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Gambling should never be treated as a way to pay bills, repair debt or earn a dependable income. If it is affecting your money, relationships or wellbeing, support is available without waiting for the situation to become a crisis.
Free, confidential Australian support
Call the National Gambling Helpline on 1800 858 858 for free, confidential support, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Gambling Help Online also provides online counselling and self-help information for people affected by their own or someone else’s gambling. These services are described by the Australian Government’s gambling support service information.
You do not have to diagnose yourself or prove that a loss is large enough before asking for help. A confidential conversation can help you consider the next step. Pokie Online’s editorial email is not a counselling service or a continuously monitored support line.
Recognise when play is causing problems
Reasons to pause include spending money intended for essentials, borrowing to continue, hiding activity, repeatedly breaking your own limits, trying to recover previous losses or finding it difficult to stop thinking about the next session. A problem can involve time and stress as well as the amount lost.
Discussing these concerns with an independent support service can be useful even if you are uncertain how serious they are. Someone affected by another person’s gambling can ask for support in their own right.
Practical steps for taking a break
Close the game and create distance from the account before making another spending decision. Pause promotional messages where possible, remove saved payment details and review whether your bank offers gambling-payment blocks or card controls. The scope of a block varies, so ask the bank what it covers.
Website and app blocking tools, a timeout or account exclusion can add barriers. These controls are most useful when you understand their limits and use them alongside a practical plan for your money and time. A control on one account does not necessarily affect another operator or another device.
Understand what BetStop covers
BetStop, the National Self-Exclusion Register, covers Australian licensed online and phone wagering providers. It offers a single registration process for the providers within that scheme. It should not be presented as a universal block on every gambling website, every offshore casino or every land-based venue.
Read the service’s current scope before relying on it, and ask a gambling counsellor about other exclusion and blocking options that fit your situation. Different products and locations can require different steps.
If you choose to gamble
Decide in advance what time and money you can afford to spend, keep essential expenses separate and stop when a chosen limit is reached. Do not increase the limit to recover a loss or satisfy a promotional condition. A bonus can create additional spending requirements rather than reduce the cost of play.
A theoretical return percentage is not a promise about one session. A larger stake, more simultaneous play or a faster game can increase how much money is at risk over time. An example or calculator on this website should not be used as a reason to continue after a limit has been reached.
Helping someone else
Choose a calm time to talk about the effect on you and the household. Independent support can help you consider boundaries around shared money and how to have that conversation. You are not required to solve the other person’s gambling on your own.
Keep children away from gambling accounts, payment credentials and adult gambling-related content. Our information is intended for adults aged 18 and over.
Australian services and this website
Online casino-style games and online pokies are among the prohibited services that providers must not offer to people in Australia. An overseas licence is not an Australian authorisation. See the ACMA’s explanation of the Interactive Gambling Act for the official position.
For a correction to this page, contact Jordyn.Beazley@pokieonline.net. For gambling support, contact the independent services above directly rather than waiting for an editorial reply.