Learning about safer gambling is a hugely important factor when it comes to placing your bets with UK bookies.
Gambling is an activity that can and should be considered as both fun and entertaining as long as you play responsibly.
Our article is here to offer guidance on how to spot when gambling might be becoming a problem, the ways it can negatively affect your physical and mental health, as well as advice on how to seek help and ensure you gamble safely.
Safer Gambling Advice: How to gamble safely in 2024
There are a number of methods you can use to help you gamble safely when betting in the UK.
Some are of your own accord, whilst some methods are offered by all UK bookies to encourage safer gambling when betting with them.
Set Deposit Limits
Deposit limits are offered by any and all bookmakers, with these allowing players to set a limit on how much money they deposit into their account over a certain period.
The time period can be anywhere from a day to a month, whilst the limits themselves are decided by the user unless the bookmaker decides to step-in and implement limits of their own.
This is one of the more simple, but still effective, safer gambling methods, as this ensures you can’t deposit over a certain amount over a specific period.
Stick to your Bankroll
Creating a bankroll is one of the best ways for users to gamble safely. This is a method where players set a loss or winning limit for a specific time period e.g. a day, week, month etc.
Once this has been reached, whether it be your win or loss limit, players should then stop gambling for the remainder of their pre-selected period of time.
Sticking to bankroll is very useful as it helps prevent users from chasing their losses or going on unsustainable winning streaks.
Take Regular Breaks
Taking a break is another simple but effective way to ensure you gamble as safely as possible.
A vast majority of UK bookmakers have a reminder system set-up to give players the chance to take a break from betting and to inform them of how long they’ve been active on their site.
These reminders give users the chance to sign-out of their account if they please to help them take routine breaks from gambling to avoid irresponsible betting.
Read and Understand all Terms and Conditions
All UK bookmakers will offer generic terms and conditions that allow you to gain a deeper grasp of how that bookmaker operates
This can then help players avoid any pitfalls with sites, helping to keep them safe and stay in control of their betting.
Gambling effects on mental health
One of the biggest consequences that gambling can have is negatively impacting your mental health.
The financial stresses that can result from gambling can cause users to react differently, with experiences of anxiety and depression being a potential result of this.
These can then have a negative impact on a players' health and welfare, with this stemming from the issues that problem gambling can cause on bettors' personal and family life.
It is important to keep an eye out for any signs of a player’s mental health being negatively impacted by betting so players can stay on top of their gambling habits before they begin to take their toll.
Problem Gambling: How to spot and help those in need
Helping someone acknowledge they might have a gambling problem is vital to helping them overcome it, thus knowing what signs you need to look out for is very important.
Increased stress or anxiety can be a core indicator of this, as players steadily get more stressed due to their habits and any potential losses they may be experiencing.
Self-exclusion from friends and family is another indicator someone is experiencing a safer gambling issue.
Problem gamblers could avoid spending time with those closest to them, in order to hide their playing or prevent any potential judgement from those closest to them.
An excessive time spent gambling, and in turn excessive money spent gambling, is another major signal, with these becoming prevalent as you attempt to recoup your losses or try and keep up unsustainable winning streaks.
Borrowing money to sustain gambling habits is one of the easiest ways to tell if someone has a gambling problem and is struggling to sustain their own deleterious spending habits.
Should you notice anyone exhibiting any of these issues, or should a problem gambler come to them for help, it is important to know the best ways that you can aid them in their attempts to overcome their problem.
One such way of doing this is by being an option for them to come to regarding their issues, with it being vital that you don’t offer any judgement should this occur.
This then gives them a safe space to talk about their issues, with you then able to talk about certain ways to help their problem going forward.
This could be utilising the methods discussed above to help people get a handle on their problem gambling, or making use of the self-exclusion tools that gambling sites provide.
There are also the option of support groups like Gamblers Anonymous, or seeking professional help such as therapy or counselling, both of which are great tools problem gamblers can use to help overcome their troubles.
Problem gamblers will rarely ask for help so it is on all of us to keep an eye out and offer our assistance in any way we can.
Safer Gambling Organisations
There are loads of different safer gambling organisations out there to get in contact with, all of which provide similar support services for problem gamblers to take advantage of.
Take Time to Think
Take Time to Think is an organisation who are currently affiliated with almost all betting sites in the UK. Most people will recognise their signature by its yellow and black branding.
Their visibility makes them one of the leading safer gambling organisations in the UK, as they are often no more than a click of a button away.
BeGambleAware
BeGambleAware is another one of the most visible organisations in the UK that promotes safer gambling, with these also affiliated with most of the bookmakers in the UK.
They operate a 24/7 helpline at 0808 8020 133, whereby any gambler can receive aid from a dedicated specialist regarding any gambling issues they may be experiencing.
GamCare
GamCare offers dedicated and long-lasting support via their online chat rooms, allowing users to talk with a real person without needing to call and talk over the phone.
They also offer specialised local support available in all areas of the UK, with access to counsellors and talk groups.
GamStop
GamStop is a safer gambling company that helps players self-exclude themselves from gambling permanently.
By taking your information, they then contact all betting sites in the UK and make sure you can no longer bet with them going forward.
Gamalyze: Learn what kind of gambler you are
Gamalyze is a service offered by Mindway AI and is a self-test you can undertake to see exactly what type of gambler you are.
This can help to give players insight into exactly how they gamble, as well as what they may need to look out for when gambling for real to spot any potential problems.
An AI tool is used to create a simple test for players to take, whereby they are asked to engage in a card-picking scenario, with each card either seeing you win or lose money.
At the end of it, players are given a specification as to what kind of gambler they may be, with links to any gambling support websites also then offered as well.