Responsible Gambling

Author: Eleanor Hartwell Last updated: October 2026 Reading time: 4 min

Gambling can become difficult to control before it feels like a crisis. A useful test is whether it is affecting your money, time, relationships or day-to-day decisions. Gambling is not a way to earn money or a solution to money problems. If you are trying to win back losses or cover bills, stop gambling and seek help.

Signs that gambling may be becoming a problem

Look for changes you can observe, rather than relying only on how you feel:

• You spend more time or money gambling than you planned, or keep raising the amount to get the same excitement.
• You chase losses by continuing or returning to try to win money back.
• You hide gambling, lie about how much you spend, or feel the need to keep it secret.
• You borrow money, sell possessions, miss bills or use money meant for essentials to gamble.
• You repeatedly try to stop or cut down but do not manage to do so.
• Gambling disrupts sleep, work, study or time with people close to you.
• You feel restless or irritable when you try to stop, or find that thoughts about gambling crowd out other activities.

One sign can be enough to take action. You do not need to wait until debts or relationships have reached a breaking point.

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Take a step now

If you are gambling at the moment, close the gambling site or app and do not make another deposit. Use your account controls to set a financial limit, reduce an existing limit or block access through self-exclusion. Self-exclusion is an account tool that prevents you from gambling with the operator for the period offered by that operator. If you cannot find the controls, contact the operator’s customer support and ask how to use them.

UK-licensed casinos must provide responsible gambling tools, including self-exclusion. Remote operators must prompt new customers to set a financial limit before their first deposit and provide accessible account-level limit controls. These tools can create a barrier, but they do not replace help from a support service when gambling is causing harm.

Where to turn: No verified gambling-support organisation or service contact is available for this page. That means no support organisation, address or phone number can be recommended here. Do not rely on a contact detail unless you have verified it directly with the organisation. If you feel in immediate danger or cannot keep yourself safe, contact the emergency services in your area.

Protections and limits in Britain

Operators must verify your age before allowing you to deposit into a gambling account. You must be 18 or over to gamble in a UK-licensed casino.

UK-licensed casinos cannot accept credit cards for gambling. Remote gambling operators also cannot take credit-card payments, including credit-card funding routed through a money service business. They cannot accept wallet payments where the wallet allows credit-card funds to be used for gambling.

Online slot autoplay is banned in Britain, and each online slot spin must last at least 2.5 seconds. For an online slots game, the total you may stake in one game cycle is capped at £2 if you are under 25, or £5 if you are 25 or older. At least 2.5 seconds must pass from the start of a game cycle before the next can begin.

These rules set boundaries for operators; they do not make gambling risk-free. If you are concerned about your gambling, use account limits or self-exclusion and seek support rather than relying on game restrictions.

Complaints and licence information

UKGC licensees must offer an internal complaints process and access to an approved Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) service. If you have a complaint, first use the operator’s complaints process and ask how to access its ADR service if the issue remains unresolved.

A remote operator’s gambling websites and apps must show its licence details and link to its public register licence information. Check that information if you need to confirm who operates the site. Operators must also contribute to the Research, Education and Treatment (RET) levy; that requirement is not itself a support service for customers.

GamStop Navigator Slots provides general information, not a way to assess or treat gambling harm. If gambling is affecting your finances or daily life, stop and look for a verified support service in your area.