Signs to watch for
- Spending more money or time than you planned, or chasing losses
- Borrowing money, or hiding gambling from family and friends
- Feeling anxious, irritable or low when you are not gambling
- Gambling getting in the way of work, sleep or relationships
Where to get help
- International: Gambling Therapy, free online support in many languages
- United Kingdom: GamCare, National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133, and GAMSTOP self-exclusion
- United States: National Council on Problem Gambling, helpline 1-800-GAMBLER
- Romania: Joc Responsabil, free counselling and self-exclusion information
- Anywhere: Gamblers Anonymous meetings
Tools that help
Licensed operators must offer deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion. Device-level blockers such as Gamban or BetBlocker can block gambling sites on all your devices.
Check the license before you play
Play only with operators licensed where you live: licensed sites must offer these protections, and you have a regulator to complain to. Find the operator's company name and license number in the site footer, then look them up in the regulator's own public register. A license badge is only as good as the register behind it, as the breach of Curaçao's licensing portal showed. Our guide to iGaming licenses explains what each jurisdiction's license means.
Gambling is for adults only. Our reporting on the subject is collected under responsible gambling.