Responsible gambling: the limits we hand you, and the numbers to call

The tools in your account

Every account we open comes with brakes attached, and they take under a minute to set. You do not have to explain yourself to anyone, and support is not notified in a way that changes how you are treated.

• Deposit limits — daily, weekly or monthly. A tightening applies immediately.
• Session reminders — a clock on the screen, because time disappears in a lobby with no windows.
• Cooling-off — a short, fixed break. The account locks and reopens on its own.
• Self-exclusion — a long block we will not reverse early, no matter who asks or how politely.

The asymmetry is the point. Making a limit stricter takes effect the moment you save it; loosening one waits out a cooling-off period first, so a decision made at 2am cannot be undone at 2.05am. If a limit ever feels like an obstacle rather than a tool, that feeling is itself information.

The warning signs, written plainly

Problem gambling rarely announces itself. It arrives as a series of small, individually reasonable decisions, and it is much easier to spot in a list than in your own week.

• Depositing again after telling yourself you were done for the night.
• Chasing a loss with a bigger stake than the one that produced it.
• Playing money set aside for rent, bills, food or someone else.
• Hiding the size of a session, or lying about it when asked directly.
• Gambling to change how you feel rather than because you feel like gambling.
• Borrowing — from a card, an app, a friend — to keep a session alive.

One of these is worth noticing. Several together is worth acting on today, not next month. Set a deposit cap now, or use self-exclusion, and then talk to one of the services below.

Free, confidential help in Australia

Gambling Help Online — 1800 858 858. Free, confidential, staffed 24 hours a day, every day, anywhere in Australia. Phone, web chat and email counselling, plus support for family members who are carrying someone else's gambling. This is the number to call first, and there is no waiting list to speak to a human tonight.

Other services that will take an Australian caller:

• Gambling Therapy — free international online support in multiple languages.
• BeGambleAware — self-assessment tools and practical guidance.
• Gamblers Anonymous — peer meetings, including online meetings that suit Australian hours.

None of these organisations report to us, and nothing you tell them comes back to your account. That is exactly why they work.

Rules we enforce, whether or not you ask us to

You must be 18 or over to hold an account, and identity verification exists in part to enforce that. We do not accept a third party's money on your behalf and we do not pay a third party out of your balance. We will close an account on request, and we will not send promotional email to someone who has self-excluded — the exclusion flag suppresses marketing along with access.

If you are worried about someone else, the number above takes calls from family members as well as players. And if you are simply here to play a few reels on a Friday, set a deposit cap anyway. The players who last are the ones who decided how the night ends before it started. The lobby, the odds and the maths are all described on the homepage — none of it changes because you are having a good week.