Responsible Gambling

Free help, any time

Gambling Help Online offers free counselling and support 24 hours a day by phone on 1800 858 858, by web chat and by email. It is open to anyone affected by gambling, including family and friends. Each state and territory also runs face-to-face services you can be referred to.

Set limits before you play

Limits work best when you set them while calm, not in the middle of a session. Most online casinos offer some or all of these tools in the account area:

• Deposit limits per day, week or month.
• Loss limits that stop play once a set amount is lost.
• Session time limits or reminders.
• Cooling-off periods that lock the account for a short time.
• Self-exclusion for longer periods.

Outside the casino, a few habits help: decide your budget in dollars before you open a game, keep gambling money separate from bill money, turn off autoplay, and set a phone alarm for the end of a session. Treat what you deposit as the cost of entertainment, not as a way to make money.

Myths that keep people playing

Some beliefs about pokies make it harder to stop. Every spin is random and independent, so a game is never "due" to pay. Time of day does not change the odds. Near-misses are part of the design, not a sign that a win is close. And no betting system can overcome the house edge built into every game. Knowing this makes it easier to walk away when your budget or time is up.

Warning signs

Problems rarely start all at once. Watch for these signs in yourself or someone close to you:

• Spending more money or time than planned, more and more often.
• Chasing losses with bigger bets or extra deposits.
• Borrowing money, using credit or selling things to gamble.
• Hiding gambling from family or lying about it.
• Feeling anxious, irritable or low when not gambling.
• Missing work, study or family commitments because of play.

If one or more of these sound familiar, it is a good time to pause and talk to someone. Gambling Help Online is a confidential first step.

BetStop and self-exclusion

BetStop is the National Self-Exclusion Register, run by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). Registering is free and blocks you from licensed Australian online and phone wagering providers for a period you choose, from a few months to life. It covers licensed sports and race betting services; it does not cover offshore casinos. To exclude yourself from an offshore casino, use the self-exclusion tool in your account or contact the casino's support and ask for your account to be closed and excluded. Ask for the exclusion in writing, keep the reply, and remove any saved payment details so a moment of temptation cannot turn into a deposit. If you hold accounts at several offshore sites, contact each one, because an exclusion at one casino does not carry over to another.

The law in brief

Under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001, it is illegal for operators to offer online casino games, including online pokies, to people in Australia. The law targets the operators, not individual players, and ACMA is the federal regulator that enforces it. Because the casinos covered on this site are offshore, Australian consumer protections and dispute services do not apply to them. Our guide to whether online pokies are legal explains this in more detail.

Helping someone else

If you are worried about a partner, friend or family member, Gambling Help Online supports you too. Talk calmly, focus on how the gambling is affecting things rather than on blame, and look after your own finances, for example by separating accounts. You do not have to solve it alone. Taking a break from gambling yourself, removing saved cards from casino accounts and agreeing on household spending limits can all help while support is arranged.

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