Responsible Gambling

We at BettingTips4You.com believe that gambling should be a fun and enjoyable way to enhance the overall sports experience and are committed to advocating responsible gambling and minimising gambling related harm.

Below are a few top tips taken from GambleAware® which will help you to gamble more safely:

1. Don’t think of gambling as a way to make money
2. Only gamble with money you can afford to lose
3. Set a money limit in advance
4. Set a time limit in advance
5. Never chase your losses
6. Don’t gamble when you’re depressed or upset
7. Balance gambling with other activities
8. Take frequent breaks
9. Don’t drink or use drugs when gambling

Many bookmakers also offer a range of tools designed to help punters with staying in control and protect against gambling related harm. These tools include:

• Deposit Limits – cap the amount you’re able to deposit over a specified time period. Any increases to your deposit limits take 24 hours to be applied which acts as an additional security layer against impulsive gambling.
• Reality Checks – keep tabs on the time you’ve been playing by setting up alerts after a pre-defined time period to notify you how long you’ve been logged in to your account for.
• Account History – view your betting history, including deposits and withdrawals, enabling you to keep an eye on your betting over time.
• Cool-off Period – block access from your account for a set period of time, generally between 1 to 30 days.
• Self Exclusion – take a break from gambling for a longer period of time, such as six months or a number of years. All gambling operators are required by law to offer self-exclusion.

We recommend all punters, regardless of whether you have a problem with gambling, use the first three tools where possible as a proactive measure to keep gambling in-check and enjoyable.

It can often be difficult to identify where responsible gambling ends and problem gabling begins, so how can you recognise when that line has been crossed? Below is a list of signs to look out for that may indicate that a person has a problem with gambling. If you’re still unsure whether your gambling is a problem, you can take this quiz on the GambleAware website to understand more.

• Spending more money and time on gambling than you can afford.
• Finding it hard to manage or stop your gambling.
• Having arguments with family or friends about money and gambling.
• Losing interest in usual activities or hobbies like going out with friends or spending time with family.
• Always thinking or talking about gambling.
• Lying about your gambling or hiding it from other people.
• Chasing losses or gambling to get out of financial trouble.
• Gambling until all of your money is gone.
• Borrowing money, selling possessions or not paying bills in order to pay for gambling.
• Needing to gamble with larger amounts of money or for a longer time to get the same feeling of excitement or buzz.
• Neglecting work, school, family, personal needs or household responsibilities because of gambling.
• Feeling anxious, worried, guilty, depressed or irritable.

Seek Help

If you find yourself breaking any of these rules it is really important that you seek help and the best place to start is by contacting the organisations Gamcare (in Great Britain) or Dunlewey (in Ireland) for confidential help and support.

Gamcare (www.gamcare.org.uk) can be contacted online or by phone on 0808 8020 133 

Dunlewey (dunlewey.net) can be contacted by phone on 08000 886 725 (NI) or 1800 936 725 (ROI)