The Gambling Commission requires businesses across the industry to promote responsible gambling, and can take action against those that fail to do so.
As a result, every licensed online casino in Great Britain includes a page dedicated to responsible gambling. This covers the various player protection tools available on the site to help you stay in control.
What tools can you expect to find at licensed online gambling sites, and what benefits do they offer? In this guide, we will explain the different options available and how they facilitate safer gambling.
Our recommended online gambling sites in the UK.
Online Casino Responsible Gambling Tools
Deposit Limits
Gambling sites allow you to set a daily, weekly, and monthly deposit limit. This is designed to help you stay within your gambling budget and avoid wagering money that you cannot afford to lose.
When increasing a deposit limit, changes may require up to 24 hours to take effect. But decreased limits are generally processed right away.
Cooling-Off Period
A cooling-off period is a simple way to take a short break from gambling online. These span between 24 hours and 6 weeks, and apply to one gambling site only.
Reality Check
Self-exclusion Periods
Self-exclusion periods are similar to cooling-off periods, but cover more time — they may last up to 5 years. Crucially, these prevent you from using your account on all sites operating under the same licence.
During this time, you will be unable to make a deposit or gamble at the affected sites. You will not receive marketing materials from any of those sites, either.
If you want to reactivate your account, you may contact a casino’s customer support team to request access (but only after the first 180 days of self-exclusion have passed).
Reality Checks
Otherwise known as a Game Status Reminder, a Reality Check is a message displayed after a certain amount of time (e.g. 30 minutes) has passed since you started playing a game. You can choose the time that must elapse before a message appears.
A Reality Check reminds you how long you spend on games, which may prevent you from losing track of time and spending longer than intended at casinos.
Self-Assessment Test
Self-Assessment Test
Online gambling sites typically include a link to a self-assessment test. This is a quick, simple test featuring a series of questions about your gambling activities. Just make your way down the form clicking ‘yes’ or ‘no’ as required, then submit it.
Completing a self-assessment test may help you recognise whether gambling has become a problem or remains a safe pastime you have control over.
SafeMate
SafeMate is a comprehensive responsible gambling tool designed to help you monitor your betting. It provides information on the following areas:
- Playing Behaviour — Find out how much time you have played games for, your deposits, your withdrawals, and cumulative spending over time.
- Game Types — Track your wagering across multiple game types, from slots to live-dealer titles.
- Risk Score — Check your gambling risk score, based on your activity and overall betting. This can indicate whether you are likely to have an issue with gambling, and may help you stay in control.
- Messages — Create customised alerts to report activity that you may want to know about.
At numerous online gambling sites, you will find the SafeMate tool in the account management section or main menu.
GamStop
GamStop is a self-exclusion service that blocks you from creating new casino accounts and signing into existing ones.
This applies to all licensed gambling businesses providing online services across Great Britain. You may block yourself for six months, one year, or five years.
Conclusion
Promoting responsible gambling is critical to help players stay in control, limit the amount of time they spend at online casinos, and stick to their betting budget. The tools covered above are easy to use and can be an effective way to play safely.
If you want to find reputable online gambling sites with comprehensive player protection tools, Gambling Zone provides expert information and advice on the best places to play in the UK. For your peace of mind, we only recommend sites that are fully licensed and regulated.
