Bigwinboard.com is an advocate of fair play and a supporter of responsible gambling. It’s absolutely essential that you remain in control of your gambling habits. If not, gambling can be extremely harmful and have a profound impact on your life. Playing online slots should be a fun. Yet, for a few people, choosing to participate in online gambling can be more of a problem than a simple pastime.

While many people will know their limits and how to control their gaming, the same cannot be said of a small group of others. This is why responsible gambling should always be something to remember – not solely for those who currently have or have had problems with gambling, but for everyone choosing to access online gaming sites.

For this reason, it’s important to know how to recognise the signs of gambling addiction and to know the steps to take if you feel that this is something that is affecting you. We’re here to provide you with all the information that you need surrounding this, so that should you feel like gambling is becoming a problem, you can figure out what to do about it. Fortunately, there are numerous ways of seeking help.

The online casinos that we recommend through our site are all properly licensed and thus required to give their customers all the necessary tools to regulate their gambling habits through implementation of various types of limits. This way, you can be sure that you’re playing at a platform that takes responsible gambling seriously should you ever feel that gambling is taking over your life.

The sites that we recommend allow you to utilise different functions so as to enable yourself better management of and time away from online gambling. They include:

  • The ability to set deposit limits for yourself. Therefore, if you set aside a certain amount of money to use on gambling, you won’t ever go above this amount with a deposit limit in place.
  • The option of setting reality checks, so that you are given prompts as to how long you’ve been playing games.
  • The possibility to “take a break” from gambling. With this option, you’re able to secure a period of time off from placing bets, which can be anything from 24 hours up to 6 weeks in most cases.
  • Completely removing online gambling from your life with the self-exclusion Using this, you will be able to block yourself from online gambling sites, assisting you with ending any sort of gambling activity. This can be put in place for a period of anywhere between six months and five years.

In addition, the site’s that we recommend also come with the ability to view your own gambling activity (including previous deposits, withdrawals and other transactions), as well as the option of setting games off on an autoplay function, too.

Signs of Compulsive Gambling

There are various signs that you may have a problem with gambling, although the most-important factor is to consider whether or not you’re having fun while gaming. Some other signs that you may have a gambling problem include the following:

  1. Does gambling at home away from other people for long periods of time seem to be a big part of your life?
  2. Do you find yourself getting angry or frustrated when you lose?
  3. Have you found yourself increasing your deposits and gambling stakes to try and cover losses?
  4. Do you use gambling as an escape from other issues in life?
  5. Have you had previous problems in relation to gambling?
  6. Have you sought help in trying to reduce the amount of time spent gambling in the past?
  7. Do you hide your gambling activity from family and friends?
  8. Have you ever borrowed any money from others as a way of funding an online gambling account?
  9. Have you ever sold any of your own possessions in order to make money for using on gambling?
  10. Has dishonesty ever played into your life in order for you to finance your gambling?

You may have a problem with gambling if you have answered “yes” to even a single one of these questions. If you want to learn more about this, or if you want to get a more comprehensive analysis of your own gambling activity, then you may want to take the quiz that the BeGambleAware website hosts entitled ‘Worried About Your Gambling’. The results of this quiz should give you a more detailed look into how gambling could be affecting your life.

Steps to Take If You Think You Have a Problem

There are numerous sources of help if you believe yourself to have a gambling problem. Of course, you will need to first of all be honest and accept that you have a problem with it. Once you do this, you need to proceed with confronting the problem head on and then doing something about it. Don’t feel like it’s something that you need to keep to yourself, because seeking out help from others is a necessary part of tackling the problem.

Some of the steps that you can take to try and control your gambling habits include things like:

  1. Utilise the aforementioned deposit limit feature of an online gambling site to try and ensure that you don’t transfer more money than you can afford to such.
  2. Speak with someone that you trust and ask them to take control of your finances for a specific period of time. Alternatively, look to them to help you create some sort of budget plan that means you won’t go over the amount of money that you dedicate to this pastime.
  3. If you do go through several days without gambling, then provide yourself with a non-gambling reward using the money that you saved from such.
  4. Should you not have the ability to curb your appetite for gambling, then utilise the self-exclude feature to block yourself from joining and depositing at online sites.
  5. Should you wish to, you can visit the gamblock.com website, which gives you the opportunity to block your access to masses of gambling and wagering platforms.
  6. If you are on the road to stop any sort of gambling addiction, be sure to mark each day that you do this successfully on a calendar. That way, you can track your own progress and feel proud of your accomplishments.

For additional help, there are multiple online sites that can provide you with information, numbers to call, people to contact and more. These include independent help services like: