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Safer Gambling

If gambling has stopped being fun, help is free, confidential and available tonight. You do not need to have decided anything to make the call.

Free help, any time

  • National Gambling Helpline: 0808 8020 133, free and open 24 hours a day.
  • GamCare: advice, counselling and an online chat service.
  • BeGambleAware.org: information and referral to free treatment.
  • GamStop: free self-exclusion from all UK-licensed online gambling sites.

Why GamStop will not block the sites on this site

Every casino listed on thehatboxoxford.com is licensed outside the UK. None is regulated by the UK Gambling Commission and none takes part in GamStop. If you have self-excluded, these sites can still accept you. Please do not use them.

If you want protection that covers offshore sites too, these tools go further than GamStop:

  • Blocking software. Apps such as Gamban stop gambling sites loading on your phone and computer, including offshore ones.
  • Your bank's gambling block. Most UK banks let you block gambling payments on your debit card from inside their app.
  • Device controls. If you share a device with a young person, filtering software such as Net Nanny helps keep gambling sites out of reach.

What you give up at an offshore casino

  • UK dispute resolution. If a payout is refused, you rely on the operator's own complaints process and its offshore regulator.
  • The credit card ban. UK-licensed sites cannot take credit cards. Offshore sites can, and gambling with borrowed money is a fast route to serious debt.
  • Stake limits and affordability checks. UK rules on slot stakes and affordability do not apply, so your own limits are the only ones.

Limits that actually help

  • Set a deposit limit in the cashier before your first deposit.
  • Decide what you can afford to lose before you start, and stop when it is gone.
  • Never chase losses by raising your stakes.
  • Keep gambling money separate from money for bills, rent and food.
  • Take breaks, and use any time-out or cooling-off tool the site offers.

Signs to watch for

Spending more time or money than you meant to. Borrowing to gamble. Hiding it from the people around you. Feeling restless or low when you are not playing. Gambling to win back what you have lost. Any one of these is a good reason to call the helpline, and it is common: you would not be the first caller with that story tonight.

Under 18s

Gambling is for adults only. Every operator listed requires age and identity checks, and accounts opened with false details are closed and winnings withheld.