Responsible Gambling

For most people, gambling is a fun activity that inspires a combination of relaxation and excitement. It’s the perfect way to spend a few hours of downtime while still being entertained. However, gambling can be addictive. It’s estimated that around 3% of South Africans are problem gamblers. With online gambling on the rise, it’s important to understand what problem gambling is, how it can be avoided, and what to do if you or someone you know develops a gambling problem. We’ll discuss these topics on this page so that you’ll be equipped to handle responsible gambling issues if they arise.

Table of Contents[]

What is Responsible Gambling?
Tips for Responsible Gambling
Responsible Gambling Tools
Identifying a Gambling Problem

What is Responsible Gambling?

Responsible gambling is gambling with money that you feel comfortable parting ways with. A player who gambles responsibly doesn’t experience feelings of remorse while gambling or afterwards.

The money that you spend on gambling should always be considered the cost of entertainment since gambling is a form of entertainment. It falls into the same category as activities like going to the movies, visiting a theme park like Gold Reef City, or going to a music concert. In general, people don’t feel bad about spending money on any of these activities. You know how much it’s going to cost and you decide to do it anyway. When you gamble responsibly, you should feel the same way.

It’s important to only spend money that you are prepared to lose when you gamble. Similar to buying a movie ticket, you should be prepared to spend that money knowing that you aren’t going to get it back. The difference with gambling, of course, is that you might actually win it back. That’s why it’s easier for people to get addicted to gambling than it is to get addicted to other forms of entertainment.

Tips for Responsible Gambling

Here are a few guidelines that you can follow to make sure that you always gamble responsibly:

Have a gambling budget

To keep things fun, decide on a budget that you will allocate to gambling and stick to it. You know, more or less, how much money a day at the carnival is going to set you back before you decide to go. In the same way, you should decide how much of your available income or capital you’re prepared to spend on gambling. Don’t go over this budget

Gamble when level-headed

Stay away from gambling when you’re inebriated, angry, frustrated, or feeling depressed. Think about the last time you shopped online when you were in a bad mood. Chances are that you bought a ton of unnecessary things. Maybe it made you feel good at the time, but you probably regretted it later. The same is true for gambling. Only gamble when you’re in a good state of mind to prevent going over your budget or gambling erratically

Don’t chase your losses

This tip ties in with sticking to your budget. Never try to win the money back that you have spent gambling. Responsible gambling means sticking to your budget, regardless of the circumstances. Once you have reached your budget, stop playing until your new budget kicks in. Hold out no matter what – whether it’s tomorrow, next week, or next month, you can wait

If you find it easy to stick to these guidelines, then it’s probably safe to say that you are a responsible gambler. People who struggle with these guidelines usually have compulsive thoughts about breaking them. These are the players who fall into the risk category for developing gambling addictions.

If you or someone you know has obsessive thoughts about gambling, then it’s time to seek help. Fortunately, there are many avenues for finding help with responsible gambling.

Online Casinos that Support Responsible Gambling

If you are a regular on our site, you’ve probably noticed that we harp on about playing at online casinos that are licensed and support responsible gambling. It’s because these online casinos provide tools that help players stay within responsible gambling guidelines.

South Africans can contact the South African Responsible Gambling Foundation (SARGF) at any time for free support, gambling assessments, and counselling referrals. The foundation is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The services that fall under the SARGF’s treatment programme are available countrywide and free of charge.

The SARGF is one of many organisations that South Africans can approach for assistance with problem gambling. When you’re playing with reputable, licensed online casinos, you’ll come across international help organisations such as Gamblers Anonymous.

In South Africa, online casinos and gambling platforms are licensed by provincial gambling boards that fall under the regulation of the National Gambling Board. Since there aren’t many online casinos that hail from South Africa, online gamblers in SA play at offshore online casinos majority of the time. It’s important to play at casino sites that support responsible gambling and are licensed by reputable international gambling authorities such as:

The Malta Gaming Authority

Gibraltar Regulatory Authority

Curaçao Gaming Control Board

Alderney Gambling Control Commission

United Kingdom Gambling Commission

Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission

Gambling Commission of Antigua and Barbuda

Properly licensed online casinos endorse problem gambling organisations that can assist players. At these casinos, you’ll find links to help organisations and self-assessment questionnaires that can be used to assess whether or not you have a gambling problem. These online casinos also provide tools that players can use to help them stay within safe gambling guidelines and take a break from gambling when they feel it’s necessary.

Responsible Gambling Tools

Here we will take you through some of the tools that licensed casinos will provide you with so that you can play responsibly. You can access most of these tools yourself by navigating to the responsible gambling area when you are logged into your casino account. If you can’t find them, you should contact the casino’s customer support team and ask for assistance.

Limits

You can implement limits for specific parameters that will help you manage your spending. These limits can be put in place for a specific timeframe, such as a day, week, or month. Online casinos usually offer one or more of the following limits:

Deposit limits: You can limit the value that you are able to deposit and won’t be able to deposit more once the limit is reached.
Loss Limits: You can put a cap on the maximum value that you are prepared to lose. The online casino will prevent you from placing more bets after the limit has been reached.
Wager limits: You can limit the total value of wagers, or bets, that you are willing to place at the casino. Once you’ve reached the limit, you won’t be able to continue wagering until the time window resets.
Spending budgets: Spending budgets are similar to deposit limits. However, spending budgets will let you continue depositing after your deposit limit is reached as long as you have made withdrawals within the budget’s timeframe.

The amount that you can go over your deposit limit will be equal to the total value of your withdrawals in that time period.

Time Outs

Time outs limit the amount of time you can spend at the casino. You can activate the following timeouts at most online casinos that support responsible gambling:

Daily
Weekly
Monthly

You can think of a time out as taking a break from the casino. Once you’ve triggered a time out, you won’t be able to log into your casino account until the time period you have selected has elapsed.

Self-exclusion

Self-exclusion is a way that you can stop yourself from gambling at licensed online casinos for a set period of time. It’s the most extreme form of limiting yourself from gambling because once you’ve selected this option, you can’t go back on it until the time period is complete.You can contact the casino’s customer support to self-exclude from the gambling site. Once they have received your request, the casino must close your account and pay out any money in your balance to your preferred method of payment. The online casino must also remove you from its marketing campaigns and mailing lists to ensure that you do not receive any promotional material or communication from the casino.Most online casinos offer various time periods for self-exclusion such as:

A minimum of 24 hours
A minimum of 7 days
A minimum of 6 months

Self-exclusion requests that are less than 6 months long are usually referred to as cooling-off periods. Requests to be self-excluded for a period of 6 months or longer are typically referred to as permanent self-exclusion.

Identifying a Gambling Problem

Now that you are aware of the many channels and tools that can help with responsible gambling, you might want to know how to spot a gambling problem so that you can take control of the situation before it’s too late.

Here are a few tell-tale warning signs to look out for:

Gambling is no longer fun or enjoyable.
Selling possessions or taking out loans to accommodate gambling spending.
Trying to cover up or lie about the amount of money that is being spent on gambling.
Missing work, school, or other commitments to gamble.
Other people are criticising you (or someone else) for the amount of time spent gambling.
Struggling to maintain interpersonal relationships with friends, family members, or co-workers.
A feeling of loss or despair when there is no more money to continue gambling.

If you or someone that you care about experiences the symptoms listed above, then you should seek help to determine whether or not it is a gambling problem. There is a helpful Self Check Quiz on the South African Responsible Gambling Foundation’s website that can be completed for free. This will help to determine if further steps need to be taken.