Responsible gambling

The principles of safer gambling

• Gambling is entertainment with a cost. The house edge means you will lose over time. Treat what you spend as the price of the entertainment, like a cinema ticket.
• Only gamble with money you can afford to lose. Never with rent, bills, savings or borrowed money.
• Set limits before you start. Decide on a deposit limit, loss limit and time limit, then use the casino's tools to enforce them.
• Never chase losses. Being behind does not make you due a win. The odds are the same on every spin.
• Do not gamble when upset, drunk or bored. Emotional states lead to poor decisions.
• Balance gambling with other activities. If it is crowding out other parts of your life, that is a signal.
• Talk about it. Secrecy is a warning sign. Be open with the people close to you.

Warning signs of problem gambling

Ask yourself honestly whether any of these apply:

• Spending more than you planned, repeatedly
• Gambling to win back losses
• Borrowing money or selling things to gamble
• Lying to family or friends about how much you gamble
• Feeling anxious, irritable or guilty about gambling
• Neglecting work, study or relationships to gamble
• Gambling to escape problems or bad feelings
• Trying to cut down and failing

One or two of these occasionally may not indicate a problem. Several of them regularly is a strong signal to seek help. Most support organisations offer an anonymous self-assessment quiz.

Tools every licensed casino must offer

Find these in your account settings. If a casino does not offer them, it is not properly licensed.

• Deposit limits: caps on how much you can deposit per day, week or month. Decreases apply immediately; increases are delayed.
• Loss limits: caps on net losses over a period.
• Wager limits: caps on total stakes.
• Session limits and reality checks: reminders showing time played and net result at set intervals.
• Time-out / cool-off: a short break (24 hours to 6 weeks) during which you cannot log in.
• Self-exclusion: a long-term block (6 months to permanent). Casinos must close your account and stop all marketing.

Blocking tools

• GAMSTOP (UK): one registration blocks every UK-licensed gambling site.
• Spelpaus (Sweden), ROFUS (Denmark), OASIS (Germany), Cruks (Netherlands): national self-exclusion registers.
• Gamban and BetBlocker: software that blocks gambling sites and apps on your devices. BetBlocker is free.
• Bank gambling blocks: many banks let you block gambling transactions on your cards from within their app.

For friends and family

If you are worried about someone else, most of the organisations above offer support for affected others too. GamCare, Gambling Therapy and Gamblers Anonymous (via Gam-Anon) all run services for family and friends. You cannot force someone to stop, but you can protect your own finances and wellbeing and be ready to help when they are ready to accept it.

Our commitments

Best Licensed Casinos only lists licensed casinos that offer the tools above. We display 18+ warnings and responsible gambling notices on every page, never describe gambling as a way to earn money, and do not use urgency or pressure tactics in our content. If you believe any content on this site falls short of these standards, please tell us.