Today marks the return of Safer Gambling Week.

The annual event is a cross-industry initiative to promote safer gambling in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and is to run from the 18th – 24th November 2024.

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Now in its seventh year, Safer Gambling Week is an initiative is designed to drive awareness of how to approach gambling responsibly.

It encourages customers experiencing gambling problems to seek help and advice from organisations such as GamCare and GambleAware.

Bookmakers throughout the betting industry will also highlight the many safer gambling tools available to help customers stay in control of their gambling.

Some of the most useful tools available include:

• Reality Checks: Reality check timers allow you to set up on-screen alerts to monitor how long you are spending gambling.

• Deposit Limits: You can manage the amount of money that you are able to deposit into your account.

• Time-Out: A time out allows you to take a short break from gambling, enabling you to block access to your account. Most operators offer a choice of a 24-hour, 1 week, 1 month or 6 weeks time out time out.

• Self Exclusion: If you think you are spending too much time or money gambling, you can volunteer to ban yourself from in-person or online gambling for a set period of time, usually between 6 months and 5 years.

• Website Blocking: You can monitor or restrict access to gambling sites with software such as GamBlock or Betfilter.

• Banking: Most major banks now offer the ability to limit your spending on gambling. Some offer a card locking or account blocking feature for gambling transactions. Most requests can be made online with your individual bank.

Remember to gamble responsibly

A responsible gambler is someone who:

• Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
• Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
• Never chase their losses
• Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry or depressed
• Gamcare – www.gamcare.org.uk
• Gamble Aware – www.gambleaware.org

For help with a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or go to www.gamstop.co.uk to be excluded from all UK-regulated gambling websites.