Responsible Gambling

Gambling is entertainment that costs money. When it stops being entertainment, the tools below work and using them early is easier than using them late.

Signs worth taking seriously. Betting more than you decided to. Playing to win back a loss. Borrowing to play, or playing with money meant for something else. Hiding it from people close to you. Playing to escape stress rather than for enjoyment. Feeling you cannot stop when you plan to. Any one of these is worth acting on and none of them requires a crisis first.

Tools at the operator. Every casino reviewed on this site offers deposit limits, loss limits, session reminders, short-term time-outs and permanent self-exclusion. Deposit limits are the single most effective control because they act before the money moves. Set one when you open an account, while it is a neutral decision rather than a reaction. Self-exclusion at a licensed operator takes effect immediately and cannot be lifted on impulse, which is the entire point of it.

Free help in Canada. ConnexOntario runs a free confidential service around the clock on 1-866-531-2600 for anyone in Ontario. Every other province funds its own problem-gambling helpline and the provincial health line will connect you to it. The Responsible Gambling Council and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health both publish free self-assessment tools and support directories. Gamblers Anonymous holds meetings in most Canadian cities and online. Gambling Therapy offers free online support internationally.

If someone else's gambling is the problem. The same helplines support family members and you do not need the person's permission or involvement to call. Practical steps that help: keep your own finances separate, do not cover losses, and do not police the behaviour alone.

Interac Deposit Casinos carries advertising for gambling operators and earns money when readers open accounts. That is exactly why this page exists and why it is linked from every other page on the site rather than buried. If you need to stop, stop -- there is nothing on this site worth staying for.