18+ Adults only: Two Counters is not intended for anyone under 18.Worried about gambling? Call GamCare on 0808 8020 133, or visit BeGambleAware and GAMSTOP
Two Counters
A brass hourglass and a leather notebook on an oak desk by a sunny window

Home › Safer gambling

Safer gambling: help on both counters

Free services in Great Britain, and the tools every licensed bookmaker must offer.

  • National Gambling Helpline (GamCare): 0808 8020 133, free, confidential, 24 hours a day, or live chat at gamcare.org.uk.
  • NHS Wales Gambling Helpline: 0808 281 9265, for people in Wales.
  • BeGambleAware: advice, a self-assessment and blocking tools at begambleaware.org.
  • GAMSTOP: one free registration excludes you from every online gambling business licensed in Great Britain, for six months, one year or five years: gamstop.co.uk.
  • Gordon Moody: residential and online treatment programmes: gordonmoody.org.uk.
  • NHS: gambling addiction help and NHS clinics: nhs.uk.
  • Money worries: free debt advice from StepChange or Citizens Advice.
  • Blocking software: BetBlocker is free to install on phones and computers.

Tools on your account

Every bookmaker on this site offers deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion on the account, and names GAMSTOP (each bookmaker page quotes where). A casino on the same login sits under the same account, so these tools are the first place to look:

  • Deposit limit. Set it before your first deposit. Lowering it takes effect straight away; raising it does not.
  • Time-out. A short break of a day up to a few weeks. At some bookmakers it can be set for the casino side only; each bookmaker page says whether.
  • Product block. Some let you shut the casino and keep the sportsbook open. If the casino is the part that worries you, this is the switch to look for.
  • Self-exclusion. Usually from six months to five years, for the whole account. The bookmaker has to close the account, return the balance and stop sending you marketing.

Signs it is time to pause

  • Moving money from the betting balance to the casino to win back a lost bet.
  • Playing longer or with more than you planned, or hiding it from people close to you.
  • Borrowing, or using money meant for bills.

None of this page links to a bookmaker. If gambling is a worry, the helpline above is the right next step.