Responsible gambling is a large part of the gambling industry. Online sportsbooks and casinos take several precautions to ensure their users know all about the measures they can put into place to stop gambling addiction and get things under control. Gambling responsibly can result in bets being fun, enjoyable, and profitable for yourself. This can stop gambling from becoming a negative aspect of your life. On this page, you learn how to practice responsible gambling, and tell you about everything you can do to steer clear of gambling addiction and what you can do to help yourself.
There are many players out there who are in denial about their gambling addiction and think it’s an everyday thing to gamble without control. There are cases where individuals who bet their entire paycheck throughout the month are left with hardly any funds to have a decent social life or even pay for essential foods required. So how do you spot that you have a gambling addiction? There are a few telltale signs you can look out for, including:
Many people may be reading this article to find out about gambling addiction and what you can do to stop it. So let’s assume you suspect yourself to have a gambling addiction. There are a few things you can do to try and see if you feel this way. Firstly check the bullet points above. If you’ve ticked more than half of those points you’re likely suffering from it.
The next thing you can do is ask your family and close friends if they suspect you have a gambling addiction by opening up to them and seeing what their opinions are on the matter. If they do think you’re addicted, and you feel the same, what’s the next thing you can do about it? There are several things you can do to stop addiction, and we will go through every point for you in the next section.
This is the most obvious thing to start with as an addict. A gambling addiction can put stress on your mental health. A specialist who can help you through these hard times can be a mirror of hope. The professionals don’t judge those who are gambling high sums of money and are simply there to assist people in getting on the right track and living life to the fullest.
If you don’t want to give up gambling entirely and still want to play for fun now and again, set yourself a monthly budget. Make this budget based on your salary and how much you're willing to lose. For instance, if you make a monthly wage of $2,000, only use around 5 — 10% of this to gamble. That means you have around $100 — $200 to use per month, and it won’t have any negative connotations on your regular life.
The best part about budgeting is knowing that you’ll have some money set aside from your paycheck to use at the online sportsbooks. To budget $200 monthly can be done easily. Just divide $200 by 4, and you’ll have $50 to gamble. This seems more than enough for someone who’s looking to bet for fun.
As mentioned before, gambling can affect the social lives and relationships of many people. Setting a time limit that you’re allowed on the website can really reduce the hours you spend placing bets. You can set all sorts of time limits, by simply going to the account page and then clicking on the responsible gambling link. Here, you can set time limits anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours. The time limit is entirely up to you.
There are two types of money limits you can put forward. These can include:
Both limits can be set at the responsible gambling section of online sportsbooks and casinos. We recommend setting lower limits to ensure you don’t gamble away large sums of money.
Self-exclusion is giving all the power in your hands. This is an option that stops you from signing in to your account for a chosen period of time, hence, the name self-exclusion. Self-exclusion limits can range from days all that way to years depending on how much time you want off from gambling. There is also an option to permanently exclude yourself from the online sportsbook.
The good thing about self-exclusions is that sister websites will also self exclude you, meaning you can't create an account and gamble elsewhere.
There are different gambling hotlines to use per state. Here’s a list of a few states and the gambling hotlines you can call:
