Gambling responsibly

Decide your limits before you play

A limit only works if you set it while you are calm and not midway through a session. Before you open a game, decide what you can afford to spend and treat that amount as the cost of the entertainment, not as money in transit to somewhere else. If the figure you have in mind would hurt to lose in full, it is too high. A return figure quoted for any game is a long-run average across enormous numbers of spins; it says nothing about what one session will do, and no limit changes that.

Most cashiers and account settings let you cap deposits and place a break on your play, and it helps to set both. A deposit limit decides how much can go in; a session reminder or time-out decides how long you sit there. Set them before your first spin rather than after a bad run, and change them only in the direction that gives you less access, not more. If you find yourself wanting to raise a limit the same day you set it, that is worth noticing.

Recognising the urge to win it back

Chasing is the belief that one more spin, one more deposit, or a bigger stake will put things right. It usually looks like this: you are down, the plan to stop has gone quiet, and the money going in is money you had already decided not to spend. It can also look like playing past a limit you set for yourself, borrowing to keep going, or hiding what you have spent from people close to you. None of these are unusual, and none of them mean you are weak.

The trap is structural rather than personal. Every spin is independent, so a run of losses does not make a win more likely, and no pattern of play makes a game pay. A short session tells you nothing about what the game will do next. If you notice the urge to win it back, the plainest thing to do is stop the session and leave the money alone for a while. Taking a break costs nothing; chasing has a price.

Help in Australia

If gambling is causing you worry, you do not have to work out what to do on your own. Gambling Help Online offers free and confidential counselling and support, including chat and email, and it is there for the person gambling as well as for family and friends. Reaching out early is easier than waiting for things to get worse, and it does not commit you to anything.

BetStop is the national self-exclusion register, and it lets you block yourself from gambling services for a period you choose. Signing up means you cannot open new accounts or keep using existing ones with participating providers while the exclusion runs. If you would like our partner to stop marketing to you, use the contact details on this site, and the site's help services are listed separately on this page.

Can I set a deposit limit after I have already opened an account?

Deposit and session limits are usually set in your account settings, and you can put them in place at any time rather than only at sign-up. Lowering a limit is generally applied straight away, while increases often take time to come into effect, which is deliberate.

What should I do if I have already chased losses?

Stop the session and step away, then look at what you spent rather than at what you hoped to win back. Gambling Help Online offers free, confidential support, and BetStop can block you from gambling services while you decide what comes next.