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Responsible Gambling
Legal online casinos are entertaining, but it's important to practice responsible gambling. Learn about the tools and resources available to help you do just that.
Practicing responsible gambling is essential when playing at legal online casinos and sportsbooks in the US. Understanding how to use betting limits and essential safeguards is the best way to prevent problem gambling and keep your experience entertaining.
To ensure online gambling remains fun and safe, licensed operators and industry experts advise adopting responsible betting behaviors. You can effectively guard against dangerous betting habits by setting strict limits, utilizing cool-off periods, and taking regular breaks.
Below, I break down the difference between responsible and problem gambling, highlighting the key tools and resources operators and state regulators provide to help you play safely. Additional resources can be found at the bottom of this guide.
What is responsible gambling?
Responsible gambling is all about staying within your limits while understanding that gambling is for entertainment. Therefore, it is not a reliable source of income.
The goal of responsible gambling is to keep healthy habits and prevent betting from interfering with daily life. This involves setting daily caps on deposits, losses, and time spent playing.
Simply put: Responsible gambling means taking breaks and only gambling with money you know you can afford to lose. It's about building good habits and understanding when and how to step away if you feel yourself losing control over your spending.
What is problem gambling?
According to the American Psychiatric Association, problem gambling is defined as an inability to control gambling behavior, which leads to significant distress in one's personal life.
Gambling can become compulsive, so much so that you begin betting with money you cannot afford to spend. It can also begin to interfere with your personal and work life.
As the Mayo Clinic describes it, problem gambling, which is also termed compulsive gambling or gambling disorder, is the "uncontrollable urge" to keep gambling despite the toll it takes on your life.
What are the signs of problem gambling?
Problem gambling can be difficult to diagnose, but some tell-tale signs could indicate you or someone you know is suffering from the condition.
This section provides a checklist of behaviors, as detailed by the Mayo Clinic. Use it to compare the gambling habits of yourself or someone you know.
- Preoccupation with gambling: Frequently planning gambling-related activities or brainstorming the best ways to fund online casino or sports betting habits.
- Increased wagering amounts: Needing to place larger bets to reach the same level of desired experience.
- Inability to stop: Making unsuccessful attempts to control, cut back, or stop gambling.
- Restlessness or irritability: Experiencing mood changes when you try to cut down on gambling activities.
- Gambling to escape problems: Trying to relieve feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety, or depression.
- Chasing: Attempting to recover lost money by gambling more, otherwise known as "chasing losses."
- Lying to family members, friends, and others about the extent of your gambling habits.
- Personal losses: Risking or losing relationships, jobs, or other opportunities as a result of gambling.
- Loans: Asking others to lend you money or assist financially because you gambled your money away.
Financial signals of problem gambling
As shown above, there is more to problem gambling than financial stress. As the National Council on Problem Gambling puts it, the amount of money won or lost does not determine when gambling becomes problematic.
That said, as you can see in the above list, financial indicators can signal a potential disorder.
- Increasing debt: This can include maxing out credit cards or taking out loans to help fund your gambling habit.
- Unpaid bills: Unable to pay for essential items such as rent or utilities due to low funds as a result of gambling.
- Hiding financial problems: Secretive about your monetary issues, such as bank account balances. Dipping into your savings or retirement and hiding unusual spending patterns from family and friends are also indicators.
- Asking for loans: Borrowing money from friends, family, or loan agencies to fund your gambling habit.
- Liquidating assets: Pawning personal items or facing property repossession or foreclosure as a result of financial strain caused by gambling.
- Increased wagers: Betting amounts rise in hopes of capturing the same thrill of gambling.
How to set limits on your gambling
Legal online casinos and sportsbooks across the United States offer a variety of tools that allow players to set limits on their gambling.
These guardrails are used to perpetuate the practice of responsible gambling. Legal online gambling must remain an entertaining hobby rather than a source of income that can become problematic.
Any licensed online casino or sportsbook must adhere to state guidelines that emphasize responsible gambling. As such, in any jurisdiction that features state-regulated online gambling, you should be able to find some variation of the following features with any iGaming operator.
- Deposit limits: Set how much you prefer to place into your account per day, week or month.
- Loss limits: Set daily, weekly, or monthly constraints on how much you can afford to lose.
- Wager limits: Set restraints on how much you are willing to wager each day, week, or month.
- Time limits: Determine how much time you allow yourself to gamble each day, ranging from one to 23 hours.
- Cooling-off periods: Also known as "time-outs" with some operators, you can essentially block yourself from making deposits or wagers for a predetermined period of time that varies by operator. You cannot reverse the decision.
- Reality checks: Most operators implement this tool, which is essentially a pop-up alert that appears on the screen and lets you know how long you've been gambling.
- Account tracking: You can also look into the history of your gambling activity to see how long you've spent playing and how much money you've deposited and wagered. This can paint a picture of your gambling activity to help determine whether a potential problem is brewing.
Self-exclusion options are another key safety measure. Each licensed online casino and sportsbook offers you the option to place yourself on a self-exclusion list, which you can access through your account. State gaming regulators also offer exclusion options that block you from all licensed operators in the state.
Similar to cooling-off periods and time-outs, you must wait out the time period outlined in the self-exclusion before applying for reinstatement.
While you are self-excluded, you are unable to participate in the gambling activity and will be blocked from using the website or application. Operators and states have processes for removing your self-imposed restrictions.
Assessing your gambling habits with the PGSI
One of the most cited self-assessments for gambling habits is the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI).
The PGSI allows for clinicians to distinguish between non-problematic/recreational gamblers and those who may be at risk of developing (or who already suffer from) problem gambling.
You are taken through nine questions, each of which you must provide an answer accompanied by a preset number of points: Never (0), Sometimes (1), Most of the time (2), or Always (3).
When thinking about your gambling behavior over the past 12 months:
- Have you bet more than you can afford to lose?
- Have you needed to gamble with larger amounts of money to get the same feeling of excitement?
- Have you gone back on another day to try to win back the money you lost?
- Have you borrowed money or sold anything to gamble?
- Have you felt that you might have a problem with gambling?
- Have people criticized your betting or told you that you had a gambling problem, whether or not you thought it was true?
- Have you felt guilty about the way you gamble or what happens when you gamble?
- Has gambling caused you any health problems, including stress or anxiety?
- Has your gambling caused any financial problems for you or your household?
PGSI Scoring Index
At the end of the questionnaire, you add up the points and compare the total with the designation:
- 0 = No risk
- 1-4 = Low risk
- 5-7 = Moderate risk
- 8+ = Problematic gambler
Resources to seek help for problem gambling
If you or someone you know has shown signs of problem gambling, understand that you are not alone. In fact, according to the National Council on Problem Gambling, more than 10 million adults in the United States meet the criteria for moderate or severe gambling problems.
Fortunately, there are plenty of resources that are at your disposal at no cost.
Organization | Phone | Website |
National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) | 1-800-MY-RESET | |
Gamblers Anonymous | 855-222-5542 | |
GamTalk | N/A | |
International Center for Responsible Gaming (ICRG) | 978-338-6610 | |
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) | 1-800-662-4357 | |
Michigan Association on Problem Gambling | 1-800-MY-RESET | |
Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey | 1-800-MY-RESET | |
Council on Compulsive Gambling of Pennsylvania | 1-800-MY-RESET |
Live chat options
If you prefer the online live chat option, you can find three great options via the National Council on Problem Gambling, GamTalk, and the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey. All three offer around-the-clock assistance via live chat.
Responsible gaming resources in Canada
Must be 18+ or the age of majority in your province or territory of residence to participate (19+ in Ontario). Please play responsibly.
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, support is available through local responsible gaming resources, including ConnexOntario for residents of Ontario and Alberta Health Services for residents of Alberta.
Availability of online casino services may vary by province or territory and is subject to applicable laws and regulatory approvals.
Written by Grant Lucas
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