Staying in control: the brakes in your account and the help outside it

Most people who gamble do it for an hour, lose or win a modest amount, and go and do something else. For a minority it stops working that way, and the shift is gradual enough that it is easy to miss from the inside. This page is about noticing it early and about the tools that are free, immediate and available to every account holder.

Warning signs worth taking seriously

• You are depositing to win back what you lost, rather than to play.
• Sessions are running longer than you planned, and you notice afterwards rather than during.
• You are gambling with money set aside for rent, bills, food or a debt payment.
• You are hiding the amount you play, or the amount you lost, from someone close to you.
• You have borrowed — from a person, a card or a payday lender — to fund a deposit.
• The play has stopped being enjoyable and has become something you feel compelled to do.

One of these on a bad week is human. Several of them, repeatedly, is a pattern — and a pattern is worth acting on before it costs you something you cannot replace. Nobody has to hit a crisis before using the tools below; they exist to be used early.

The tools in your account, and what each one does

• Deposit limits — a daily, weekly or monthly ceiling. A cut takes effect immediately; a raise waits out a cooling-off period, deliberately.
• Loss limits — a cap on net losses over a period, which is the honest number to watch.
• Session reminders — a clock that tells you how long you have been playing, because the lobby will not.
• Time-out — a short lockout, from a day to several weeks. The account reopens on its own afterwards.
• Self-exclusion — a long-term or permanent closure. It cannot be reversed early, and we will not reopen it because you asked nicely during a bad night.

Every one of these can be set from the account area, and support will apply any of them for you if you would rather not do it yourself. Ask in live chat and it is done in minutes — there is no interview, no persuasion attempt, and no offer designed to keep you playing.

Free, confidential help in Australia

There is a national service, it is free, and it is open every hour of the day. You do not need to be in crisis to call it, and you do not have to give a name.

• Gambling Help Online — 1800 858 858. Free, confidential, 24/7, with counselling by phone and online chat, plus support for family members.
• Gambling Therapy — free international support and moderated forums.
• BeGambleAware — self-assessment tools and clear, plain-language advice.
• Gamblers Anonymous — peer meetings, online and in person.
• Lifeline — 13 11 14. For anyone in immediate distress, gambling-related or not.

Under 18s, and family accounts

Nobody under 18 may hold an account or play here, and identity verification exists partly to enforce that. If you share a device with someone under 18, use the parental controls on the handset and keep the login out of a saved password list. An account opened with someone else's identity is closed and its balance voided, which protects the person whose identity was used as much as it protects us.

If gambling has become a problem for someone close to you rather than for you, the services above support family members too — that is not an afterthought in their remit, it is a core part of it. And whatever else you do, do not fund someone else's play in the hope of helping them clear a debt.