Most people never sit down and check. The six questions below are the ones our responsible gambling advocate asks first, because they surface the patterns that matter long before money runs out. Answer each one yes or no, keep a tally, and read the band your total falls into.
Count one point for every yes
- Have you deposited again in a session after telling yourself the previous deposit was the last one?
- Do you play faster, or raise your stake, specifically when you are behind?
- Has a session run past a time you had decided in advance you would stop?
- Have you kept the amount or the length of a session from someone close to you?
- Do you check your balance or open the lobby at moments you would once have found odd, such as at work or during the night?
- Has money meant for something else — rent, groceries, a bill — been used to play in the past three months?
What your total means
0 to 1 — in control
Nothing here needs fixing, but set a deposit limit anyway while it costs you nothing to do so. Limits apply the moment you set them and take 24 hours or longer to raise, which is exactly the friction you want in place before you need it.
2 to 3 — worth acting on now
These are the early patterns, and they are far easier to interrupt at this stage than later. Set a weekly deposit cap below what you currently spend, switch on session reminders, and turn autoplay off permanently. Speed, not stake size, is what tends to escalate first.
4 or more — please talk to someone
Take a cooling-off period or full self-exclusion at every site you hold an account with, then ring the Gambling Helpline on 0800 654 655. It is free, confidential, staffed at any hour, and you do not have to have decided anything before you call.
Free, confidential help in Aotearoa
- Gambling Helpline — 0800 654 655, or free text 8006, 24 hours a day
- Problem Gambling Foundation — free face-to-face and online counselling nationwide
- Safer Gambling Aotearoa — support for family and whānau as well as players
- Asian Family Services — 0800 862 342, counselling in several Asian languages
Every casino we recommend must offer deposit limits, loss limits, session reminders, cooling-off periods and self-exclusion, and must make them reachable within two clicks of the account menu. Sites that hide these tools do not appear in our ranking, whatever else they offer.