covers sites licensed in Great Britain. It does not cover unlicensed offshore sites — which is one more reason every operator here is checked against a public register first, and why blocking software matters alongside it.

Free treatment and support

• GamCare — helpline, live chat, one-to-one treatment and groups across Britain.
• NHS gambling clinics — specialist NHS treatment; ask your GP for a referral or self-refer where available.
• Gordon Moody — residential treatment for severe gambling addiction, free at the point of use.
• Gamblers Anonymous — peer support meetings, in person and online.
• Gambling Therapy — free online support in multiple languages, wherever you are in the world.

If it is someone else

• Talk about the behaviour and its consequences, not about willpower or blame.
• Do not pay off gambling debts for them — it removes the consequence, not the problem.
• Protect joint money: separate accounts, remove them from cards, ask the bank about gambling blocks.
• Get support for yourself. GamCare's helpline is for affected friends and family too, on the same number.

What we do at our end

• This site is for over-18s only, and we do not knowingly market to anyone under 18 or to self-excluded players.
• We publish no systems, no "beat the casino" strategies and no tipping services. No strategy makes a negative-expectation game positive.
• Bonus terms are published with the conditions that cost money — wagering, caps, expiry — not just the headline.
• Operators that fail the licence check are not listed and get no link from us, whatever the commercial offer.