A complete understanding of the iGaming phenomenon will always have to mention the facet of responsible gaming. Despite being quite a relatively simple and straightforward form of entertainment, gambling (specifically online gambling) has several possible downturns. It’s a risk that showcases that even the most entertaining and gratifying activities can have double edges.
Thankfully, the truth of the online gambling industry is that its self-regulation efforts are starting to pay off in a big manner. Naturally, a large portion of its efforts is the direct result of gambling legislation that requires responsible gaming to be a staple of player protection. Despite this status quo, a large part of the effort is collective and requires a keen understanding of the cogs that move the machine of responsibility growing.
There is a logical order of each natural step of what we perceive as responsible gaming. It’s not an exact science since it requires customisation and self-understanding. However, this article will do its utmost to uncover that exact logical order, as well as its associated necessities.
The hope is that each reader will take away the core concepts of responsible gaming but also implement them if that’s the case. Safety is the ultimate guardian of entertainment since it eliminates (or alleviates) the risks of tasting the downsides of such a fun endeavour.
Awareness – The Key to Understanding Responsible Gaming
The concept of responsible gaming is a form of acknowledging, understanding, and entertaining the idea of playing safely by taking a certain level of care when gambling. As a principle, it’s merely a method of looking at the downsides, risks, and possible unravelling of one’s behaviour when losing control of their gaming activities.
Awareness is the foundational pillar where any endeavour of responsible gaming finds its true footing. Treating gambling lightly is an obvious mistake because it underestimates the effect on the human psyche, both on a physiological and psychological level.
At this point, we can safely say that brain connectivity and its many functions suffer from modifications and significant effects when subjected to gambling. This risk-reward mechanism is a very simplistic yet impactful factor in how our brain functions. It’s such a mainstream rapport that even the Responsible Gambling Council published an article about the science behind gambling.
Personal research and extrapolation of the most important facts is a vital step in understanding why gambling can be dangerous and why it’s important to take any subsequent measures.
Self-Awareness – A Natural Step
Naturally, this is just a continuation of our previous point and doesn’t require much contextualisation or introductions. Self-awareness is all about understanding the general facts of gambling and its effects and then applying a layer of customisation over it. It’s a simple endeavour that has the individual experiences and status in mind.
Self-awareness requires a complete level of sincerity that may be a bit hard to accept at times. This generally requires taking a test, such as BeGambleAware’s self-assessment test.
Our particular advice is to take such tests slowly and try to ascertain every single detail that you’ll be required to provide. As long as you account for every single decision or micro-decision you take, your chances of evaluating yourself accurately become even better.
Quick note: even if you feel like you have maintained stable behaviour over time, our recommendation is to self-assess regularly. Some changes may be too fine to observe with the naked eye but may be consequential in the long run.
Self-Limiters
Self-limiters may be the most consequential method of playing safely as a form of prevention. Responsible gaming accounts for two major modules of safeguarding yourself: financial safety and mental balance. Self-limiters can meet both objectives in equally efficient manners.
Before going through their methods of implementation and customizability, we need to mention that self-limiters may not be as popular as you may think. The British gambling scene benefits from UKGC’s responsible gaming standards of requiring gambling platforms to have such a measure by default. As such, brands are versatile enough to both provide these limiters as they provide 20 free spins on registration no deposit.
Their purpose is just as simple as their use. You are able to set customised limits for how much you can deposit, wager, lose, or outright play over the course of a time period. This period will likely have presets for daily, weekly, and monthly implementation.
Naturally, the best way to use them is to evaluate your disposable income and free time that you can invest in gambling. As long as you safeguard your budget, you’ll avoid any financial issues related to gambling. It also applies to your psyche and the burnout caused by gambling.
Timeouts and Self-Exclusion
This burnout and its subsequent effects are exactly what we’ll account for in this section. We are getting into the territory of reactive measures that have the express purpose of stopping the escalation of addiction-coded behaviour in its tracks.
Timeouts are a method of ensuring that you do not let tilt, anger, or frustration get to your head during vulnerable moments. You may not fall into the ‘addicted’ category at this point, but you’re still subjectable to problematic decisions. Taking this strategic step back will allow you to refresh your mental state for a few days, even for a week.
Self-exclusion is one of the steps that you take when self-assessment tests (or other methods of generating awareness) confirm that you have issues with your gambling behaviour. You may need an extended period of time to detox from the need to gamble.
At this point, it’s best that you consider whether gambling has any purpose or real value in your life. It may be a tough decision, but self-exclusion can also be permanent. If this is where you stand and feel like you cannot help yourself from gambling, choose your own well-being, reassess your steps, and pull the trigger of permanent self-exclusion.
There are various nationwide general self-exclusion lists that will ban you from any gambling website within a jurisdiction. As such, you may need to think very hard about the wins and losses of gambling as an activity.
Authorised Help
This is the last bastion of responsible gambling usage because it goes beyond gaming altogether. It’s a method of completely stepping away from gaming and embracing responsibility that is devoid of gambling.
There are various organisations in the UK that provide free-of-cost assistance in this endeavour. GamCare is a leading resource from this point of view, but not the only one. The most important step is to go beyond any ego, shame, or bravado and recognise that asking for help is the most courageous and responsible thing that you can do.
Conclusion
There’s hardly any conclusion that we can extrapolate because of how personally responsible gambling is. This is the note in which we’d like to finish this article: your journey is your own, just like your resources when you choose to play games of luck.
Recognise your patterns, do active and preventive work to maintain your well-being, and don’t be afraid to ask for help when your situation goes beyond your control.
