Safer Gambling Week 2022: What's it about and how can it help?
The week of 17th - 23rd October 2022 is Safer Gambling Week, and we’re here today to tell you all about the initiative can help you maintain healthy habits, and what to do in the case that you, or someone you know, need some support.
What is Safer Gambling Week?
Safer Gambling Week is a campaign which looks to bring responsible gambling practices into the spotlight, and underline the importance of using these tools, so that gamblers all over the UK can continue to enjoy playing games and betting on sports safely and responsibly. Plus, most importantly, Safer Gambling Week provides guidance on what to do in the event that you or someone you know needs support with their gambling habits.
Key Advice from Safer Gambling Week
Safer Gambling Week is packed full of useful information for UK players, including tips and advice on how to stay responsible, and what to do if you feel like you need additional support.
So with that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the key pieces of advice from Safer Gambling Week 2022.
Four rules to remember for responsible gambling
Of course, there are many ways to ensure you maintain healthy gambling habits, but Safer Gambling Week has 4 essential rules to keep in mind when you play or bet online:
Set limits
Setting yourself limits is a great step in managing your time, money and, potentially, losses. By implementing things like deposit limits, you can avoid overspending and still enjoy your favourite hobby.
Gambling is not a way to make money
One of the main reasons people get themselves in trouble with gambling is playing with money they can’t afford to lose. Playing casino games, or betting on sports, is not a job and will never give you a steady salary. So in order to keep things fun, never spend money you can’t afford to lose.
It’s good to take a break
As the Safer Gambling Week campaign says, “step away, tap out and pause before you play. Take time to think.” This is a super important step to making sure you continue to play responsibly. If you’re spending too much time at gambling sites, you’re missing out on other activities with friends and family. Plus, the more you play, the more you run the risk of overspending, which could land you in hot water in the future.
Friends and family are more important than gambling
We all have our own hobbies that we enjoy on our own, but choosing gambling over friends and family is a strong sign that you need to take a break. Don’t let gambling affect your personal relationships.
Know the warning signs
The four rules listed above are all great ways to help you gamble responsibly. But another essential tool is being able to spot warning signs in yourself and others that may lead to unhealthy gambling habits.
Therefore, reflect on the following. “Gambling may be becoming riskier for you if you are …”
- Spending more money on gambling than you can afford
- Finding it hard to manage or stop your gambling
- Having arguments with family and/or friends about your gambling
- Losing interest in other activities that you usually enjoy
- Always thinking or talking about gambling
- Lying about your gambling or hiding it from your friends and family
- Chasing your losses or gambling to get out of financial trouble
- Gambling until all your money is gone
- Borrowing money, selling possessions, or not paying bills to fund your gambling
- Needing to gamble with larger amounts of money or for a longer time to get the same 'buzz' or excitement
- Neglecting work, study, family, friends, personal needs or household responsibilities because of your gambling
- Feeling anxious, worried, guilty, depressed or irritable
Safer Gambling Tools
In order to help you maintain responsible gambling habits, Safer Gambling Week brings its attention to the following tools, which are offered by every UK-licensed gambling site. Simply look for the shield icon on any real-money site in the UK for their safer gambling tools.
- Set your limits: every site in the UK will let you set up different limits, to help you manage your time and money. Set deposit and loss limits, as well as machine limits and game time reminders.
- Limit the amount of gambling content you see: if you’re trying to take a break from gambling, then why not stop temptation in its tracks by limiting gambling content? You can set up these limits, whereby you will not receive info or promotions from platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
- Block payments from your bank: one of the easiest ways to stop yourself from overspending is to block payments to gambling coming from your account. Each bank is different, so ask your individual bank for details.
- Block gambling website and/or self-exclude: if you’re in need of a pause from gambling, or you’ve decided you need to stop permanently, you can download software that will block your access to all UK gambling sites. You can also join self-exclusion programs, such as Gamstop, which will not let you access any real-money sites for periods of 6 months, 1 year or 5 years.
Get Support
While there are tons of safer gambling tools to help you, sometimes the best way to manage your gambling habits is to get support. In the UK, there are plenty of charities and organisations set up to help you, if you start to have an unhealthy relationship with gambling. These include:
The National Gambling Treatment Service
Call free on 0808 8020 133
24 hours a day, every day of the year
Visit the National Gambling Treatment Service website
GamCare
Call free on 0808 8020 133
24 hours a day, every day of the year
You can also visit the following online GamCare support services:
- GamCare Live Chat
- GamCare Forum
- GamCare Group Chat
- GamCare GameChange Course
Finally, you’ll find all the information, along with further guidance and advice, at the SaferGamblingUK.org website.