Safer Gambling Tip: What is Self-Exclusion?

For most gamers, gambling is a fun and exciting hobby that they share with friends and loved ones. Whether it is a night out at the casino including dinner and dancing, or perhaps an online slots tournament with friends across the globe it is pure entertainment with the added benefit of a potential big win to spice things up.

There is however a small percentage of the gambling community where the fun and entertainment are supplanted by compulsive behaviours leading to an addiction. For years these gamblers have flown under the radar due to a lack of knowledge and understanding, however, with improved gambling regulation came an industry-wide focus on Safer Gambling.

 A Safer Gambling World

These days there is a lot of information available to players and their loved, plus regulated casinos offer a range of tools to help those at-risk of addiction maintain control of their situation.

These tools include:

• Deposit limits – pre-set how much you’re willing to spend at the casino.
• Reality checks – periodic notices to take breaks and of actual spend.
• Short term timeouts – the chance to set short breaks of up to 30 days.
• Self-exclusion – a more serious decision to take up to 6 months away from gambling.

In addition to these tools, regulated casinos invest in training their customer agents to not only recognise potential at-risk players but have action plans to contact them and assist them should it be necessary.

How Does Self Exclusion Work?

Activating short term breaks and setting limits on both your budget and even the amount of time you will spend at a casino in one session are easy to put in place, however, making the decision to self-exclude is less so.

The reason many gamblers hesitate to self-exclude is that it means the following:

• No access to the excluded casino account for up to 6 months.
• No marketing or bonus offers from the excluded online casino.
• Exclusion from land-based casinos means no access to all participating venues.

Safer gambling company, Gamban, recommend looking at the multiple phases of a progressive gambling problem as outlined by Dr Custer. Custer formulated an easy to follow funnel that outlines the progression of problem gaming from entertainment to outright addiction. If you recognise these 'steps' in your own life self-exclusion is likely a good proactive step to take.

The model above shows that problem gambling tracks a distinct and recognisable path:

1. Winning – the idea of gambling and winning becomes all-consuming.
2. Losing – the idea of winning leads to chasing losses and debt.
3. Desperation – losses and debt lead to social alienation, high stress and potential high-risk actions.
4. Hopelessness – thoughts of self-harm, break up of the family and withdrawal symptoms.

The greatest lie of gambling addiction is this feeling of hopelessness. Like with any addiction there are more years in your life where you were not addicted, and it is possible to rediscover that addiction-free self.

Custer’s model also tracks the recovery path which begins with being honest about your situation and seeking help. The decision to self-exclude, perhaps even for life if the situation is dire enough, is a great first step on a path to mental, social, and financial health.