Gamble Responsibly | How to Beat Problem Gambling

How To Gamble Responsibly?

Not only at-risk players should practice developing these responsible gambling habits as even players with a good handle on their gambling can fall prey to the above given the right circumstances.

Here are 7 good gambling habits to develop in your life:

Set a budget for your next gambling session and abide by it. Once you have spent your budgeted amount leave the casino.
Decide ahead of time when you will visit the casino and how long you will spend at the tables before logging off. Be intentional about the time you spend gambling online.
Never use money to gamble that you cannot afford to lose. This includes using money earmarked for other things such as rent or food, and not using money that will require you to go into debt if you lose it, like spending on a credit card.
Decide never to chase your losses at a casino. If you lose accept it as part of the experience and do not let it adjust your bet sizes, speed of gambling, or increase the total amount you are willing to spend during that session.
Never gamble during periods of peaked emotion. Gambling when depressed, or even when you are ecstatic, can lead to you making emotional and clearheaded decisions about your money.
Never gamble online when under the influence of alcohol or other substances. Anything that fogs your mind will stop you from making intelligent decisions about your bankroll and your time. Avoid this at all costs.
Always see gambling as entertainment, never allow it to become a source of income in your mind.

What Makes a Responsible Gambling Provider?

Any casino that offers these necessary tools and support structures is proving through their actions that they can be trusted with your time and your money.

There are several earmarks of being a good gambling provider that you can use to determine who to play with:

Do they provide openly speak about problem gambling and provide helpful resources?
Do they offer complete transparency regarding bonus terms, fees, wagering requirements and withdrawal limits?
Do they offer necessary player tools like the ability to self-exclude either temporarily or permanently?
Do they have age-gating technology and processes in place to combat underage gambling?
Do they have a process for recognizing and supporting at-risk gamblers?

Responsible Gambling: 5 Helpful Tips & Tricks

When we stop seeing people who develop problem gambling habits as failing or being weak it becomes far more likely that we stop seeing it as a ‘them’ problem but rather than a potential ‘us’ problem. All it takes is to be in a bad headspace one day and you could find yourself in trouble, we all could.

Here are 5 easy to implement tips and tricks to ensure that you will always gamble safely and maintain control of your hard-earned finances:

Take the time to become an educated online gambler
Understanding how bonus terms and conditions work, how to calculate wagering requirements, which deposit and withdrawal methods are best for you and any other number of critical gambling touchpoints best serve you will keep you safe.
Set your own boundaries
There is no substitute for self-control. By setting boundaries on your time and your bankroll you remain safe and in control.
Keep gambling as a hobby, not an escape
Regardless of how challenging times may get, never use gambling as an escape from dealing with your life. By keeping your gambling in check, alongside your other hobbies, it will always remain harmless fun.
Always gamble with a clear head
Gambling while drunk or high is an easy path to losing a lot more money than you can afford to. To ensure you remain a responsible gambler, always gamble smart.
Do not be fooled by the hype
Any casino trying to lure you in with promises that are too good to be true, or guarantees of big wins is lying, avoid them at all costs!

The Importance of Age and Identity Verification at Online Casinos

All reputable online casinos enforce minimum gambling ages that align with the legal gambling ages of that region. The majority of these will require an adult gambler to be 18 years of age or older. There are, however, some regions where the legal age for gambling is 21 and the casino will adjust their policies accordingly.

It is important for all online casinos to include stringent age and identity verification protocols to limit the access of children and youth to casino games before they are legally allowed to gamble. While this can cause a level of frustration for adult gamblers who find themselves having to provide identity documents, proof of address, and in some cases utility bills in their names, these steps are in place to protect the children.

When an online casino is willing to risk annoying players of legal age in order to enforce such an important policy, we believe it speaks volumes of their integrity and their commitment to the safety of the industry. Which in turn makes them a casino more likely to treat all of their players well.

How Can You Prove Your Age and Identity?

Unlike a land-based casino where you physically present yourself at a venue proving your age and identity at an online casino is done through the Know Your Customer (KYC) documents you are asked to send in.

These documents will not only be verified individually but compared to one another and against any banking methods you have registered at the casino.

These documents can include:

Your identity document
Your passport
Your drivers license
A utility bill in your name
A recent bank statement
A rental agreement in your name

How Do Casinos Perform This Verification Process?

By following the below process, the casino will easily be able to verify who you are, that you are of legal age to gamble with them and begin to offer you their available selection of promotions, bonuses, and giveaways.

Trying to beat the system by providing incorrect document and entering false information will result in your account being closed, your winnings forfeited, and you being banned from the group of associated casinos.

While each online casino has their own risk and analysis processes when it comes to creating a wholistic view of you as a player, specifically when it comes to the aforementioned documents, you can expect to be asked to:

Register a new account at the chosen online casino.
Fill in all the pertinent fields honestly and accurately including date of birth and contact information.
Provide clear copies of the requested KYC documents.
Register a banking method that is held in your name and transact on this account.
Click the required check boxes to confirm that the details are correct, you are of age and that you comply with the casino terms and conditions.

Setting Safe Online Casino Limits

We only recommend online casinos that have proven themselves to be dedicated to your safety and security. This extends beyond employing the best onsite encryption and setting up secure data silos – we expect them to put the same level of effort and innovation into protecting you from gambling harms.

One of the simplest, yet most effective ways to achieve this is when an online casino provides you with the tools you need to set a range of gambling limits.

These limits include:

Session and Gameplay Limits
Trusted online casinos now offer in-game pop ups which will remind you of the amount of time you have been gambling. These session limits are a great way to remind yourself to take a break, follow up on other activities you had planned for the day or that your predetermined time at the casino has come to an end.
Setting Deposit Limits
The ability to set deposit limits goes hand in hand with session limits as you will know how much you can afford to spend at the casino and how much you tend to gamble with during a casual evening at the tables. By setting these spend limits ahead of time you will be notified of if something has deviated from the norm, creating the headspace you need to evaluate your headspace and proactively avoid a problematic experience.
Set Your Own Bet Limits
Chasing losses or become overly enthusiastic by a hot streak can both trigger larger and larger wages, eventually leading to larger and larger losses. Address this ahead of time by setting betting size limits that will allow your allotted bankroll to support the amount of time you decided to spend at the casino. This balance of bet size, budget and time in the casino will ensure that each gaming session is a lot of fun without the risk of problem gambling.
Setting Loss Limits
We all know that while online gambling is entertaining the financial reality is that you will most likely lose more often than you win. Given that any hobby has a cost associated with it safe and secure gamblers see this as the cost of having fun. However, anyone can be tempted to chase their losses, especially if the early part of the session was filled with wins. To safeguard against this set your own loss limits at the casino, once you hit this limit log out of your account and leave the gambling for another day.

Self-Exclusion Tools

Despite our best efforts and intentions there may come a day when the temptation to act on compulsive gambling behaviours becomes too strong to simply avoid logging out of your account. When you find yourself in position, we recommend finding a professional to speak, but in the short term there is the option to trigger a self-exclusion.

Depending on how serious your situation is reputable casinos will offer you two self-exclusion options:

Temporary Online Casino Self-Exclusion
Choosing to activate a temporary self-exclusion from our online casino will mean that while your account remains active with them you will be able to set a timeframe in which you do not want t be allowed to access the casino nor receive any marketing materials from them.

In this instance you get to set the time limit, which can range from one week to several months. Once you feel you have gained the necessary control of the situation you can access your account and continue to play as normal.
Permanent Self-Exclusion
A permanent self-exclusion is a far more drastic step and one you should consider if you feel you are in serious trouble. Triggering this event will see your casino account permanently closed at the casino and see you blocked from gambling at any of their associated online casinos for life.

In most regulated markets there is the option to permanently self-exclude using a tool offered by the overseeing gaming authority. This will offer you same permanent gambling lockout but extend to all casinos who are licensed in the jurisdiction.

What If I have a Gambling Problem?

If you believe you might have a gambling problem you need to address it the way you would anything else in life that threatens your finances, your happiness and your family - swiftly and with all your energy. We recommend seeking the guidance of a local counsellor who has experience in helping people with gambling addictions to address the underlying cause, bring the problem into the light where its power over you is diminished and get you working with your loved ones on a road to recovery.

9 Signs of Problem Gambling

The Gambling Commission lists nine key questions to ask yourself in order to determine if you are at risk of developing problem gambling behaviours.

If over the last 12 months you can say yes to between 3-7 of these nine questions, then you fall into moderate risk category and need to tweak some of your behaviours. However, if you answered positively to eight of more of these questions are could be a high risk gambler and we advise speaking to a professional in your area.

This is a simple test that requires no preparation, in fact why not as yourself these questions right now:

Do you bet more than you can afford to lose?
Do you need to gamble bigger and bigger amounts to feel any excitement?
When you lost money at the casino, did you log back in to try win it back?
Have you stolen or borrowed money to gamble?
Do you feel like you might have a gambling problem?
Does your gambling cause you stress or anxiety, or negatively impact your health?
Have friends and family told you that you have a gambling problem?
Has your gambling caused financial problems for you and your loved ones?
Do you feel guilty about your gambling, or what happens when you gamble?

Take Action, Get The Help You Need

Developing problem gambling is nothing to be ashamed of, and it is not something you can ignore in the hopes that it will go away. If you feel you have developed compulsive gambling behaviours and see your stress and guilt in the questions above, please act today.

The first port of call would be to clear the air your family, get them on your side and begin to walk a road to health and happiness with them. However, if you don’t feel you can do that just yet call a local gambling hotline and speak to one of their trained counsellors.

They will be able to advise you on the next best steps for your health and peace of mind.

Responsible Gambling FAQs

Can I have be considered to have a gambling problem if I have a good job and pay my bills but gamble too often?: Yes, you can be. Problem gambling is not about the financial impact, it centres on your state of mind. While you pay your bills and hold a good job, those could be “for now” statements. And the fact that you acknowledge that you gamble too often is an indicator that this is more than just entertainment, it is a compulsion.
I only really gamble heavily when I’m angry, I do it to blow off steam. Is this a problem?: It could become a habit which spins out of control and leads to you spending far more than you can afford to. While it may not be a compulsion yet rather don’t tempt fate. Look for healthier ways to express your frustrations and leave the gambling for when you’re in a good mood.
How will I know when I’m spending too much at the casino?: You know how much you can afford to spend at the casino without borrowing money or using cash on credit. If you must pay back the money you’ve spent at the casino with interest, then you shouldn’t have spent it. Only gamble what you can afford to lose.
Can I self-exclude from a casino and then go back to gamble in a month?: Yes, you can, but only if you opted for a temporary self-exclusion as they allow you decided how long a break you need. If you chose a permanent self-exclusion, then the casino is not legally allowed to reopen your account.
What are best ways to gamble responsibly?: The root of a responsible gambling mindset is one where gambling is for entertainment not profit. When you can keep that as your central tenet then the chances of developing problem gambling habits are exceptionally low.
How do I know if my partner has a gambling problem?: Firstly, follow your instincts. You know your partner best, and if you feel there is a problem, you’re most likely correct. In an ideal world check the nine gambling behaviours listed above and discuss them with your partner. If they are in denial reach out to a gambling hotline and find a local counsellor who can walk this road with you.

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Responsible Gambling – How to Play Safe and Spot Problem Behaviours