For providers to receive a licence from the UK Gambling Commission, they must meet their high, and constantly evolving, standards when it comes to responsible gambling. That means providing educational resources, such as questionnaires and checklists, to help players recognise the signs of problem gambling. Providers must also offer tools like limits, breaks, and reminders to help players control their gambling behaviour.
Despite all these tools in place to make responsible gambling easier for players, millions of players in the UK still face harm as a result of problem gambling. As a result, the Government and UKGC are consistently evolving new measures that could help tackle the issue.
What are the Existing Methods?
Before we look at the measures that are being considered, let’s take a look at what’s already out there to support players to gamble responsibly. As we mentioned earlier, a provider has to offer a selection of these in order to be licensed by the UKGC.
Setting Limits
There are three main types of limits: deposit, loss, and session limits. The former has players set a limit on how much they are comfortable depositing at a provider, for example, £5 a week. Once they hit that maximum, they’re no longer able to continue spending, which helps avoid harmful behaviours like overspending or chasing losses. Deposit limits are the UK’s most popular responsible gambling tool, with 400,000 being set every month!¹
Loss limits are very similar, but instead of placing a cap on how much a player deposits overall, it’s on how much they lose over a set period. This helps them remain in, or regain, control of their behaviour and spending.
Session limits are aimed at how long you spend at a provider, setting a maximum of half an hour a week, for example, after which time, you’re no longer able to continue playing. They help prevent players from spending extended periods of time at a provider, and they limit harmful behaviour.
Reminders and Breaks
Reminders can be set however often a player wants, for example, every 30 minutes, and they appear with a responsible gambling message to check that users want to continue playing. They’re important for getting players to reflect on their behaviour, and they prevent harm.
Reminders are often used alongside breaks, which are when players step away from the gambling site for a short period of time. Usually, this is for a few hours, but these breaks can stretch up to a few days, during which, players are prevented from using a provider. A step back helps them reassess their gambling behaviour and regain control.
Self-exclusion
For a provider to be licensed by the UKGC, they have to offer players the ability to self-exclude from their site. Similar to breaks, self-exclusion is a period when players are prevented from using a provider, and in the UK, it usually lasts from six months to years, but it can also be made permanent by contacting the platform’s customer service.²
While it can be done on an individual provider basis, there are also tools like GAMSTOP, which offer a multi-operator exclusion scheme. During the time a player is excluded, the site must take steps to prevent them from gambling and remove them from its marketing list.
So, What Methods Have Been Suggested to Improve Responsible Gambling?
According to the Gambling Survey for Great Britain, as much as 2.5% of the adult population has struggled with problem gambling—equating to more than 1.3 million people.³ That’s why the Government, alongside the UKGC, frequently reviews the tools on offer to determine what more can be done to help prevent harmful gambling.
The Better Gambling Forum
The Better Gambling Forum is a global initiative that looks at how responsible gambling can be improved to reduce the risk of harm. They follow six key policy pillars, including promoting education, supporting recovery, and funding research, which also align with the aims of the UKGC.⁴
When introducing new legislation, the UKGC often looks towards the Better Gambling Forum to inform policy. In the introduction of the statutory levy, for example, we can see a direct path between all three pillars we mentioned, as the UKGC aims to generate more funding for organisations responsible for the research, education, and treatment of problem gambling.
Funding Through the Statutory Levy
Providers in the gambling industry have to pay towards research, education, and treatment for those who experience harm as a result of gambling. In April 2025, the Government announced that the way this money was paid would be changing from voluntary contributions to a statutory levy. Rather than relying on providers to choose from a list of approved organisations, the new method will see online providers paying 1% (0.4% for most land-based providers) of their profits towards the levy.⁵ The Gambling Commission will then disperse the funds between organisations.
The levy aims to raise £90 million for the research, prevention, and treatment of gambling harm by 2027. It will also help bolster responsible gambling initiatives, from campaigns that raise awareness to helplines that offer support. It should mean that more players are aware of and using responsible gambling tools, as well as receiving the help they might need.
Mandatory Deposit Limits
From the 31st of October 2025, the UKGC began phasing in mandatory deposit limits.⁶ This means that before players make their first deposit at a provider, they will be asked to set a deposit limit based on how much they can afford to spend. When set, deposit limits will come into place instantly, unless the player is requesting to increase their limit, which will result in a delay that allows them to reflect. At the moment, deposit limits are opt-in, so the move to mandatory should mean that more players than ever will be making the most of this important tool.
There will be further changes, including putting clear links to set limits on the home page and making them accessible in as few clicks as possible. Providers will also have to prompt players to review their transactions and limits every six months to ensure they’re still comfortable with them. The rollout won’t be completed until summer 2026, by which time, all providers licensed by the UKGC will have to follow the legislation changes.
Proposed Financial Risk Assessments
The UKGC is currently trialling a form of low-level financial risk assessment, designed to help prevent gambling harm. Using publicly available information, such as credit reports and debt records, the assessments aim to calculate someone’s risk of gambling. The UKGC emphasise that they’re not checks that determine whether a player can afford to gamble, but rather the level of risk associated when they do so.
The assessments flag players who “may be in financial difficulties” and recommend limits and helplines that could help them regain control of their activities.⁷ The assessments are designed to be non-invasive and to support responsible gambling by offering earlier and targeted intervention. So far, they’ve had a success rate of 97% and proved effective in preventing harmful behaviours like overspending or chasing losses. The level of spending that triggers them, originally set at £150 a month, isn’t yet concrete. However, if the assessments continue to be effective, we could easily see them being introduced to support responsible gambling in the next few years.
Is Enough Being Done to Support Responsible Gambling?
The UKGC and Government are always keen to introduce new measures of support to bring the number of problem gamblers down. While there are already the likes of questionnaires, limits, and breaks available, there are still players who suffer the mental and financial consequences of gambling harm. As a result, we consistently see new responsible gambling measures being suggested, such as the mandatory deposit limits that are currently being rolled out.
The low-level financial risk assessments are another method to watch out for as the trial to see how effective they can be in preventing harm continues. The UKGC has also aimed to increase funding towards these important responsible gambling initiatives through the statutory levy, which we should see bolstering support in the next few years. While these proposed measures should help reduce problem gambling, it’s important we don’t get complacent and we consistently innovate new solutions to help support players.
¹ Take Action – Set Your Limits, Written by Safer Gambling UK, Published by Safer Gambling UK.
² Self-Exclusion, Written by the UK Gambling Commission, Published by the UK Gambling Commission.
⁵ Explainer: the Statutory Levy, Written by GamCare, Published by GamCare.