Top Responsible Gambling Tools and Strategies for a Safer iGaming Experience
Gambling is an exciting form of entertainment for many that serves as a welcome distraction from daily routine while offering the possibility of winning money. However, the thrill of potential monetary rewards and the adrenaline rush of winning money can sometimes become the primary driver, leading to excessive gambling. The desire for financial gain drives bettors to engage in online gambling at ever increasing frequency even despite mounting losses instead of desired winnings. Many gamblers struggle with maintaining control over their gambling activities.
If you find yourself spending more and more time gambling while your losses exceed your winnings, you are not alone in wondering how to rein in your gambling activities.
Self-discipline is the essence of responsible gambling strategies that have proven successful in that endeavor. The key is to decide how much time and money you are willing to allocate to gambling, and then adhere to your decision by monitoring your gambling activity and suspending it as you hit the time or money limits you set.
Responsible Gambling Strategies and Tools
All strategies that help keep gambling activity within acceptable boundaries fall into three broad categories: monitoring gambling activity, setting money and time limits, and voluntarily suspending online gambling. These strategies are implemented through appropriate tools.
Reality Checks
Reality checks are periodic reminders that pop up during gambling sessions. They are a tool that serves the purpose of keeping players aware of how long they have been playing and how much they have spent or lost.
Reality checks help you detect signs of emerging excessive gambling activity. Once you become aware you are developing excessive gambling habits, you can take action before they grow into a problem. iGaming sites committed to responsible gambling offer this feature. Many sports betting platforms integrate reality checks as part of their responsible gambling policies, ensuring that players maintain control over their gaming habits while enjoying a secure betting environment. It is advisable to activate it in your account settings and use the reports to make informed decisions about whether to continue playing or take a break.
Gambling Calculator
Another tool that can contribute to enhancing your awareness of gambling-related expenses is the gambling calculator. Also known as a spend calculator, this tool provides a clearer picture of the time and money spent on gambling. It is worth taking advantage of this tool to assess your gaming habits if your iGaming operator offers it.
Deposit Limits
Deposit limits allow players to set a maximum amount of money that can be added to a betting account within a specific timeframe, such as daily, weekly, or monthly. Many gambling sites offer this tool to help players stay in control of their gambling by limiting the amount of money they can deposit into their account. Limits can typically be lowered at any time, but increases usually require a cooling-off period to prevent impulsive decisions. Deposit limits ensure that players don't exceed their gambling budget.
Studies show they are an effective way for players to stay in control and enjoy a safe and secure gambling experience: bettors who set deposit limits are significantly less likely to exceed their gambling budget compared to those who do not set such limits.
Time Limits
Time restrictions are another responsible gambling feature that allows players to directly manage the duration of their betting sessions. Deposit limits achieve the same goal indirectly through funding restriction, while time limits allow players to set restrictions on how long they can gamble within a given period. It can be implemented also as a session limit.
Session limits are particularly useful for preventing extended gambling sessions that can lead to fatigue and poor decision-making. In line with its purpose, it is advisable to set time limits that allow for gambling as entertainment without interfering with work or sleep.
Loss Limits
This tool allows players to set a maximum amount they're willing to lose within a specific timeframe. Once this limit is reached, the player is prevented from placing further bets until the time period resets.
Loss limits are particularly effective in preventing the dangerous behavior of chasing losses when a gambler increases wagers in an attempt to recover prior losses.
As part of a broader risk management strategy, loss limits help both operators and players maintain control over betting activities, ensuring financial stability and responsible gambling practices.
As a practical matter, one should set a loss limit that wouldn'tsignificantly impact their quality of life if reached. Many iGaming operators provide detailed guides on setting appropriate loss limits.
Wagering Limits
An alternative way of controlling loss risk in gambling is setting wagering limits. When placing an iGaming bet, you wager an amount of money that you risk in the hope of winning more in the game or event. This tool sets the maximum amount of money that you can wager over a selected period.
You can set daily, weekly, or monthly limits on how much you can wager. The total wagering amount is not calculated with wins or losses, but includes all the bets you have made within the selected timeframe.
Self-Exclusion
Self-exclusion is a tool that allows players to voluntarily ban themselves from gambling for a period they choose. This period may range from months to years. In cases where a bettor wishes to break with gambling permanently, a lifetime ban can be set.
When you opt for self-exclusion, you validate a formal agreement not to gamble for a specified period of time. It is then up to you to uphold your self-exclusion decision during that period. If you try to gamble during that time, the iGaming operator must take reasonable steps to stop you.
You can choose to self-exclude via a multi-operator self-exclusion scheme. Once you activate the self-exclusion feature the gambling operator must close your account and return any money in your account to you. It must also remove your name and details from any marketing databases it uses.
Timeout
Timeouts are a shorter-term version of self-exclusion. They can last anywhere from 24 hours to six weeks, depending on the iGaming operator. Taking a timeout from a gambling website can be an effective way to take a break from gambling and re-evaluate your relationship with gambling.
Conclusion
The responsible gambling strategies and tools discussed above aim to keep gambling an enjoyable experience while preventing financial and social distress. They focus on maintaining awareness of monetary, emotional, and time-related strains caused by gambling and ensuring they do not outweigh the intended benefits, such as fun and relaxation.
As you gamble, it is likely that over time you will lose more often than you win. And it is easy to see how the desire to win back what one has lost can become the overarching objective leading to excessive gambling. Responsible gambling strategies and tools are meant to timely detect the formation of such a situation and prevent the development of problem gambling.
In case you see that responsible gambling strategies and tools are not effective enough and gambling is becoming a problem, you can opt to refrain from gambling altogether. Once you feel you are developing excessive gambling habits you can block gambling payments with your bank or use a free gambling site blocker app to prevent access to gambling sites.
