Gambling is a leisure activity. Whether you or someone you know chooses to gamble, it’s important to understand that gambling comes with potentially serious risks. Because the fact is most people lose when they play the lottery, play a casino game, or place a bet. That’s why you, your family, and your friends should know how to protect yourselves when it comes to problem gambling.
Gamble with money that you set aside for fun, like going to the movies or going out for drinks. Never use money that you need for important things like rent, bills, tuition, etc.
Decide how much money you can afford to lose before you play. When you have lost that amount of money, quit. If you win – enjoy, but remember it won’t happen most of the time.
When played responsibly, gambling can be an enjoyable source of entertainment for adults. But unfortunately it can also be addictive. There are many levels of gambling problems you could be practicing risky behaviors without even realizing it.
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Decide how much time you can afford to spend gambling. When you reach that time limit, stop gambling. To minimize your chances of experiencing problems with gambling, it’s important to know the rules. The following tips can help you stay in control and keep it fun:
1. Gambling businesses must make a summary of their terms and conditions available to you. It is important to read the terms and conditions before you make a decision on which businesses you wish to gamble with and what the risks of gambling are.
2. Online gambling sites have facilities built into them that allow consumers to set a limit on how much they are spending on that site. This can be a useful way for both you as a consumer and for the gambling company to keep spend at a manageable level.
3. Gambling websites must give you access to historic account activity. This means you can request for them to show you exactly when, how much and what you’ve been gambling on over time. This information may help you understand whether you are spending too much time or money gambling.
4. If you think you’re spending too much time gambling, or want help to stop gambling, you can ask to be self-excluded. This is when you ask a gambling operator to stop you from gambling for a period of time. Self-exclusion is an important tool that we require gambling operators to put in place and is available to anyone who wishes to stop gambling for a period of time. An online multi-operator self-exclusion scheme, known as GAMSTOP, has been available since April 2018. To maximise the protections available to you, all licensed online gambling operators are required to participate in the scheme from 31 March 2020.
Written by Mike Granson