If you need help now, the National Gambling Helpline is free on 0808 8020 133. It is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year, and it is confidential. You do not have to be in crisis to call, and calling commits you to nothing.
The rest of this page can wait.
Ground rules
- Only stake what you can afford to lose.
- Set a deposit limit before you start, not after a bad run.
- Do not chase losses. The next bet will not fix the last one, and the bet placed to win back the previous one is the single clearest warning sign in the whole subject.
- Take breaks. If you are betting on every game, you are betting too much.
- Do not bet under the influence, and do not bet when you are upset or unable to sleep.
- Never gamble with borrowed money, on a credit card or with money owed to someone else. Credit cards have been banned for gambling in Great Britain since April 2020, and that ban exists for a reason.
- Check your actual net position every month rather than remembering the wins.
What this site is and is not
Bet Football publishes previews and predictions for readers aged 18 and over. Nothing here is advice, and no scoreline printed in bold is a reason to stake money you need.
Betting is entertainment with a price attached. It is not income, it is not a way out of a financial hole, and no tipster or system changes that, ours included.
Spot the signs
- Spending more than you meant to, or more than you can afford.
- Borrowing money, selling things or using money set aside for bills in order to gamble.
- Hiding how much you gamble from the people close to you, or lying about it.
- Chasing losses, or needing to stake more to get the same feeling.
- Feeling anxious, low or irritable when you are not gambling, or unable to stop thinking about the next bet.
- Gambling getting in the way of work, sleep, family or friendships.
Recognising one of these does not make you an addict, and recognising several is worth acting on rather than waiting to see, because gambling harm gets worse when it is left alone.
GambleAware hosts a short self assessment that takes a few minutes if you would rather start there than with a phone call.
Tools that put distance between you and the bet
- Deposit, loss and time limits. Set through your account with any operator licensed in Great Britain. Increases have to go through a cooling off period, so a limit set today cannot be raised on impulse tonight.
- Time outs. A short break, usually between one day and six weeks, arranged through the operator.
- Reality checks. On screen reminders of how long you have been playing, available from every UK licensed bookmaker.
- Self-exclusion with one operator. Blocks your account with that company for between six months and five years. Ask customer services if you cannot find the setting.
- GAMSTOP. The national self-exclusion scheme for online gambling in Great Britain. Registering blocks you from logging into or opening an account with every operator licensed by the Gambling Commission, and every licensee is legally required to check it. It is free, you choose six months, one year or five years, and it cannot be reversed early, which is the point of it.
- Bank gambling blocks. Most UK banks now let you switch off gambling transactions in the app, usually with a delay of 48 hours or more before the block can be lifted.
- Blocking software. Gamban blocks gambling sites and apps across your devices and is free if you are referred by GamCare or the National Gambling Helpline. BetBlocker is another free option.
Each of these works better in combination than alone. Someone who has self-excluded, blocked the payments and blocked the sites has put three separate obstacles in the way of a bad half hour.
Free, confidential help
- GamCare and the National Gambling Helpline. Free, confidential advice, information and emotional support on 0808 8020 133, 24 hours a day, every day of the year, with live chat and WhatsApp available through gamcare.org.uk. GamCare also runs free treatment and counselling across the UK.
- GambleAware. An independent charity providing information, a self assessment tool and a directory of support at gambleaware.org.
- GAMSTOP. Free self-exclusion covering every UK licensed gambling site, at gamstop.co.uk.
- Gordon Moody. Residential treatment and online recovery programmes for severe gambling harm, at gordonmoody.org.uk.
- The National Gambling Treatment Service and NHS gambling clinics. Specialist NHS treatment, with referral details on the NHS website.
- Gamblers Anonymous. Peer support meetings across the UK, in person and online, at gamblersanonymous.org.uk.
If you are worried about someone else
You do not have to wait for them to ask. The helpline on 0808 8020 133 supports family and friends as well as gamblers, and it is the right first call if you have noticed a pattern the person themselves has not.
GamAnon runs peer support meetings specifically for people affected by someone else's gambling.
Do not clear their debts on the assumption that it stops there, because paying off a gambling debt without the person getting support usually funds the next run rather than ending it.
Debt and money worries
Free, independent debt advice is available from StepChange and from Citizens Advice.
Neither charges and neither will judge you, and a commercial debt management company charging a fee is not the place to start.
Our part in it
We only work with operators licensed by the UK Gambling Commission, and we do not accept advertising from sites marketing themselves on sitting outside the GAMSTOP scheme.
We do not target advertising at anyone under 18, and we do not present betting as a solution to money problems or a route to success.
If you have self-excluded and want to stop seeing this site as well, blocking software such as Gamban and BetBlocker covers gambling affiliate sites alongside operators.
When the fun stops, stop.
