Responsible Gambling: Limits, Self-Exclusion and UK Support

Setting limits

Every bookmaker licensed by the Gambling Commission has to give you tools to control your betting, and the time to set them is before your first deposit, not after a bad fight night. The main ones are:

• Deposit limits. Set a daily, weekly or monthly cap on what you can pay in. A reduction applies straight away; an increase only applies after a cooling-off period, usually at least 24 hours.
• Reality checks. A reminder that pops up after a set time, showing how long you have been logged in and what you have spent. Set the interval shorter than you think you need.
• Time-outs. A short break from a single bookmaker, typically from a day up to six weeks, during which you cannot log in to bet.
• Self-exclusion with one bookmaker. A longer block, of at least six months, from one company and usually its sister brands.
• Bank gambling blocks. Many UK banks and card providers let you block payments to gambling businesses from their app, and some add a delay before the block can be lifted.

Credit cards have been banned for gambling in Great Britain since 14 April 2020, so you can only bet with money you already have. In-play boxing is fast, with prices changing in the minute between rounds, which makes a limit set in advance more useful than a decision made during the fight.

GamStop self-exclusion

GamStop is the free national self-exclusion scheme for online gambling. One registration blocks you from every online gambling business licensed in Great Britain, because taking part is a condition of the licence. You choose six months, one year or five years, and the exclusion cannot be cancelled early. When the period ends it stays in place until you ask for it to be lifted. GamStop does not cover betting shops, which run their own multi-operator self-exclusion schemes, and it cannot block sites without a UK licence, which is one more reason to use only licensed bookmakers.

Support from GamCare, the NHS and the National Gambling Support Network

GamCare runs the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133, open 24 hours a day, as well as a live chat and counselling. Both help anyone affected by gambling, including family and friends. Free treatment is also available through the National Gambling Support Network across Great Britain and, in England, through the NHS gambling clinics. You can refer yourself to either; you do not need to go through your GP, although a GP can refer you too. The help is free and confidential, and you do not need to have reached a crisis to ask for it. GambleAware, the charity that used to commission much of this support, closed on 31 March 2026; its website remains online as an information site, and the services listed here are the ones to contact.

Signs to watch for

Gambling harm tends to creep up slowly. Any of these is a reason to pause and talk to someone:

• betting more than you planned, or more often, to get the same excitement;
• chasing losses, for example with a bigger in-play bet after a round bet goes the other way;
• borrowing money, missing bills or using savings to bet;
• hiding betting from family or friends, or feeling anxious or irritable when you cannot bet;
• betting on fights you would not otherwise watch, just to have something running.

If you recognise these signs, set a limit or a time-out today, register with GamStop and call the helpline. Our guides on this site, from the home page to how to bet on boxing, explain how prices work so that bets are understood; they are never a reason to bet more.