Responsible Gambling

Responsible Gambling – it is a system of principles and rules to prevent problems with gambling entertainment. These include a ban on gambling for minors, a set of measures that prevent gambling addiction, ensuring safe play.

Protection of minors

Almost all jurisdictions that issue licenses to conduct gambling business prohibit minors to participate in gambling. Accordingly, each legal portal restricts the registration to persons who are under 18 years old.

Moreover, it is important that adults have limited the access of minors to gambling sites by installing on a computer certain filters. If the user has found that a child is signed up in an online casino or on a similar portal, he must inform the administration of a resource so that it could block the account of a minor player.

Advice for parents:

• adult players should secure passwords on all the gambling sites and apps installed, store them in a safe place;
• do not allow minors to play for money, even under supervision;
• explain to your children the importance of respecting the laws of the country, which include a ban on gambling to persons under the age of 18;
• set time limits for children on visiting the Internet.

Unfortunately, providing a 100% protection of minors from gambling is impossible.

Measures to prevent gambling addiction

Gambling – it is one of the ways to spend your free time with fun. However, a small percentage of players suffer from gambling addiction. In this regard, there is a set of measures to prevent the occurrence of the problem among visitors of casinos:

• before each game session, the user is encouraged to set own time limits and limits on bets and losing – do not go beyond them;
• bet only for sums that are not a pity to lose, do not use money that is needed to meet important needs, including the purchase of food, clothing, medicines, payment of utilities;
• remember, that gambling is a fun, not earnings;
• do not play in a depression;
• do not borrow money to gamble at a casino;
• do not play in a condition of alcoholic or narcotic intoxication;
• all winnings on slots are the result of a random number generator, there are no secret formulas or methods that can bring a guaranteed prize;
• overindulgence in something inevitably leads to a violation of any social ties and gambling is no exception.

Psychologists of some countries with responsible gambling including the UK developed a special questionnaire that allows determining with a high probability whether a person is on the verge of gambling addiction.

Questions are the following:

1. Does gambling hobby interfere with work (study)?
2. Does it happen that after losing, there is an irresistible desire to win back?
3. Do you have enough will to stop the game in time?
4. Does a desire to play occur often?
5. Do you experience frequent annoyance, anxiety?

If the answers are rather affirmative than negative, you should seek help from a psychologist and hold your passion for gambling for a while.

Additional symptoms that indicate the likelihood of gambling addiction are:

• feeling distant from what is happening around;
• hot temper, irritability;
• passive attitude to work or studying.

Typically, a timely appeal to the specialist helps to avoid the development of problem gambling and the subsequent severe personality disorders.

Teenager problem

Teenagers are most disposed to gambling addiction. Being not fully formed personalities, they lose self-control faster than adults.

Among adolescents, the motivation to engage in gambling are:

• the desire to stand out agility, skill, mastery in anything;
• the desire to keep up with the modern times;
• trying to beat in anything peers, friends;
• the sense of rivalry, struggle;
• negligence of parents.

Minors from different social backgrounds get involved in gambling regardless of family wealth, the level of culture and intellectual development, race. Gambling is the niche where they feel important, it is easy to achieve heights. Most teens will sooner or later begin to lose self-control for a while. It is difficult or almost impossible without help to:

1. stop the game;
2. resist the new game;
3. distract from obsessive thoughts;
4. stop constantly discuss gambling entertainment.

The presence of these signs indicates the gambling addiction.

A number of civilised countries, where gambling is legal, organise events for educational work about the dangers of involving children and adolescents in gambling. There are state and public organisations established to control the process. There are preventive talks and training with parents who are involved in gambling, as well as with their children.

Ground-based and online casinos take measures to prevent the involvement of minors in gambling entertainment. People under the age of majority cannot pass in gambling venues. Online casinos for its part monitor their websites and prevent attempts of teens to register on their sites.

Preventive measures

Although there hasn’t been extensive research on the impact of gambling on players' mentality, civilised countries, where land-based casinos and online casinos operate legally, try to carry out preventive measures in this field. One of the preventive elements is the prohibition on advertising of gambling in the media. In this way, it is possible to achieve a reduction of interest in gambling entertainment by teenagers. After all, they try to be on a par with adults due to their age.

In the United States, the UK, France, the Nordic countries, Canada, Singapore, there are public responsible gambling council organisations. Their main task is to prevent the occurrence of gambling addiction among the wide audience.

At the official level, their employees develop methods and activities that boil down to the explanatory work among the population. Posters promoting life without gambling are published in small editions. The radio and television broadcast public ads warning about the dangers of gambling. The contact details of psychological support services and responsible gambling trust can be found on the pages of online casinos that adhere to the principles of responsibility.

Many developed countries have training materials on the prevention of addiction. They are more likely aimed at solving problems regarding adolescents. Those measures include:

• lectures and seminars in educational institutions;
• competitions devoted to campaigning life without gambling;
• assistance in the organisation of musical evenings, performances like responsible gambling Awareness Week within the walls of educational institutions dedicated to the fight against gambling addiction;
• publishing and distribution of leaflets, brochures and literature to educate the youth of causes and preconditions for the emergence and development of excessive gambling habit.

Preventive measures, aimed at prevention of gambling addiction among teenagers, are conducted among parents as well. They are taught the methods of safety and protecting children from such hobbies.

Parents are urged to:

• set block on gambling sites so that children could not get to them;
• try not to play at an online casino in the presence of minors and do not involve them in the game;
• do not promote gambling ways of entertainment and try not to discuss them in the presence of children;
• spend more free time with the kids doing housework, sports, camping;
• take interested in lives of growing children and their hobbies.

For adults and adolescents who are addicted to gambling, there are open around the clock crisis centres and responsible gambling programs. They can make an appointment in advance and talk to a professional psychologist on the phone. In some cases, this conversation helps people understand themselves, as well as to identify possible gambling addiction, to take timely measures to get over it. Many players can use an anonymous survey. By answering a series of questions, a user alone can understand if he has a gambling addiction, what is the danger in the case of further lack of action.

Gambling activities of players in developed countries are more or less controlled. There are all opportunities to identify the problem in time and take timely measures to prevent serious consequences. It’s more difficult in developing countries, as well as in the countries of the former Soviet Union. Because of the underfunding of social protection and health care, professionals often deal with advanced forms of gambling.

At the same time, the availability of gambling is rather wide due to computer and mobile versions of online casinos. Often in countries, where this kind of entertainment is prohibited, players find access to foreign resources where they play without restrictions.

Meanwhile, non-governmental organisations around the world partially cope with this problem by active antipropaganda of online casinos. Moreover, sometimes foreign sites with slot machines perform their payment duties in bad faith.

Self-control techniques

Today players are mostly aware of risks associated with gambling entertainment. In most cases, they try to control this passion. There is a lot of tricks that help not to go beyond set limits and not to lose control. Experienced players, first of all, try to control themselves, resorting to self-hypnosis method. The first thing to recognise in this way is that the game in a casino or online casino is just an entertainment. Most gamblers admit that their passion sometimes does make a profit. But don’t rely on the game as a steady source of income. After all, one cannot always win. Sometimes you lose.

The main thing in those moments when the luck ran out is not to take everything to heart. Attempts to win everything back only make you nervous and cause irritation. And then, intrusive thoughts about the game are not far to go.

The main rule of players is to stop in time. Most gamblers admit that when they win, there is a burning desire to win even more. Those who don’t stay tough and continue to play often lose all.

If one demonstrates tenacity and stops the game after a winning, then it is possible to cope with passions. After a break, it is easier to be realistic about the situation. Furthermore, there is no need to win back, and this prevents a number of problems.

These are the unspoken responsible gambling tips of real players:

1. Set limits on a deposit. You cannot replenish it during the game.
2. Limit the number of maximal bets.
3. Make a certain time for the game. You cannot play for too long.
4. Try to choose a moderate bet. Otherwise, in the case of a loss, you’ll have to lament the lost money.
5. Do not set a goal to win. Mentally prepare yourself for the possible loss;
6. Don’t put at stake all the money hoping to win back lost funds. You can lose even more than before.

If a player prefers to play online, he must also carefully select a virtual casino. Responsible gambling policy, terms and conditions for the issuance of winnings should not infringe the rights of the client.

It happens that a player starts to notice some signs of a gambling addiction. He is more irritable than usual, thinks about revanche in the case of loss, finds himself in the fact that it is difficult to stop playing. In this case, there are techniques designed to help put yourself together and to strengthen self-control. The most popular are self-limiting programs aimed at reducing the time duration of the game.

You can limit yourself in a variety of ways. The most common way is to strictly control the amount of money to be spent on the game. A fan of gambling has to decide what is the largest amount of money he can spend on visiting casinos. If he plays twice a week, he can allocate a sum for a week, dividing it for two days. Sometimes people play infrequently – once or twice a month. But in this case, there is a need to control the money for playing as well.

Self-discipline is when the player who has run out of money stops playing. In most cases, this method works very effectively. Another technique of self-control – a time limit on the game. If a user plays online, he can time a gaming session on an electronic device. When the alarm rings, he should stop the game immediately.

Some online casinos offer their services for the implementation of time self-control. It’s enough to leave a request on a site to set limits on reel rotations. At the appointed time, a slot game just turns off. In land-based casinos, it’s employees who can help with self-control. Just ask them to help beforehand. At the set time, the employee comes to the place where you are playing and reminds that it is time to stop.

In those cases when a person cannot fully control oneself, loses head from time to time, breaks bad, psychologists advise to take a break, not to play at all during some time. It is better to rest in such periods. If there is a capacity, it is better to take a resort vacation, go on a journey on foot, go on a cruise. If because of the circumstances there is no way you can leave, create all conditions at home to escape from thoughts about gambling. Go in for sports, have picnics in nature, spend more time with your family or friends. A long “vacation” from gambling has a beneficial effect on the physical and mental condition.

Additionally, it would be nice to have a massage session or relaxing yoga exercises. There are beneficial effects from meditation classes, alternative medicine, psychoanalysis.

After a rest, do not immerse in a virtual game or disappear in gambling venues around the clock again. Having restored the nervous system, continue to take care of yourself. Observe the rules of real players for the entire gaming life.

Moreover, as before, continue to take steps to have control over your gambling activities. The choice of a method depends on the habits and characteristics of each individual. If one has a desire, he can seek assistance in special dedicated organisation or find a responsible gambling course online. Self-monitoring and periodic interruptions in gambling provide comfort in life even for an inveterate gamer. The probability of nervous strain, development of gambling addiction is minimised.

Safe play

Ensuring the safety of playing includes a set of measures on the part of a casino and a player. Reliable gambling portals use different methods of personal data protection that guarantee a certain percentage of wins, the non-disclosure of personal data to third parties. In addition, regulators of reliable jurisdictions and responsible gambling services may take the side of a player if there is a controversial situation between him and an operator.

For our part, we advise users to:

• not pass your personal information, especially passwords;
• play only on credible resources that operate under licenses of authoritative regulators;
• before registering in a casino, carefully review the rules and conditions.

Thus, you should observe measures with gambling like with any other activities. This rule applies not only to playing for money but also to testing free slots. Play responsibly!