Responsible Gambling Guide

Gambling is fun and enjoyable, but many people gamble for the money and big winnings. Winning or losing provides amazing emotions.

It is important to monitor this process so that it does not negatively affect your financial and social situation. Many people know how to do this, but there are people for whom gambling has become an addiction and is ruining their lives.

The CasinoSS team has written an in-depth guide to ensure that you stick to responsible gambling.

What is responsible gambling?

According to studies, about 50% of all men in India gamble, but only 7% are addicted to it.

Responsible gambling is above all about controlling your emotions. Don't let greed drown out the voice of reason. You must abide by the following rules so that there are no negative consequences:

  • Play with the money you have set aside for gambling, which you may lose
  • Don't play all your free time. Choose certain intervals
  • Gambling is fun! Don't gamble for big winnings
  • Don't try to win back your losses
  • Don't think of gambling as a source of income

How to spot a responsible online casino in India

There are several things to consider when choosing a casino. The first is the gambling licence. The Maltese gambling licence (MGA) is the strictest and therefore the safest for the gambler. The second point is whether the website has a dedicated page for responsible gambling.

Why do all casinos have different policies regarding safe play?

All casinos have different gambling licences and business processes. As we wrote above, the strictest licence is the MGA. Licences such as Gibraltar, Barbuda, Curacao, Antigua have less stringent requirements.

Problem Gambling

Problem gambling is the opposite of responsible gambling. They are games that negatively affect many aspects of your life.

Wikipedia gives the following definition:

"Problem gambling or ludomania is repetitive gambling behavior despite harm and negative consequences. Problem gambling may be diagnosed as a mental disorder according to DSM-5 if certain diagnostic criteria are met. Pathological gambling is a common disorder associated with social and family costs."

Such players usually lose far more money than they have allocated to the game, spend almost all their free time, and try to solve their social problems in this way.

Such people already have a gambling addiction. Yes, it is an addiction, just like cigarettes, alcohol or drugs.

Gambling addiction is a disease

All addictions affect the human brain in roughly the same way. They contribute to the production of dopamine.

Dopamine is the hormone of joy. So a parallel can be drawn. When a person plays gambling, he feels pleasure, he has a feeling of joy and happiness. Addicted people have impaired dopamine production, so they want to gamble again and again, despite the consequences.

Signs of manifestation of problem gambling

  1. Gambling takes priority over other things in life
  2. Increasing gamble time to increase the amount of fun
  3. You want to stop, stop gambling, but you can't do it
  4. You feel anxious, depressed when you are not gamble
  5. You "lock yourself away" in gambling to get away from social problems
  6. You have done something with your life and as a reward you choose gambling
  7. You have lost some of your money in a casino and trying to win it back again and again
  8. You do not tell anyone that you gamble, you hide it, you are ashamed if anyone finds out
  9. You are willing to commit crimes in order to get money for the gamble

Self-assessment check

Below is a series of statements for which you must give a score between 0 and 10. Depending on the scores, you can determine your level of addiction.

This test is taken from the GamCare website:

  1. Have you been gamble longer than you wanted to?
  2. Do other people see that you are too keen on gambling?
  3. Do you not notice the passage of time at the game?
  4. Do you waste time gambling when you should be doing other things?
  5. Are you spending a little more or a lot more money than you planned?
  6. Are you constantly trying to win back the money you lost?
  7. Are you spending money on gambling that should have been spent on something else?
  8. Do you borrow money to gamble?
  9. Are you hiding a gambling habit?
  10. Do you feel bad if you have lost money or finished gambling?
  11. Do you not have enough money to live on because of the gamble?

What should you do if you have a gambling problem?

The first step is to admit to yourself that you have a gambling addiction.

Next, there are the following options:

  • Seek help from a Gamblers Anonymous (GA) group
  • Seek medical help from medical facilities
  • Take advantage of therapy programmes
  • Go to a rehabilitation centre
  • Or use several options

Tools to help you keep things under control

All casinos are commercial organisations. But they provide a number of useful tools so that gamblers create a safer environment for themselves.

You can use the following tools to keep your gambling addiction under control:

1
Deposit limit
Limits the maximum amount of deposit money
2
Loss limit
Limits the maximum amount of money you can lose
3
Session limit
Limits the game session time
4
Wager limit
Limits the amount of money for one game
5
Player history
Shows the entire history of spins, bets, etc.
6
Time alert
Reminder of winning or losing, game time, betting
7
Self-exclusion
Blocking your casino account temporarily or permanently
8
Self-assessment
A test to show your gambling habits

When should you self-exclude yourself?

When you realise that you cannot control your gambling and it has become an addiction, you should immediately block your accounts at all the casinos.

You should also contact the support team at these casinos, they won't send you emails and SMS.

There are also several services to help you avoid creating new accounts:

  1. Gamban - blocks gambling-related websites from being downloaded to all your devices.
  2. Betfilter - not only gambling-related websites but also gambling advertisements are blocked.
  3. CyberSitter & Netnanny- these services can help you block content you don't want to see, such as violence, drugs, alcohol and gambling.

When should you seek help?

You can simply block casino sites and that will save you for a while, but you won't get rid of the addiction itself.

You need to treat the very cause of your addiction. The following organisations will help you do this:

  • Gamblers Anonymous (GA) - are people who help each other by sharing their experiences of gambling addiction.
  • Hope Trust India - a treatment facility located in India (Hyderabad, Telangana) that offers a 12-step treatment programme.
  • Gambling Therapy - is an online service where people can consult qualified specialists free of charge. The service is available in many languages, including English and Hindi.
  • GamCare - optimal service for people from India, available in English and Punjabi.

If you want to meet people in person, you can visit one of the following places:

  1. Monday, Sanjeevi G.A, 7:30 – 9:00 PM, Saraswati Vidyalaya, Opp: Kanhoji Jedhe (Bhaagshala) Maidan, Dombivli (West)
  2. Friday, Dehli G.A. – “New Life Group”, 7:00 – 8:00 PM, St Thomas Church, Sector-2, Rama Krishna Puram (R K Puram), Delhi
  3. Saturday, Chaitanya G.A., 7:00 – 9:00 PM, Municipal School #6, Dr Ambedkar Chowk, Near Bhanushali Hospital, Thane (West) 400601
  4. Sunday, New Leaf G.A., 11:00AM -1:00PM, Holy Cross Church, South Boag Road, Nagar, Madras

In conclusion

Always remember that gambling is primarily about having fun, getting emotional. And there is always a risk involved. It is important to control yourself so that you don't get addicted.

The CasinoSS team asks you to be careful and check yourself sometimes.