Online gambling should be perceived as a hobby, not as a means of earning money. Unfortunately, most people pick the second option. The subsequent development of events depends on how strong their character is, and whether they can cope with the likely growth of gambling addiction.
One of the main tasks of our website is to inform American punters about the risks caused with uncontrolled casino activities. In severe cases, you may develop an addiction, which will lead to troubles in the family, at work or at school.
Gambling dependence can develop in any person, regardless of gender and age. The most vulnerable category are children and adolescents, so parents should carefully monitor what their offspring are doing. But, in severe cases, even help from the family may not be enough.
Explanation of Gambling Addiction
As you may have already understood, gambling addiction is the inability of a person to live without adrenaline and emotions brought to him or her by playing in an online casino or betting on a bookie portal. Scientists and doctors compare it with drug or alcohol dependence. Unfortunately, the consequences of gambling withdrawal can be very serious.
Our editorial staff strives to do everything in its power to inform US punters as much as possible about the risks associated with unwillingness to follow the rules of Responsible play. People with a strong character are often able to cope with addiction on their own, but there are much more weak-willed, malleable people.
There are several types of people suffering from such dependence:
- Compulsive punters. Such people know that they have issues, but they can’t stop. They will play even if they have little money;
- Binge gamblers. This category of players can control themselves for weeks or months, but if they reach the online casino game, they will lose all the bucks they have;
- Problem gamblers. These are people who may be aware that they have an addiction, but they cannot cope with it, or do not want to. Unlike compulsive gamblers, their problems are not so serious, but they can worsen at any moment.
Signs of the Development or Presence of the Dependence
Even without outside help, you may notice signs that you are developing an addiction. We want our site to be a storehouse of handy data for you, so we have collected observations for you that allow the punter to realize the existence of issues with gambling:
- You spend money on staking and casino activities that you need for other purposes;
- It starts to annoy you if other people try to tell you about the troubles of dependence;
- You are increasingly noticing that you are developing a depressive state;
- After losing, you try to recoup immediately, spending even more money on the game;
- You do not control the time you spend on a bookie site or in an online casino;
- Life has become boring for you outside of an online casino;
- You are constantly thinking about gambling, how you will play, and how much you want to win;
- Gambling has brought you problems in your personal life or at work;
- You started lying to your family about your staking or gambling addictions;
- You have troubles paying loans or bills;
- You started stealing to finance your game;
- You have started borrowing money or taking out loans to play at an online casino;
- You play until you lose the entire budget allocated for the game.
If you have recognized yourself in at least a few of these situations, then you need help.
Responsible Gambling Tools
We strongly recommend our US readers to utilize the services of only legal, licensed online casinos. Such operators work according to industry standards and adhere to the principles of Responsible gaming. This means that you can reach their customer care agents at any time, who will assist you and provide contacts of organizations that help problem gamblers. Additionally, there is a good pool of handy tools on such platforms to assist punters fight addiction:
- Limits. Gamers can set limits on the replenishment of the balance, the amount of the stake, spending for a certain period;
- Reminder. You will receive a notification that you spend a lot of time on the site;
- Blocking access. Request blocking access to certain portal services;
- Account blocking. You can close access to your private cabinet for a certain period;
- Blocking incoming transactions. Prohibit yourself from replenishing your balance for a day, week, month or more;
- Disabling promotional mailings. Open the options and disable the mailing of promo offers, so that you will not receive messages that fuel the appetite for continuing gaming activities;
- Deleting an account. In the most severe cases, you can completely delete your private cabinet.
Thus, you will be able to use an impressive range of useful tools to effectively fight the development of gambling addiction.
Getting Help Is Real
Unfortunately, uncontrolled activities in online casinos can lead to the development of gambling addiction. We honestly warn our readers about this and urge you to play responsibly. If you feel that your favorite games have stopped bringing you joy, and problems have appeared in your family and at work because of your hobbies, then you can write to us. Utilize the communication channels presented on the About Us page. We will give you the addresses of institutions that provide professional help to problem punters.
There are also a few steps that you can follow yourself:
- Warn your family that you have a gambling dependence;
- Utilize the Responsible gaming tools proposed by licensed online casinos;
- Try to take the measures to limit your reach to gambling activities.
Often people do not realize that they are becoming addicted to gambling. If you have any suspicions about this, then reach the support agents of the site whose services you employ. They will help you.