Most people open this page after a session that felt bigger than planned, or because someone they care about mentioned a worry. Either reason is a good one. We'd rather you read this once, set a few limits, and keep gambling as something you do for fun than find out the hard way that it stopped being fun a while ago.
Gambling is entertainment with a built-in cost, the same way a night out or a streaming subscription is. It is never a way to make money, and no betting system or strategy changes the maths behind it. If a session stops feeling like entertainment, that's the signal to step back, not to chase the loss.
Signs it's tipping over
None of these on their own is proof of a problem, but a pattern across several of them is worth taking seriously.
- Spending more time or money than you intended, session after session
- Chasing losses with bigger bets to "get back to even"
- Borrowing money, skipping bills, or hiding spending from family
- Gambling to escape stress, boredom, or a low mood rather than for fun
- Feeling irritable or anxious when you try to cut back
- Lying about how much time or money you've put in
Questions worth asking yourself
These are the same kind of questions a GP or counsellor would ask. Answer honestly, not how you'd like the answer to be.
- Have you bet more than you could comfortably afford to lose, more than once?
- Have you needed to gamble with larger amounts to get the same buzz?
- Have you tried to cut back and found you couldn't?
- Do you feel restless or short-tempered when you're not gambling?
- Have you gambled to escape worry or low mood?
- Have you chased a loss by betting more the next day?
- Have you lied to someone close to you about your gambling?
- Has gambling put a relationship, job, or study commitment at risk?
A few "yes" answers don't mean you need to panic, but they do mean the tools and the help lines below are worth using now rather than later.
The account tools we offer
These sit in your account settings and take effect as soon as you set them — they're ours to offer, not a government scheme, and they work alongside the national register below rather than instead of it.
Deposit, loss, wager and session limits
You can cap how much goes in, how much you're willing to lose, how much you stake, or how long a session runs. Lower a limit immediately; raising one usually takes effect only after a cooling-off period, which is the point — it stops a bad night from overriding a decision you made with a clear head.
Reality checks and time-outs
A reality check is a pop-up reminder of how long you've been playing and what it's cost so far — useful because time disappears fast on a live table. A time-out locks the account for a set stretch, from a day up to several weeks, without closing it permanently.
Self-exclusion and closing the account
Self-exclusion locks you out for a longer, pre-agreed period and is harder to reverse early by design. You can also ask us to close the account outright. Either request goes through your account settings or our support team.
Limits that actually hold
A limit set in the heat of a session rarely sticks. Set these when you're not playing, and treat them as fixed rather than negotiable.
- Decide the amount you can afford to lose before you deposit, not while you're ahead or behind
- Set a deposit limit at that amount, not above it
- Set a session time limit so a quick play doesn't drift into hours
- Treat a win as the end of the session, not fresh stake money
- Never deposit again the same night to chase a loss back
- Review your limits monthly, and lower them if the last month felt harder than it should have
Where to get help in Australia
These services are free, confidential, and separate from any operator — including us.
- National Gambling Helpline — 1800 858 858, free and open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with online chat and email counselling through Gambling Help Online
- BetStop – the National Self-Exclusion Register — a free, government-run register that excludes you from licensed Australian wagering providers at once, for a minimum of three months up to life
BetStop covers licensed wagering providers. It doesn't extend to online casino games, so it won't block a casino site by itself — the account tools above and a direct request to the operator are what do that.
Blocking software
Gamban and BetBlocker both block gambling sites and apps at the device level, which is useful if willpower alone isn't holding during a rough patch. Gamblers Anonymous and Gambling Therapy offer peer support and counselling if talking it through with others helps more than a limit does.
Protecting minors
Gambling here is restricted to adults aged 18+. If you share a device or a household with someone under that age, a parental control filter on the device or router is worth setting up separately from anything an operator offers — age checks on a site only catch what happens on that one site.
Questions about any of the above can go to [email protected], though account-level requests like a time-out or self-exclusion are best actioned through your account settings directly, since that's where they take effect fastest.
Gambling should be entertainment, not a chore.
Tigerbetz is an informational site. We do not run a casino, take bets, or organise gambling ourselves. Access to the content on this page is restricted to adults aged 18+. If gambling has stopped being fun, contact the National Gambling Helpline on 1800 858 858 or visit betstop.gov.au.