Gambling Responsibly
Online casino websites offer players a wide variety of gambling games and promise to provide a unique and realistic experience. Simultaneously, all casinos promote responsible gambling, as there is a great number of vulnerable players who can easily slip into excessive or compulsive gambling.
Moreover, online casinos have to also ensure underage gambling prevention, personal and financial data privacy and protection, fight against fraudulent behaviour, deliver fair payments to customers, ensure correctness of the game play, promote ethical marketing, deliver customer satisfaction and commit to providing an overall safe and trustworthy gambling environment.
As we have mentioned before, there are those who are more vulnerable to falling in the extreme of gambling and develop a disorder. It is not an unknown issue, unfortunately, there are a lot of situations in which action is not taken and just like any other vice, it keeps growing around the sufferer and destroying not only his life but possibly the lives of those around him/her.
Gambling addiction and symptoms or how to recognize a compulsive gambler
According to a general and rather used definition across the Internet, “Gambling means that you’re willing to risk something you value in the hope of getting something of even greater value”. It is scientifically proven that playing gambling games, thus the action of gambling, especially at winning points, stimulates the area of the brain concerned with rewards, having the same effect on it like alcohol or drugs, and inevitably leads to a inexplicably similar addiction.
Some of the main symptoms when it comes to recognizing a compulsive gambler include a constant preoccupation to get more gambling money, a feeling of restlessness or irritation when not gambling and the impossibility to enjoy any other activity, gambling large amounts to recover lost money, lying, hiding or denying a gambling problem, behavioural change that lead to despair and criminal actions like theft or fraud to get hold of more gambling money, borrowing money from family or friends hiding the reasons behind the request. It is a vicious circle as gamblers will always want to continue gambling to recover lost money.
How to avoid compulsive or excessive gambling?
You need to know that gambling should be done for fun, entertainment and with sums of money that you can afford to lose. You need to be comfortable with the idea that you may lose that money, as well as with the time spent on gambling websites. In relation to this, we have already written in our online casino reviews that every game uses an algorithm that influences the number of wins and losses, more exactly the outcome of a gambling game is determined by a RANDOM number generator. You must be aware of the fact that there is no material, religious or luck-related factor that can positively influence your win. Maybe unless you are a mathematical genius and you can figure out that algorithm, which is not that easy anyway.
Promoting responsible gambling
All reputable casinos in the UK and all over the world that care about their players promote safe, responsible gambling in various ways. A first measure taken against compulsive gambling is the self-limit and self-exclusion options. The first refers to players who set a deposit or loss limit and whenever those limits are reached, the player cannot continue playing or adding more money to his/her account for a previously established period of time. The latter option, self-exclusion means that your account will be terminated/suspended for a specific period of time of your choice. Plus, in the UK, online casinos usually take a “cooling off” day between the end of your exclusion period and the account reactivation date. All these option that encourage responsible gambling are done by contacting the Customer Support Team, whose members are well trained in this respect and know exactly what to recommend you in case you need help.
Another means to promote responsible gambling and encourage compulsive gamblers to find a solution to their problem is for online casinos to list on their webpages the names and links to the non-profit organizations, specialized in helping people suffering from the gambling disorder or help prevent ending up with this issue. GamCare, Gamblers Anonymous, GambleAware are just a few of these highly helpful and efficient organizations who are willing to provide advice and guidance in fighting and correcting compulsive gambling and encourage a responsible, healthy casino games play.