At its best, gambling is one of the purest forms of entertainment; a competition, between two or more people, on a particular outcome. Will it be red? Will Team A win? Can player X score more points? Will that next card be the Queen of Spades?
Ever since man first got to grips with probability, betting has existed. Will the hunting party catch a mammoth this weekend? I’ll bet you this beautifully knapped Palaeolithic flint axe, they don’t.
In 2005, gambling in the UK was transformed, with the introduction of the Gambling Act 2005. The act enabled online casinos to advertise. It also cleared the way for the development of eight new super casinos.
It balanced this with a swathe of regulation, designed to contain and manage any potential problems.
Winners and Losers
Sadly, for many people, gambling can be a problem. It’s a business that thrives on both winners and losers. If you are on the wrong side of the equation, and trying to chase what you have lost, gambling is no longer fun.
There are many ways to contain, curb, and control problem gambling. At Casino.com, we have a suite of solutions and management tools to help moderate excessive betting, as well as links to support groups and organisations that deal specifically with gambling addiction.
The first step with any addiction is acknowledging that there may be a problem. This simple test from the NHS will help identify any potential problem
Score points, as below, with every answer:
‘Never’ 0 Points
‘Sometimes’ 1 Points
‘Most of the time’ 2 Points
‘Almost always’ 3 Points
- Do you gamble more than you can really afford to lose?
- Do you need to bet with bigger amounts of money to get the same feeling?
- Do you chase losses and try to win back money you have lost?
- Have you ever sold anything or borrowed money to gamble?
- Have you asked yourself honestly, if you might have a problem with gambling?
- Has your gambling made you feel stressed out or anxious?
- Have other people told you that they think you may have a gambling problem?
- Has gambling caused you any financial hardship?
- Do you ever feel guilty about gambling?
If your total is eight or higher, you may be a problem gambler.
Key Points to Remember
There are a few key points to remember when you enjoy a little action at any online casino.
Gambling is a form of entertainment that comes at a cost. You pay to play. You are not going to earn a living as a professional gambler and – if you win – consider it a bonus.
Manage both your money and your time, carefully. Never chase and always stay on top of your bankroll. Stick within your limits.
At Casino.com, we have a range of tools to help you keep within your limits: both in terms of time and money.
You can lock in a daily, weekly, or monthly deposit limits, to ensure you don’t chase a loss. You can set financial restrictions, deposit limits, and cooling off periods.
Leave space between reloads and give yourself time to take stock and cool down. You can find this information here.
Casino.com: 10 Rules of Responsible Gambling
Casino.com has instigated a broad swathe of measures to create a safe and enjoyable online casino environment. The online casino is committed to ensuring that online gambling should be a fun, exciting, and safe form of entertainment.
To this effect, Casino.com has introduced its 10 Rules of Responsible Gambling; a mandate for both the online casino and its players. In a nutshell:
- If you choose to gamble, only ever do it for fun
- Treat your losses as the cost of gambling. Treat your winnings as a bonus
- Keep to a time limit
- Stick to a budget
- Don’t put gambling before your friends or family
- Be self-aware and never ignore any signs of problem gambling
- Never borrow to play
- Keep your gambling in balance with your other activities
- Don’t chase – walk away
- Keep. It. Fun!
The good news is: Casino.com has various tools to help players keep their betting under control. One of the best ways to enjoy some action at the online casino, without getting into any financial trouble, is to set an account limit. By regulating your weekly or monthly deposit limit, you can keep track of your spending. Love playing Online Blackjack? Then just risk £20 a week, or whatever you can afford to lose.
Monitor and Regulate
You can also monitor and access your betting activity. We offer a ‘reality check’. It interrupts your session to tell you exactly how long you have been playing. It’s designed to stop you getting lost in the moment. You can limit your activity to 15, 30, and 60 minutes. Here’s the link.
If these simple tools are still not enough, that leaves only self-exclusion. You basically ban yourself from Casino.com, for anything from six months to five years.
You can also ask your bank to restrict transactions to gaming sites. All the major banks now offer their customers this service.
If you can’t resist an offer and special promotion, you can use software to block gambling sites and gambling related marketing and advertising.
Seek Help
If none of this is working, and you are still gambling beyond your means, you have a problem and should seek help.
Fortunately, there are several organisations that know exactly what you are going through and understand the problem: judgement-free, collaborative, inclusive, shared, and free.
Gambling addiction is a serious problem and something that every responsible online casino takes seriously. They need to; the Gambling Commission in the UK has doled out eye-watering multi-million-pound fines to operators who have failed to safeguard customers.
In January 2022, Genesis Global got hit with a £3.8 million fine for social responsibility and money laundering failures. Two years earlier, Betway had a £11.6 million fine for failing to meet its obligations. In 2020, fines paid by betting companies exceeded £44 million.
In conclusion: having a flutter should be fun. Some you win, some you lose. Walk away with a smile, entertained. Casino.com is committed to secure, responsible, play. We want happy, entertained, customers, not players with a problem.
As the advertising campaign says: when it stops being fun, stop.
