How to Stop Gambling

Last updated September 13, 2024

Online gambling is easily accessible throughout Canada. Although it’s meant to be a fun form of entertainment, problems with gambling can occur for some players. Understanding the warning signs of gambling addiction is important so you can take action to help prevent yourself from ever reaching this stage.

There are a number of steps that you can take to safeguard yourself if you do intend to gamble. These include:

Avoiding gambling when under the influence of drugs or alcohol
Don’t gamble when depressed, anxious or angry
Gambling only with money you can afford to lose
Never gambling to replace income
Taking regular breaks, including setting alarms when gambling
Setting up pre-commitment tools for all gambling activities

Having these tips in mind can be greatly beneficial to anyone intending to gamble.

Pre-commitment tools

If you do start to gambling then most licenced and regulated online gambling sites will have a range of pre-commitment or responsible gambling tools available. These tools are provided to give you instant control over the way you gamble.

By implementing some of these when you make your account, you can stop once you reach any limits you’ve set:

Loss limits: Allows you to set the amount of money you are happy to lose in a given period. You will receive notifications when you have reached your set limit and be prevented from gambling any further.
Deposit limits: Allows you to specify the amount of money you can deposit each day, week or month. Once set, you will not be able to deposit more than this amount in the given time period. You will also see a tracking bar showing how much of the deposit limit you have already reached.
Cooling-off: Allows you to take a break, effectively blocking yourself from the gambling site for a period of time. This is usually a short period such as 24 hours.
Self-exclusion: Allows you to block yourself completely from a gambling site. Typically, this is for an extended period of time ranging from 3, 6 or 12 months to permanently. This process cannot be reversed once in place, and you will not be able to access your account at all.

Unfortunately, while online casinos that are licenced and regulated are required to provide support, there isn’t a system yet in place to self-exclude across Canada. Instead, everything is done by province.

In Ontario, online gambling is now fully regulated and this means there are strict measures in place for responsible gambling. In future, the authorities in Ontario will roll out a centralized self-exclusion program which means players can exclude themselves from all gambling sites in one go.

However, for the other provinces, online gambling isn’t regulated. This means all responsible gambling tools are specific to the gambling site you are at. As such, if you hold accounts on multiple sites, you will need to go to each site individually and set up limits or set up an exclusion period. This is where the use of block gambling apps can be very handy.

Block gambling apps

If you feel like you need to take a very severe break, and simply blocking yourself from the sites you’ve signed up to is not going to be enough, then there are gambling block apps available. These apps are the best option for limiting access to gambling sites, helping you curb any urge to gamble at a much stricter level.

Unlike self-exclusion, blocker apps will stop you from accessing any gambling website in Canada and around the world. As such, it can be very effective. There are various apps available:

GamBan: Blocks access to thousands of gambling websites. Not only that, but there is access provided to specific gambling help resources as well.
BetBlocker: Available on any device you use on the internet. You can use it to block yourself from more than 13,000+ gambling websites. Also, you can choose the length of time to block.

What are the signs of problem gambling?

Unsure if you or someone you know has a problem? Here are some signs that there are issues and help is needed:

Spending more money or time on gambling than you can afford
Finding it hard to stop gambling
Chasing losses
Feeling anxious or worried about gambling

Canadian helplines and guidance

Finally, if you are having trouble stopping gambling, there are many helplines and a lot of guidance for players in Canada. Some online help options include:

ConnexOntario: Service for Ontario residents who can get free and confidential help for gambling addiction.
GamblingTherapy.org: Free global service offering advice and emotional support for anyone affected by gambling.
GamTalk.org: Online support for sharing experiences or connecting with others with gambling problems.
RecoverMe: Mobile app aiding people with gambling problems, available for Apple and Android devices.

Depending on where you are in Canada, there are various other gambling help services too.