Deposit limits and safer gambling tools

Every casino licensed in Great Britain has to give you tools to control your time and spending. They range from a light-touch reminder to a five-year block on every licensed site. Here they are in order of strength, with when each one makes sense.

1. Deposit and other financial limits

Since 31 October 2025, operators must prompt you to set a financial limit when you register or before your first deposit. Setting a limit is the default; if you do not want one, you have to actively say so. The limit must be set at account level, you type in your own amount, and the options must include 24 hours, 7 days and one month.

Since 30 June 2026, every online operator must also offer a true deposit limit — one based only on how much you pay in over a period — and only that kind of limit may be called a “deposit limit”. Under the Commission’s technical standard on financial limits (opens in a new tab) (RTS 12), deposit limits must be offered at least as prominently as any other kind of limit. Operators may also offer:

• stake limits, which cap how much you stake over the period;
• loss limits, which cap your total stakes minus any winnings or returns from them;
• net deposit limits, which cap what you pay in minus anything you withdraw.

If you set limits for more than one period, the strictest one always applies. The Commission’s example: with a daily deposit limit of £10 and a weekly limit of £100, you can deposit no more than £10 a day and £70 a week. Once you reach a deposit limit, the site must stop further deposits until the period restarts or you raise the limit, which is subject to the 24-hour cooling-off period. If an operator lets you set a limit on one game or channel, it should make clear whether the limit covers your whole account or only that product.

Two rules make limits meaningful:

• Decreases apply immediately.
• Increases wait at least 24 hours, and only take effect if you confirm them again after the cooling-off period.

Operators must also link to limit settings directly from the homepage and deposit pages, and prompt you to review your account and transaction history at least every six months if you have been active. You must be able to set more frequent reminders if you want them. The site must tell you when a new limit comes into force. If you chose not to set a limit, it must prompt you to review that decision at least once a year.

A sensible approach: pick a monthly figure you could lose without it affecting bills, savings or plans, and set it before your first deposit.

2. Reality checks and session limits

A reality check is a pop-up that tells you how long you have been playing. A session limit logs you out after a set time. LeoVegas, for example, offers reality checks at intervals from 15 to 90 minutes, and you have to respond to the alert before carrying on. The Commission’s technical standards require casinos to offer reality checks; see how online casino games are regulated.

Under RTS 13 (opens in a new tab), casino, bingo and instant-win games must let you choose how often a reality check appears during a gaming session, and you must acknowledge it before it disappears. If the site offers a list of intervals, it must give a reasonable and appropriate range, and any default must be set at the minimum. You cannot start a new game, including the next game in an autoplay sequence, until you acknowledge it.

3. Time-outs

A time-out closes your account with one operator for a short period, then reopens it automatically. The Commission’s social responsibility code on time-outs (opens in a new tab) requires online operators to offer time-outs of 24 hours, one week and one month, or another period you reasonably ask for, up to six weeks. At LeoVegas the range is 24 hours to six weeks. Useful if you want a break over a busy period, a big sporting event or payday.

4. Self-exclusion with one operator

Self-exclusion is for when you want support to stop gambling. You enter a formal agreement with the operator, it closes your account, returns any balance and removes you from its marketing lists. (If you only want fewer messages, you can change your marketing preferences instead.) If you try to gamble during the exclusion, it must take reasonable steps to stop you.

The Commission’s rules for online operators (code 3.5.3 (opens in a new tab) and code 3.5.4 (opens in a new tab)) say:

• you must be able to self-exclude by contacting customer services or through an automated online process, which may ask you to confirm;
• you should be able to self-exclude straight away, with no cooling-off period, or come back later if you want time to think it over;
• before you self-exclude, the operator should explain what it means, encourage you to consider excluding from other gambling sites you use, and tell you that software is available to block gambling websites;
• the shortest period offered should be between 6 and 12 months, you should be able to choose up to at least five years, and you can extend it by further periods of at least 6 months;
• the operator must remove you from its marketing databases, or flag you as someone who must not be marketed to, within two days of receiving your completed self-exclusion;
• it must point you to counselling and support services.

For what happens when a self-exclusion period ends, see how GAMSTOP works.

Check how far the exclusion reaches. LeoVegas Gaming PLC says that self-excluding at any of its UK sites — LeoVegas, BetMGM, BetUK, Pink Casino, 21.co.uk and Slot Boss — blocks you at all of them, for six months to five years, and that accounts do not reopen automatically afterwards.

5. GAMSTOP: block every licensed site at once

GAMSTOP (opens in a new tab) is the free national online self-exclusion scheme. Every online operator licensed in Great Britain must take part. When you register:

• you choose a period of 6 months, 1 year, 5 years, or 5 years with automatic renewal;
• the block can take up to 24 hours to become effective;
• you cannot cancel it during the chosen period;
• it stays in place after the period ends until you contact GAMSTOP to remove it;
• it does not automatically return money in existing accounts — contact those operators to withdraw your balance.

GAMSTOP is available to anyone living in the UK, including Northern Ireland, but it blocks gambling companies licensed in Great Britain. A related service, Gamstop Betting Shops, covers high-street bookmakers. Our guide to how GAMSTOP works goes through registration, removal and what the block does not cover.

6. Bank gambling blocks

Many UK banks let you block gambling payments from your debit card or account, usually in the app. Some make the block hard to remove on impulse — Monzo requires a conversation with its support team, and HSBC applies a cooling-off period. See our payment methods guide for more.

7. Blocking software

Device-level blocking software stops gambling websites and apps loading on your phone or computer. GamCare publishes information about blocking tools, and some banks offer access to one.

8. Machines in betting shops

The tools above are for online accounts. In betting shops, the Commission’s code on B2 machines (opens in a new tab) requires every B2 machine (the fixed-odds betting terminals limited to £2 a play) to make you actively choose whether to set time and money thresholds. These trigger alerts for you and for staff. For how machines are categorised, see gaming machines in Great Britain. To bar yourself from betting shops, see land-based self-exclusion.

What operators must tell you

The Commission’s code on responsible gambling information (opens in a new tab) requires gambling businesses to make information readily available to all customers about the tools they offer, such as limits on session length or spending, timers and reality checks, self-exclusion and where to get further help. In gambling premises, this information must be displayed in all areas where gambling is offered and next to cash machines, and be available in a form you can take away. Businesses must also take reasonable steps to make sure you can get it discreetly.

Combining tools

GAMSTOP describes its block as especially powerful when combined with other services, and notes that many people who use it also install blocking software, block gambling payments at their bank and get support from a specialist service. If you are worried about your gambling, the help page lists free, confidential services, including the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133.