We believe that all forms of gambling should be safe and enjoyable. This is why we have made sure that every site we recommend is committed to helping you maintain control over your emotions and finances when you gamble online. After all, it is only by playing responsibly that you will stay in control of your bets.
We’ve given ourselves the mission of helping you find safe and trusted places where you can gamble online. This means only recommending those gambling sites who have the required licensing and regulation to operate in your location.
Such licensing ensures that the operator is acting legally, and the regulation means that the gambling site will have to act in a way that is secure, fair and completely transparent. Plus each of these sites will have to show that they are committed to helping customers avoid problem gambling.
This means that you should be given a variety of tools you can use to keep your gambling under control. In addition to this, all licensed operators will be required to have links to organizations who can help should you find that your gambling is becoming a problem.
Tips for gambling responsibly
Most people will enjoy betting on sport and playing casino games in a way that is harmless and fun. However, there can be a risk of letting your bets get out of control. Here are some tips to follow to avoid the risk of problem gambling:
- Don’t think of betting as a way of making money
- Set yourself a reasonable time limit for how long your betting session should last
- Decide on a budget for your betting and stick to it
- Only wager with money that you don’t mind losing
- Don’t fall into the trap of trying to chase after any losses
- Make sure that you take regular breaks from your gambling
- Never gamble when intoxicated or in an overly emotional state
Identifying the signs of problem gambling
Problem gambling can take many different forms and it is a condition that is rarely easy to identify. However, these are a few of the more common traits of someone who has let their gambling get out of control:
- Spending more and more time and money gambling
- Being reckless and gambling without any limits or budget
- Becoming overly emotional when incurring losses
- Getting secretive or lying about their gambling
- Asking for money or loans to fund their bets
- Feeling guilty and stressed about their gambling habits
If you spot any of the characteristics in yourself or anyone else, be sure to seek help from a responsible gambling organization. Many of these organizations have free and anonymous online tests you can use to identify whether your gambling has become problematic.
All decent gambling sites will offer you a variety of tools you can use to keep your betting under control. Here is a selection of some of the most common responsible gambling tools:
- Limits:
You should be given quick and easy ways to apply limits on your gambling. Such limits could be applied to anything from your deposits and bets to your losses and even the time spent on the gambling site.
- Cooling-off periods:
There should be the ability to temporarily exclude yourself from the gambling site to give yourself a ‘cooling-off period’. Essential for getting some perspective on your online gambling.
- Self-exclusion:
As a last resort, you can also request that the gambling site completely excludes you from using its services.
Helping you stay in control when gambling online
While there is always an element of risk when gambling, it should never become dangerous. Thankfully, there is a growing move towards sports betting sites and online casinos taking greater responsibility for their customers’ welfare.
This has meant that all good gambling sites now make much more of a concerted effort to encourage customers to do things like apply deposit limits, take a time out and so on. This means that you can experience that inevitable loss without it causing you undue emotional or financial distress.
Above all, it’s essential that you only see gambling as another form of entertainment, rather than being a source of income. Plus by only using fully licensed gambling sites recommended by us, you can be sure of getting all of the help you need to keep your bets under control.
