If you need help now
Free, confidential, and independent of any operator. You do not need to have a diagnosed problem to call.
- United Kingdom: GamCare, National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133, 24 hours
- Ireland: Gambling Awareness Trust, 1800 936 725
- Sweden: Stödlinjen, 020-81 91 00
- Denmark: StopSpillet, 70 22 28 25
- Netherlands: AGOG, 088 158 5555
- France: Joueurs Info Service, 09 74 75 13 13
- Australia: Gambling Help Online, 1800 858 858, 24 hours
- Thailand: Mental health line 1323 (general mental health, handles gambling-related calls)
If you are in immediate crisis or thinking about harming yourself, contact your local emergency number rather than a gambling helpline.
National self-exclusion blocks every licensed operator at once
This is the single most effective tool a regulated market offers. One enrolment, and every licensed operator in that market must refuse you service for the duration you choose.
- GamStop (UK) at gamstop.co.uk, 6 months, 1 year or 5 years
- Spelpaus (Sweden) at spelpaus.se, BankID, 1 to 6 months or indefinite
- ROFUS (Denmark) at rofus.nu, MitID, 1 to 6 months or indefinite
- CRUKS (Netherlands) at cruks.nl, DigiD, minimum 6 months
- RNIJ (France) via service-public.fr, 3 years, renewable
- BetStop (Australia) at betstop.gov.au, 3 months to lifetime
Enrolment is free everywhere. Your balance stays yours and can be withdrawn: a self-exclusion scheme cannot confiscate funds. Full detail on each scheme is in our self-exclusion guide.
Short registrations generally cannot be cancelled early, and Sweden and Denmark block reversal of indefinite exclusions for at least 12 months. That is deliberate, and it is what makes the tool work.
Block gambling payments at your bank
A second layer that works independently of any operator. Most UK banks, including Monzo, Starling, Barclays, Lloyds, Halifax and NatWest, offer a gambling block in the app that declines merchant-coded gambling transactions. Several also enforce a cooling-off period before the block can be lifted. Nordic and Dutch banks offer similar controls.
You can use a bank block and national self-exclusion together. They stop different things.
Tools inside your account
Set these before you need them, not after. At any licensed operator you should find deposit limits, loss limits, session time limits, reality-check reminders, cool-off periods and permanent account closure. If an operator makes these hard to find, that itself tells you something, and it costs that operator points in our scoring.
Signs worth taking seriously
Gambling has stopped being entertainment when any of these are true. This is not a diagnostic test, and one item is enough to be worth a conversation.
- Betting more than you decided to, or more than you can comfortably lose
- Chasing losses, betting bigger to win back what is gone
- Borrowing, selling things, or using money meant for bills or rent
- Hiding how much you play, or lying about it
- Gambling to escape stress, low mood, boredom or loneliness
- Feeling restless or irritable when you try to cut down
- Losing interest in things you used to enjoy, or pulling away from people
If several of these feel familiar, one of the helplines above is a reasonable next call. They are used to people who are not sure whether they have a problem.
Things that are simply not true
"I am due a win." Slots and roulette have no memory. A long losing run does not make the next spin more likely to pay. Every spin is independent.
"A system beats it." No betting pattern changes the house edge. Martingale and its relatives change how your losses are distributed, not their expected size.
"I can win it back." Chasing is the single most reliable way to turn a manageable loss into an unmanageable one.
"The house edge is small, so it barely matters." Over a month of regular play the edge is the reason the operator has a business.
Under-age gambling
18 in every market we cover except Thailand, where it is 20. Licensed operators verify age at account opening. If a child has access to your device, parental control tools such as Net Nanny, Qustodio and the family settings built into iOS and Android can block gambling sites.
Support for family and friends
Living with someone else's gambling is its own difficulty. GamCare, Stödlinjen, StopSpillet, AGOG and Joueurs Info Service all support affected family members, not only the person gambling. Gam-Anon runs peer groups for families in several countries.
Gambling can be addictive. Only ever stake money you can afford to lose.