Safer Gambling Week: All you need to know for SGW 2024
2024 will be the seventh year of the annual Safer Gambling Week. Here at HorseRacing.net we look at some of the important ways it seeks to help people to stay in control of their gambling.
Safer Gambling Week takes place from Monday to Sunday this week. It is an annual event run across the UK & Ireland where bookmakers and gambling organisations seek to educate customers around responsible gambling.
The idea is to help people to be more open and honest about their gambling habits and to provide anyone who feels they are not betting responsibly with the necessary tools and assistance to either stop betting completely or to get their betting under control.
How can I stay in control of my gambling?
Here are some suggestions to help you to ensure your gambling is done in a safe and controlled way:
- Set reality checks via prompts and time-outs to help you manage the amount of time you spend gambling.
- Set deposit limits in line with your budget.
- View your betting history including transactions, deposits and withdrawals.
- Take a break from betting for a period of time. This could be 24 hours up to 6 weeks.
- Self exclude yourself from betting for anything from six months to five years.
- Set autoplay controls if you like to play games using the auto-play feature.
How will I know if I have a problem?
Ask yourself the following questions:
- Do you gamble alone for long periods, perhaps avoiding other activities to do so?
- Have you needed to increase stakes to continue to get excitement from your betting?
- Have you suffered mood swings, agitation or irritability when not gambling?
- Do you gamble to escape issues or problems in your private life?
- Have you claimed to be winning when actually you are losing?
- Have you tried to reduce your gambling spend and been unsuccessful?
- Have you ever committed or been tempted to commit an act of dishonesty to access money for gambling?
- Have you ever gambled specifically to win back or chase losses?
- Have you ever hidden your gambling from important people in your life?
- Have you borrowed money or put yourself in debt to pay for gambling?
- Have you sold any possessions to pay for gambling?
- Have you broken promises to friends or family to spend time gambling?
If you answer yes to any of the questions above, you need to be honest with yourself and admit that you may have a gambling problem. This is often the biggest step and, once made, you can start to take back control.
Never be afraid or embarrassed to ask for help. If you think you have a problem and want to stop please contact one of these specialist organisations:
GamCare
www.gamcare.org.uk
0808 8020 133
Gamblers Anonymous
www.gamblersanonymous.org.uk/
GambleAware
www.gambleaware.co.uk
0808 8020 133
National Problem Gambling Clinic
www.cnwl.nhs.uk
0800 0234 650