Responsible Gambling: Helping you to Gamble Responsibly

Responsible gambling applies proven practices to limit the impact of gambling on online and offline users. It is an effort of the responsible parties to protect minors and vulnerable players from getting too involved in related activities. This can be accomplished by providing expert and anonymous counsel or restrictive services.

Dedicated gambling operators provide a number of tools for self-assessment and self-exclusion. Gaming sessions can be tracked and limited, while Reality Check features become more widespread. Our role and aim in this endeavour is to provide useful information to all readers on how to prevent compulsive gaming behaviour!

How Do You Know If You Have a Problem?

According to PENN Entertainment, identifying that a problem exists is the first step to overcoming it. Often, patrons are too used to their moods and define them as normal, which prevents them from objectively assessing the situation. Honest answers to the following questions will most definitely help!

Read carefully the following lines and take your time to answer for you or everyone you know he or she might have a gambling problem. If there is at least one “Yes”, you should consider seeking professional advice for yourself and your loved one:

Have you often gambled longer than you had planned?
Have you often gambled until your last dollar was gone?
Do thoughts of gambling cause you to lose sleep?
Have you used your income or savings to gamble while letting bills go unpaid?
Have you made repeated, unsuccessful attempts to stop gambling?
Have you broken the law or considered breaking the law to finance your gambling?
Have you borrowed money to finance your gambling?
Have you felt depressed or suicidal because of your gambling losses?
Have you been remorseful after gambling?
Have you ever gambled to get money to meet your financial obligations?

Responsible Gambling Tips

Recognize the High Risks of Gambling

Patrons should be aware of the existing risk when they play gambling games for real money. Realising the possibly negative outcomes of play will help you set boundaries and watch for mood swings. The risks do not only refer to financial loss but also to mental changes and addiction.

Set Budget Limits and Deposit Limits

Setting limits is an effective way to stay safe! We highly recommend playing with a budget; you can afford to lose and not chase any potential losses. The deposit limits, on the other hand, will help you stay in control. All top casino operators offer both types of tools as part of their Responsible Gambling arsenal.

Establish Time Limits for Gambling

Session Limit is another effective tool that will help you track your playtime. Usually, it can be adjusted to be from 15 minutes to an hour or several hours. In case your favourite casino site doesn’t have it, you can use your own digital devices to self-exclude yourself for a certain period of time.

Cooling Off Period

Gambling can be a source of incredible emotions, and that’s why so many patrons choose it as their favourite way to have fun. However, you might feel overheated from time to time, and the cooling-off features will help you get back in shape. During the Cooling Off period, players can’t access their accounts, and thus, they will stay away from any gambling activities.

Self-Exclusion

A bit extreme but, in many cases, a necessary measure! Top operators offer partial or full self-exclusion policies to their members. The partial self-exclusion is very similar to the Cooling Off, while the full exclusion is for a longer period of time or permanently. Patrons who have activated this tool are included in a special register, so they can’t sign up with new operators.

Follow Your Transaction History

You can keep a close track on your bank statements and see how much you spend every month for this kind of activity. If your gambling expenditure is higher than a specific percentage you are obligated to set, then this might be a clear sign that you need professional help.

Ensure Gambling Does Not Impact Your Life

Mixing gambling with your everyday activities, like taking care of your family or going to work, might be dangerous in the long run. Make sure that you spend the same time with your loved ones and colleagues as you did before. Otherwise, it might be a time for change!

Avoid Chasing Losses

As I already mentioned, chasing any losses is a bad decision. Ideally, you will work within a tight budget and a strategy selected in advance. Even if you miss a checkpoint or lose a big chunk of money, do not try to win them back by betting larger amounts. This might cause you a bigger financial loss and frustration that eventually leads to addiction!

Learn Rules and Strategies

The wisest approach to any pokie or casino game, in general, is after learning the respective rules. You can play the free demo versions and build sustainable betting strategies. This won’t guarantee a win, but it will help you optimise your performance and will reduce your reliance on luck.

Gamble Only With Money You Are Willing to Lose

By thumb of the rule, gamblers should risk only money they are ready to lose! Loaning money to play casino games is a massive red flag, and if you even consider such an action, you must seek professional guidance. Budgeting will help you avoid such situations!

Have a Bankroll Strategy

This tip is related to others and can be considered part of a betting strategy. Seasoned gamblers only bet a specific percentage of their remaining balances. So, if you can no longer follow your strategy due to low resources, that would be a clear sign to stop for today!

Have the Right Mindset

Gambling addiction and compulsive play are states of mind, and that is what makes them so dangerous. If you approach your new gaming session in the right mood, you won’t have a problem stopping or accepting your wins and losses. You need to keep your emotions cool and under control and play mostly for fun!

Learn to Walk Away

The thrill of “one more” spin or hand is huge, but you really need to know how to recognise the perfect moment to go. Remember, there will be another way and another session that might be more lucrative than the current one. Set your limits, and when you hit one, walk away!

Seek Help if Needed

Last but not least, professional help is not a sign of weakness! On the contrary, seeking advice shows that you are mature and that you’ve reached the point to realise a problem exists. There are many organisations in New Zealand dedicated to helping gamblers who face issues and lack of selfcontrol.

Finding Reputable Online Casinos

We are committed to finding and offering only the most reliable online casinos to our patrons. In order to remain on the safe side, you need to learn how to find trustworthy operators. Reputation is fragile, and top companies invest a lot in keeping their customers happy and spreading the good news!

Fraudulent entities do not care and do not have the resources to keep their reputation high. Therefore, you can save a lot of trouble by simply following our guide to the most reputable casino sites. Besides applying good practices, they are dedicated to responsible gambling and provide valuable features.

Industry-recognised Auditing and Licencing Bodies

Auditors are crucial for today’s online gambling market, as they deliver a certain level of trustworthiness. Agencies like eCogra, iTech Labs, GLI, and BMM independently test all verified casino games and provide monthly, quarterly, or annual reports. Once being an extra, now, they are critical for operators!

Audits are part of complex policies applied by the most reputable regulators and licensing bodies. The UK Gambling Commission and the Malta Gaming Authority have established themselves as strict but fair guardians of safe gaming locally and worldwide. Other effective regulators are the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, Gibraltar’s Gaming Commissioner, and the Government of Curacao.

Dealing with Gambling Addiction

Luckily, nowadays, we know much more about gambling addiction, and companies have developed ways to protect players. As explained before in this guide, releasing the problem and searching for professional help are key pillars. Patrons have various ways to control their time spent with gambling activities.

Deposit and wagering limits, cooling-off features, and self-exclusion have proven to be effective up to a certain extent. But it’s crucial for a player to want to do the right thing. So, the right mindset and help from internal and external sources are connected with each other.

Gambling Addiction Affects the Entire Family

Gamblers should know that the problems they might experience affect their whole household. This could be rapid changes in mood, decreased time spent with your loved ones, and heavy financial losses. Gambling can have devastating effects on minors or seniors struggling with other addictions, such as excessive alcohol consumption and smoking.

Research, Education, and Treatment

Plenty of programs and documents against gambling addiction are available online. Nowadays, mutual aid groups are organised online and offline, allowing users to remain anonymous but share the issues they face daily. Moreover, the help gambling organisations provide plenty of educational webinars.

There is no need to wait and find yourself in such a situation. Prevention is key as with most general addictive activities, including drugs and alcohol. Therefore, more major gambling operators also run special programs to educate their members and increase awareness.

Government’s Strategy to Prevent and Minimise Gambling Harm

This is the latest strategy document released by the New Zealand Ministry of Health. It covers the time period from 2022/23 to 2024/25 and is to provide mechanisms for funding aid services. This is in relation to the NZ Gambling Act from 2003, which requires the government to propose strategies every 3 years.

The final goal is to decrease the harm that gambling could cause to individuals involved directly or indirectly. Some of the identified issues that may arise from such a behaviour are financial problems, poor parenting, problems at work, alcohol abuse, and spikes in mental health problems.