Staying in control, and where to get free help
Gambling is entertainment that costs money. It is not income, not a way out of a shortfall and not a skill you can sharpen against a random number generator. This page covers the tools every licensed site must give you, the signs worth taking seriously, and the UK services that help for free.
Free UK support, directly
These four are the ones to bookmark. None of them charges, none of them is run by an operator, and none of them requires you to be in crisis before you make contact.
GAMSTOP
One free registration blocks every online operator licensed in Great Britain for six months, one year or five years.
GamCare
Runs the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133, free and open every day, with live chat and treatment referrals.
GambleAware
Independent advice, self-assessment tools and a directory of local support for you or for someone you are worried about.
Gambling Commission
The regulator: consumer guidance, your rights, and the public register where any operator's licence can be checked.
The tools every licensed site has to offer
They are in account settings, they take a minute, and they work better set in advance than in the middle of a bad session. A reduction takes effect immediately; an increase does not, by design.
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Set a deposit limit before your first game
Daily, weekly or monthly. Choose the figure you would be comfortable losing entirely, because that is what the limit is for.
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Use reality checks and a session reminder
A pop-up every thirty minutes showing time and spend breaks the trance a fast game creates. Slots in Great Britain must display both anyway.
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Take a time-out, or self-exclude
Time-outs run from a day to six weeks and lock the account. Self-exclusion runs longer and cannot be undone early. GAMSTOP applies the same idea across every licensed site at once.
Worth knowing
- Most UK banks can block gambling transactions on request, usually with a delay before the block can be lifted.
- Blocking software such as Gamban or BetBlocker covers the devices themselves rather than individual accounts.
- Operators must not send marketing to a self-excluded customer, and must remove you from mailing lists on request.
- Credit cards cannot be used to gamble online in Great Britain.
Signs it is worth pausing
None of these needs to be dramatic to matter. The common thread is gambling deciding things it has no business deciding.
- Staking more than you planned, or returning to recover what you have already lost.
- Playing for longer than intended, or at times you had told yourself you wouldn't.
- Borrowing, moving money between accounts, or gambling with money set aside for something else.
- Hiding the extent of it from people close to you.
- Relief or irritability tied to whether you can play, rather than to what happened when you did.
- Thinking of it as a way to make money — the point at which the maths is guaranteed to disappoint.
If several of those look familiar, the helpline number above is the right next step, and a GAMSTOP registration removes the immediate temptation while you take it. Support is free, confidential and available whether or not you think the problem is serious yet.
Where this site stands
UK Table Compare is affiliate-funded, which means we are paid when readers open accounts. We would rather say plainly that this page exists because the risk is real, not because a rule requires it: we list only operators licensed in Great Britain, we publish no promotional claims about winning, and we would sooner lose a click than help someone gamble money they need. If you are self-excluded, please close this page — nothing here is meant for you, and the links are not worth the risk of a relapse.
18+ only. Gambling can be addictive and is never a solution to financial difficulty. This page is general information, not clinical or financial advice. If you are in crisis in the UK, Samaritans can be reached free on 116 123 at any hour.