Safer Gambling  

What exactly is ‘Safer Gambling’ or ‘Responsible Gambling’?  

Safer gambling is when you as a gambler only bet what you can afford to lose. If you find it rewarding and it doesn’t impact other aspects of your life or your friends’ and family’s lives, then you are gambling safely.  


Responsible Gambling

It’s never easy to spot when your gambling behaviours are starting to become harmful, so we’ve clarified some of the warning signs to help you spot it. There are many influencing factors  when t comes to gambling-related harm, so it’s important to be honest with yourself about your responsible gambling behaviour.  

In order to have an enjoyable responsible gambling experience, responsible gaming are the measures put in place to protect that. Risk is present throughout gambling, and the care we take to judge that risk, as well as how we deal with both wins and losses, is what makes up our relationships with gambling. That’s why betting safely is something for all gamblers to consider, throughout their betting lives.  

Prevention is better than cure, and planning in advance about how much you should bet, how often, and when or on what markets, is vital to maintaining a good relationship with responsible gambling.  

Think you could be a problem gambler?  

Do you find yourself chasing your losses?  

Do you increase your stakes because a small wager bet just wasn’t as exciting anymore?  

Maybe you’ve borrowed some money to have a punt, or backed that tip even though you couldn’t really afford it.  

Any of the above could be a sign that you need to think about the impact gambling has on you, and possibly also on those around you, such as family members or friends.   

STRATEGIES TO HELP YOU GAMBLE SAFELY – & ENJOYABLY  

Responsible gambling or Safer gambling should be practiced by all bettors, not just those who suspect they have a gambling problem. As previously mentioned, ‘prevention is better than cure’, and thinking carefully in advance about how much you should bet, how often, and in what circumstances, is vital to maintaining a good relationship with gambling. Whilst there’s a plethora of strategies bookmakers and banks have introduced to help you do this, they all benefit from self-discipline.  

All gambling involves risk, and there are a number of things you can do to minimise that risk – for any given bet, and for your financial and mental health in the long-run so its important to be gamble aware and gamble responsibly

PLAY SMARTER: THINK LONG-TERM  

Rather than betting off-the-cuff or rash, it pays to focus on the bigger picture. Introduce a gambling budget or a staking plan, a record of your bets, and a record of your balance. This way, you can benefit from a number of advantages and ensure your gambling responsibly.

  • Responsible Gambling: BUDGETING AND STAKING LIMITS 

Keeping track of your monthly spending makes it far easier to control, and helps you see your betting expenses clearly in relation to other outgoings. It also reminds you how much you can safely stake on any one bet, which can help reduce the effect of the “gambler’s mentality”, this when winning a bet makes the gambler think they should have risked more to win more. A carefully calculated maximum stake or unit means you can be satisfied that you have won the maximum return.  

  • Responsible Gambling: KEEP TRACK OF PROFIT & LOSS 

Staying in profit in the long run is difficult, so keeping track of profit and loss (P&L) helps you appreciate how the losses can stack up. It can also serve as a reminder that despite the bragging, most others that appear successful are likely to be ‘down’ over a lengthy period of time.  

  • Responsible Gambling: PUTS YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING IN PERSPECTIVE 

Tracking your bets over time could help you reassess your motivations for gambling. You may find betting more enjoyable once you’ve realised how frequently it is that you actually win.  

  • Responsible Gambling: PREVENTS ‘CHASING’  

If you can see things in the long-term, you feel less of a need to address them straight away. When translated to betting, this could be seen as waiting for a horse or team you like to bet on in order to make it more enjoyable and perhaps win more. Meanwhile, accepting that even mathematical strategies involve absorbing losses helps you process you will have bad days and to account for them.  

What tools are available to help?  

It is mandated that bookmakers have to offer certain tools and many provide tools over and above this to ensure their customers are gambling as safely as possible. There are an array of tools out there which can help achieve responsible gambling. Licensed operators must provide access to your account activity, which means you’ll be able to see;  

  • When you have gambled  
  • How much money you spent gambling  
  • How often you log in to your account  
  • How much time you are spending gambling  

However, many operators are now going offer more tools such as:  

Responsible Gambling : Deposit Limits  

Need to manage how much you spend? Deposit limits lets you set a daily, weekly, or monthly deposit limit. Allowing you to enjoy a flutter without going over your budget, limit increases will usually take 24-hours to activate, while decreases happen immediately.  

Responsible Gambling: Cool Off Periods  

Cool Off tools are here to help. They allow you to take a break from the action from any number between one to 30 days. Once your set time is over, you’ll be able to re-access gambling sites and apps without needing to contact your bookmaker. Cool Off periods are perfect for when you’ve reached your spending limit and don’t want to deposit until next month.  

Responsible Gambling: Profit & Loss  

Like numbers and seeing your stats? Profit & Loss tools let you know how much you’ve won or lost over a select time period, making it easier for you to stay on top of your budget for the following weeks or months.  

Responsible Gambling: Reality Check  

Spending too much time on your phone? Another responsible gambling tool is  Reality Check which gives you an interval-based reminder of the length of time you have been playing across your bookmaker’s site. From 20-minutes up to 2 hours, you are in control of how much time you spend on the bookmaker’s product. Setting a reminder with Reality Check will give you the option to log out, view your transaction history or continue playing.  

Responsible Gambling: Self-Exclusion  

If you currently have a gambling problem or feel you’re at risk of developing one, you should consider using Self-Exclusion which prevents you gambling with the bookmaker in question for a selected specified period of 6 months or 5 years. GAMSTOP is another self-exclusion tool in which you can blanket ban across a number of different bookmaker’s sites. This will prevent you from using gambling websites and apps run by companies licensed in Great Britain, for a period of your choosing. GAMSTOP is a free service for users. GAMSTOP is available for consumers resident within the United Kingdom (Great Britain and Northern Ireland) only.