Help that costs nothing, and how to reach it
The National Gambling Helpline is 0808 8020 133. Free from any UK phone, open at every hour of the day, and you do not have to be in crisis to use it. Everything else on this page is a route to free, independent support.
Four organisations, none connected to us
These are the bodies that regulate British gambling and support the people affected by it. Nothing here is ours, nothing costs money, and none of them will try to sell you anything.
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GamCare
Operates the National Gambling Helpline and a round-the-clock live chat, and arranges free treatment across England, Scotland and Wales for players and for family.
gamcare.org.uk -
GAMSTOP
Free national self-exclusion. One registration blocks every gambling site and app licensed in Great Britain for six months, one year or five years.
gamstop.co.uk -
GambleAware
Independent advice, a short self-assessment worth ten minutes, and a directory of local services anywhere in Great Britain.
gambleaware.org -
UK Gambling Commission
The statutory regulator. Its public register confirms whether an operator is licensed, and its rules set the protections described below.
gamblingcommission.gov.uk
What a UKGC licence obliges an operator to give you
A Gambling Commission licence is not decoration. Every operator holding one has to provide a set of player-protection tools, and they are usually two or three taps inside the account menu rather than anywhere prominent.
You are entitled to set a deposit limit, and a reduction takes effect immediately while an increase does not. You can ask for a reality check that interrupts play at an interval you choose. You can take a time-out lasting from one day to six weeks, or self-exclude with that operator for a minimum of six months, which also stops its marketing reaching you. Your account history has to be available to you, and during slots play the site must show elapsed time and your net position for the session.
Some of the harder edges have been removed outright. Autoplay on slots was banned in 2021, along with features that speed a spin up, celebratory sound and lights for a return smaller than the stake, and playing multiple slots at once. There is a minimum spin length of 2.5 seconds. Gambling on a credit card has been prohibited in Great Britain since April 2020.
Our practical guide goes through how to actually use these, and what a session limit is worth compared with a deposit limit.
Other free routes worth knowing
- NHS gambling services
- The NHS runs specialist gambling clinics in England, reachable through a GP referral or by self-referral, with equivalent services available in Scotland and Wales. Treatment is free.
- National Gambling Support Network
- The network of organisations delivering free counselling and structured treatment across Great Britain, coordinated with the helpline. One call to 0808 8020 133 gets you into the right part of it.
- Gamblers Anonymous
- Peer support meetings across the UK, in person and online, with no fees and no referral needed. Gam-Anon runs parallel meetings for family members.
- Gordon Moody
- Residential and intensive treatment for people whose gambling needs more than weekly counselling, including dedicated programmes for women.
- Blocking software
- BetBlocker is a free registered charity app that blocks gambling sites on your own devices for a period you set. Gamban does the same across desktop and mobile and is available free through the support network. These work alongside GAMSTOP rather than instead of it.
- Bank-level gambling blocks
- Most UK banks now let the account holder switch off gambling transactions from within their app, often with a cooling-off delay before it can be turned back on.
- Money worries
- StepChange, National Debtline and Citizens Advice all give free, impartial debt advice. Gambling debt is treated the same as any other debt, and none of them charge.
If you are worried about someone else
The helpline takes calls from partners, parents and friends, and GamCare runs support specifically for people affected by another person's gambling. GAMSTOP can only be registered by the person themselves, so the practical steps available to you are a conversation, a bank-level block on a shared account, and looking after your own position — which usually means getting advice about the money before agreeing to cover any of it.
Keeping under-18s away from it
Every UK-licensed operator must verify a customer's age before allowing play, and gambling advertising is restricted from content likely to appeal strongly to children. On a shared device the useful additions are BetBlocker or the parental controls built into iOS and Android, and keeping payment cards out of saved browser data.
What we can and cannot do
Wager Landmark compares operators. We hold no accounts, so we cannot close one, apply a limit, reverse anything, or self-exclude you. Account matters go to the operator's support team; a national block goes through GAMSTOP; and if you want to speak to someone independent tonight, that is what 0808 8020 133 is for. Details of who we are and how we are funded are on the about page.
Nothing on this page is medical, legal or financial advice, and none of the organisations listed here has any involvement with this site. Gambling is entertainment that costs money. It is not a way to make money, and it is never a way to recover a loss.
Disclaimer. Wager Landmark is an independent, affiliate-funded comparison site and is not an operator, a regulator or a treatment provider. We hold no player accounts and take no part in play or money handling. 18+ only · begambleaware.org · National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133