Responsible Gambling

What Is Gambling Addiction?

Responsible gambling is a set of social responsibility practices to promote awareness of gambling-related harms regulated by the gaming industry, governments, game control commissions, operators (e.g. casinos), and suppliers.
Moreover, non-profit organizations, such as Connex Ontario, have recently taken up the responsibility of managing gambling facilitation. Generally, all these stakeholders and organizations aim to minimize gambling-related harm. In this direction, they first try to increase the problem awareness and contain a series of restrictions to eliminate the problem. For example:

• ?? Players can limit the amount of time for the games they play. This is usually possible using the time limit, or time-out features the casino or gambling platform offers.
• ?? Players can limit the amount they can deposit on the platform within a particular period and also restrict how much they can wager using the site’s deposit or bet limits.
• ?? Players can request to close their accounts temporarily for up to six months using the self-exclusion feature. They can also permanently close their accounts by contacting support or following the procedure.
• ?? Players can restrict the types of games they can play.
• ?? Usage of any gambling platform’s services must be restricted from underage participants by confirming users are over the jurisdiction’s legal gambling age.
• ?? Players can take a self-assessment test to determine what harmful gambling habits they may be indulging in. They can also request a report of their transactions and betting history for better assessment.

In line with responsible gambling practices, operators (bookmakers and casino sites) must offer such self-exclusion features to their members. Agencies such as UKGC have made this a licence requirement, meaning that operators who do not offer self-exclusion tools cannot obtain the UKGC licence. But responsible gaming is more than a set of restrictions. They also include the following applications:

• Prevent underage gambling. The most important rule of responsible gaming is that minors must be prevented from the activity. Even operators without a licence must obey this rule.
• Prevent fraudulent behaviour. Responsible gambling practices include anti-money laundering measures and KYC procedures. It means their goal is not only to prevent gambling addiction but also to ensure the security of the gambling environment.
• Ethical marketing. This means that the ads of operators cannot be misleading or encouraging. For example, bonus promotions may not be sent to minors, or a bonus may not be unethically marketed.

Responsible gambling practices have a wide scope, and everyone in this industry must comply with them according to their roles. In this context, we declare that we will also comply with these practices, work towards safer gambling, and take the necessary measures to ensure our users can avoid gambling-related harms.

What Is Problem Gambling?

We always aim to provide a fun, enjoyable, safe gaming experience. However, even the most enjoyable experiences can turn into an addiction if not paid due attention. Gambling disorder (problem gambling) defines behaviour in a continuous manner that causes impairment in functionality. Problem gambling, an addiction affecting individuals and society, can lead to substantial financial losses and family breakdowns.
Problem gambling was first described as a clinical diagnosis in 1980. Not all gamblers develop an addiction. Some gamble for recreational purposes only as a social act and may be self-limiting. Problem gambling is defined as playing with increasing frequency and higher stakes despite harmful consequences. In gambling addiction, players connect their earnings to their special abilities and blame bad luck for the losses. Moreover, they keep playing regardless of whether they win or lose.
The term gambling does not only cover games played in casinos. Horse races, games of chance or card games played by placing bets are also included in this group. The earlier you start engaging in the activity, the higher the risk of developing an addiction. Since gambling addiction does not give any physical symptoms, it takes time to be appropriately diagnosed.
Everything begins with the person making a big win. After this win, this player constantly dreams that he will win bigger prizes and his confidence increases. When the imagined win is not achieved, the person cannot tolerate the loss and continues to play with more money. He can sell all his assets to find money in this losing phase and/or completely lose control. The problems with work and family increase, and they can even commit illegal acts. In the last stage, the awareness that the losses will never be replaced comes. In this phase, additional problems and gambling-related harms arise, such as divorce and alcohol abuse.

Symptoms of Gambling Addiction

If you are concerned about your gaming habits and want to gamble safely, take a look at these questions, and notice how many of them describe you:

1. Have you ever given up work or school time to gamble?
2. Have you ever neglected your daily work to gamble?
3. Has gambling ever caused problems in your family life?
4. Has gambling affected your personal reputation?
5. Have you ever lied to hide your time spent playing games or money lost?
6. Have you ever gambled to earn enough money to pay off your debt or solve your financial difficulties?
7. Have you ever felt that you need to get back to playing and regain your losses as soon as possible after you lose?
8. Did you feel a strong urge to keep playing and earn more even after winning?
9. Do you often gamble until you run out of money?
10. Have you ever borrowed or sold anything to find money to gamble?
11. Has gambling made you careless about your well-being or your family’s well-being?
12. Have you ever taken or thought about doing an illegal act to find money to gamble?
13. Do you feel an urge to gamble after arguments, disappointments, or stress?

The more of these questions you answer “yes”, the more serious your problem is. Below you will find information about the tools that you can use to control your gaming habits, as well as organizations that can provide you with assistance and support.

How to Stop Gambling Addiction?

In studies conducted in the treatment of gambling addiction, partial efficacy of drug treatments has been observed. In the presence of additional psychiatric disorders, the effectiveness of drug treatments increases. Among psychotherapies, especially cognitive behavioural therapy, motivational interviews and self-help groups (i.e. Gamblers Anonymous) have been shown to be effective.
In addition, restricting access to financial resources (cancellation of credit cards, not carrying cash, etc.) may prevent people from continuing their gambling behaviour. Moreover, getting help from groups such as Gamblers Anonymous and participating in group therapies can also be helpful for safer gambling.

How to Avoid Gambling-Related Harm?

Preventing addiction altogether is the best way to go as regards gambling. Here are a couple of tips for safer gambling:

• Remember that gambling is not a method to make money;
• Do not gamble with money you cannot afford to lose;
• If you are in a bad mood, do not gamble. Likewise, do not gamble when drunk;
• Do not let gambling become your only hobby;
• Do not try to win more by using strategies in casino games. Most of these strategies cause you to lose more in the long run;
• There are a number of responsible gambling tools you can use to control your habits on online casinos and bookmaker sites. These responsible gambling tools will help you set limits for yourself, take a break, and/or exclude yourself from the site if necessary;
• The first step to gamble safely is knowing how much you can spend and can afford to lose. Setting limits for both will help you stay in control. Therefore, start by setting limits for your deposits, bets, and losses. Typically, you can set daily (renewed every 24 hours), weekly, or monthly limits for each option;
• It can also be helpful to plan your playtime and track your time on a site. To help you with this, most operators offer real-life reminder gambling tools displayed at regular intervals, allowing you to track the time you spend on the site.

If you think you need to take a break for a while, you can request it from your operator. Your account will be temporarily suspended for the duration of your request. Your account is automatically unlocked when the break period expires.

Protect Minors from Underage Gambling

It is against our rules for people under the age of 19 to play games on our site. We do everything we can to make sure all players on our website are of age. In addition to these efforts, we emphasize that parents also have a responsibility to prevent minors from playing casino games, and we encourage all parents to take the necessary measures to protect minors from underage gambling. In this regard:

• You can use gambling blocking software and several gambling tools such as NetNanny, GamBlock, and GamBan to prevent children under your care from accessing inappropriate sites.
• Do not leave children unattended near a computer or other device that they can use to access casino sites.
• Protect your account username and password on online casino sites. Do not use the ‘Save Password’ option when logging into the casino, and always log out of the site when you finish playing.
• Keep your credit and/or debit cards out of the reach of minors, and do not share your banking information with them.

Gambling Blocking Software

There are many gambling tools that you can use to both prevent underage gambling and get a safer gambling experience. The most effective of these tools is the gambling-blocking software. This software can be used to minimize gambling-related harm and/or block access to certain sites altogether.
Perhaps this is the most important of the tips for safer gambling. If you are worried about your kids visiting casino sites, use gambling tools that can block them. There is gambling-blocking software that you can use completely free of charge. Gamban, GamBlock, BetFILter, BetBlocker, and Net Nanny are the most popular of these.

Responsible Gambling Resources

Outside management via preventive and corrective tools, a host of responsible gambling resources is available. If you need help or have any enquiries, you may reach out to one of the following agencies and organizations:

• Responsible Gambling Council: Contact at +1-416-499-9800;
• Connex Ontario: Reach out at +1-866-531-2600;
• Center for Addiction and Mental Health: Place a call toll-free at +1-800-463-2338;
• Canada Safety Council: Visit their official website for your province’s helpline;
• Canadian Center on Substance Use and Addiction: Call toll-free at +1-833-235-4048.