Responsible Gaming

Our position

MeridianReview earns commission when a reader opens an account with a brand we review. That gives us an obvious incentive to encourage gambling, and the honest response to an obvious incentive is an explicit counterweight. So, plainly: gambling is not a way to make money. Every casino product is designed so that, over enough activity, the operator keeps a percentage. That is not a flaw in a particular brand — it is the arithmetic the entire sector rests on, and no review, strategy or bonus changes it.

If you gamble, treat what you stake as the price of an evening's entertainment, in the same way you would treat a cinema ticket. Money you have already decided to spend is not a loss. Money you needed for something else is.

Six rules worth setting before you start

1. Decide the amount before you open the account, not during the session. A limit chosen in advance is a decision; one chosen mid-session is a negotiation you will lose.
2. Set a deposit limit immediately. Every operator licensed in Great Britain must offer one. Set it on day one, before it feels necessary.
3. Never chase a loss. Attempting to win back what has gone is the single most reliable route from entertainment to harm. The odds do not remember what you lost.
4. Never gamble with borrowed money. Not a credit card, not an overdraft, not a loan, not money from a friend. Credit cards have been banned for gambling in Great Britain since April 2020 for exactly this reason.
5. Keep a clock in view. Turn on reality-check reminders. Thirty minutes is a sensible interval; sessions distort the sense of time badly.
6. Do not gamble to feel better. Stress, loneliness, boredom and intoxication all reliably worsen decisions. If a session starts as an escape, it will not end as entertainment.

The tools available to you

Deposit and loss limits

Available in the account settings of every operator licensed in Great Britain, set daily, weekly or monthly. A reduction takes effect immediately. An increase carries a mandatory cooling-off period and must be positively reconfirmed after it — deliberately, so that an increase cannot be made in the heat of a session.

Reality checks and session limits

A timed on-screen reminder showing how long you have been active and what the session has cost. Some brands also allow a hard session timer that ends the session automatically.

Time out (cooling-off)

A short break — usually 24 hours, one week, one month or six weeks — during which you cannot deposit or stake. Useful when things feel wrong but not yet serious enough for a full self-exclusion.

Self-exclusion at one operator

A minimum of six months, during which the operator must close the account, stop all marketing to you and refuse to reopen it. It cannot be reversed early. It covers that licence holder only — which matters when two brands share one licence, as the two we review do.

GAMSTOP — the national scheme

The free national online self-exclusion scheme for Great Britain. One registration at gamstop.co.uk blocks your accounts at every operator holding a remote licence from the Gambling Commission, for six months, one year or five years. Registration with GAMSTOP is a condition of holding that licence, so the block is enforced, not voluntary. It cannot be lifted before the period you chose has expired.

Bank gambling blocks

Most UK banks and building societies now offer a gambling block in their mobile app, which declines card transactions coded as gambling. Most impose a cooling-off period of 24 to 48 hours before the block can be switched off again. It is free, and it takes about a minute to enable.

Blocking software

Gamban and BetBlocker install on your own devices and block access to tens of thousands of gambling addresses. BetBlocker is free. Used alongside GAMSTOP and a bank block, the three together close most of the routes back in — which is the point, because determination to find a route back in is itself a warning sign.

Warning signs

Any one of these is worth pausing over. Several together are worth acting on today.

• Staking more than you planned, or more than you can comfortably afford to lose.
• Trying to win back money you have lost.
• Borrowing, selling possessions or using money set aside for bills in order to gamble.
• Hiding how much you gamble, or lying about it to people close to you.
• Feeling anxious, irritable or low when you are not gambling.
• Gambling to escape stress, low mood, loneliness or boredom.
• Neglecting work, study, family or friendships because of it.
• Being unable to stop once a session has started, even after deciding to.

None of this makes anyone weak or foolish. Gambling harm is a recognised health problem with effective, free treatment on the NHS and through the National Gambling Support Network. The earlier it is addressed, the easier it is to address.

Where to get free, confidential help

Protecting under-18s

Gambling by anyone under 18 is a criminal offence in Great Britain, and every operator licensed here is required to verify age before accepting a deposit. This website is intended for adults only.

If children or young people use a device you also use, filtering software such as Net Nanny, Qustodio or your operating system's built-in parental controls can restrict access to gambling content. Keep payment cards and account passwords out of shared storage, and never leave an account logged in on a shared device.