All About Responsible Gaming At Online Casinos
It’s easy to see just how great an impact online casinos have had on gambling – gone are the days where you had to dress up and visit the MGM Grand just to play a few games of roulette. Now, you can play virtually any casino table game, slot game or card game from your computer or phone.
Sports betting has also changed, especially in Europe and the UK. Today, you can place a bet on pretty much any sporting event, anywhere in the world, straight from your mobile phone.
But this huge rise in gambling availability certainly has its downsides. Gambling addiction is a growing social problem – last year over 10 million people were said to have gambling addiction problems in the USA alone. Gambling is supposed to be a fun and enjoyable form of entertainment, where you can also win money. However, some people become addicted to the thrill of winning or obsessed with chasing their losses and they develop dangerous addictions.
Online casinos and sportsbooks have a responsibility to ensure the wellbeing of all their customers. It’s far too easy to cross the line from enjoyable hobby to a dangerous addiction. So how do they help people to ensure they gamble responsibly?
Responsible Gambling Policies
To help promote responsible gaming online, many online casinos have partnered with independent, third-party charities which provide gambling addiction therapy and other resources.
In addition, all reputable online casinos have strict anti-gambling addiction policies to help prevent gambling addiction before it’s too late. These include:
- Loss limits:
Obviously, no-one should gamble with money that they can’t afford to lose. However, someone who suffers from compulsive betting problems isn’t able to stop themselves, and they can quickly spiral into debt. To tackle this problem, online casinos and sportsbooks allow players to set fixed “loss-limits.” This means that if the player loses a certain amount of money within a set timeframe, their account will be temporarily locked. This way players aren’t able to gamble and lose money that they could not afford to.
- Deposit limits:
Similarly, a player can pre-set deposit limits that prevent them from depositing more than a certain amount within a set time period.
- Cooling-off period:
If a player finds themselves spending too much time gambling online, and they are unable to restrain themselves, they can request a “cooling off” period. This means that they will be temporarily excluded from the casino.
- Permanent exclusion:
In an extreme case, a player may decide to permanently self-exclude themselves from the casino and shut down their account. The casino will log their IP and personal details and prevent them from reopening their account in the future.
Final Thoughts
Online gambling and sports betting are supposed to fun. Whether you play slot games, table games or bet on your favorite team to win, gambling should always be just a fun pastime. Reputable and licensed online casinos keep tabs on their customers to make sure that everyone has a good time and gambles responsibly.