Responsible gambling

We review casinos, which means we think adults can gamble if they want to. We also think most of the people reading this have, at some point, deposited more than they meant to. This page is the practical version: what the tools are, where they are in the account menu, and who to call. No lecture.

Deposit limits

Nearly every casino has a deposit limit setting somewhere under account, responsible gaming or limits. You set a daily, weekly or monthly ceiling and the cashier refuses anything over it. Two things to know. Lowering a limit takes effect at once; raising one usually has a cooling-off delay of 24 hours to a week, which is the point. And set it before you are losing, not after, because at 1 a.m. with a balance at zero you will set it higher than you should. Pick a number you would be comfortable telling someone about, and set it on day one.

Time-outs and reality checks

A time-out locks the account for 24 hours, a week or a month. You cannot log in, you cannot deposit, and support will not reverse it. Use it when you notice you are chasing. A reality check is a pop-up every 30 or 60 minutes telling you how long you have been playing and what you are down; it is the tool most people turn off and the one we would leave on. If a site has neither, that tells you something about the site.

Self-exclusion at the casino level

Self-exclusion closes the account for six months, a year, five years or permanently. It is one site at a time at offshore casinos: there is no central register across the sites we review, so excluding from one does not touch the others, and the same company often runs several brands under different names. If you self-exclude, do it at every site where you have an account, write to support to confirm, and keep the e-mail. Some sites will try to keep you with a bonus offer when you ask. That is a reason to leave, not a reason to stay.

Ontario residents have a different situation: registered sites there share a central self-exclusion scheme. None of the sites we review are registered there, which is covered on the Ontario page.

The signs

• Depositing again within minutes of a loss to get it back.
• Raising the deposit limit, then raising it again.
• Playing with money that had a job: rent, the car payment, the kid's stuff.
• Hiding the balance or the time spent from someone at home.
• Feeling relief, not fun, when a session ends.
• Borrowing, or using a credit card cash advance, to deposit.

One of these on a bad week is a bad week. Three of them for a month is the pattern, and the earlier it is interrupted the easier it is.

Where to get help in Canada

These are free, confidential and open around the clock. Nobody on the other end is going to judge you; they do this all day.

• Ontario: ConnexOntario, 1-866-531-2600
• British Columbia: Gambling Support BC, 1-888-795-6111
• Alberta: Alberta Addiction Helpline, 1-866-332-2322
• Quebec: Jeu: aide et référence, 1-800-461-0140
• Manitoba: Problem Gambling Helpline, 1-800-463-1554
• Saskatchewan: Problem Gambling Helpline, 1-800-306-6789
• Nova Scotia: Gambling Support Line, 1-888-347-8888
• Everywhere: Gamblers Anonymous has meetings across Canada, in person and online, at gamblersanonymous.org

If you are not in one of those provinces, call the nearest one; they will point you to the right service. If you are in crisis, call or text 9-8-8, the national suicide crisis line.

Things that help that are not a helpline

Block the sites at the device level. Delete the saved card from the cashier. Set the bank app to refuse gambling merchant codes; several Canadian banks now have a toggle for this. Tell one person. And use the vault-style tools where they exist: Stake has a Vault that takes money out of the playable balance, which is the single most useful thing on that site.

Ages: every site we review requires players to be 18 or older, and 19 in most provinces. We write for adults and we do not want anyone younger here.