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T&Cs apply. New UK, IE & Malta customers only. 18+. Min £10/€10 first deposit using Debit Card or Trustly. Place a bet of £10 at min odds of 1.5. Free bets expire in 90 days. Full T&Cs apply.

HTTPS

Because an online casino will be handling your money, it’s incredibly important that it is secure. When you’re using a secure website, whether that’s on a desktop or mobile device, you’ll usually see a closed padlock in the address bar to indicate that your information is safe when it’s sent to that site.

Coping with lapses

If you aren’t able to resist the gambling craving, don’t be too hard on yourself or use it as an excuse to give up. Overcoming a gambling addiction is a tough process. You may slip from time to time; the important thing is to learn from your mistakes and continue working towards recovery.

How to help someone stop gambling

If your loved one has a gambling problem, you likely have many conflicting emotions. You may have spent a lot of time and energy trying to keep your loved one from gambling or having to cover for them. At the same time, you might be furious at your loved one for gambling again and tired of trying to keep up the charade. Your loved one may have borrowed or even stolen money with no way to pay it back. They may have sold family possessions or run up huge debts on joint credit cards.

While compulsive and problem gamblers need the support of their family and friends to help them in their struggle to stop gambling, the decision to quit has to be theirs. As much as you may want to, and as hard as it is seeing the effects, you cannot make someone stop gambling. However, you can encourage them to seek help, support them in their efforts, protect yourself, and take any talk of suicide seriously.

Know the rules of the game.

When you’re playing on the best online gambling sites, you expect everyone who is gambling to understand the game. Knowing the rules of mobile casino games will ensure that you’re not a vulnerable target.

£20 Backup Bet

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T&Cs apply. 18+ | New UK players only | Min deposit req. £10 | Certain deposit methods excluded | Place 1 sport bet (3+ selections) | Excl Horse Racing | Min stake £10 | Max stake £20 | Min Odds 2/1 (3.0) | Max FreeBet £20 for football only | FreeBet valid for 7 days | FreeBet stake not returned | T&Cs apply.

Deposit and Withdrawal Options

You can deposit and withdraw using a debit card at every top online gambling site, but what if you want to use an alternative banking method?

If you prefer to use an e-wallet like PayPal, Neteller or Skrill, or if you want to deposit with Paysafecard, ecoPayz, or a phone bill payment method, make sure your preferred option is accepted before signing up.

As well as checking out the accepted banking methods, make sure you also read up on minimum and maximum limits to ensure they are suitable for your budget.

Don’t forget about withdrawal times, either — these vary at different online gaming sites, with some of the best sites offering fast payouts for certain banking methods.

Sky Casino

£40 In Free Bets When You Bet £10 Using Bet Builder

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T&Cs apply. Min deposit £10 with promo code: GET40 • A qualifying bet is a ‘real money’ stake of at least £10 using Bet Builder • Min odds 2/1 (3.0) • Free Bets credited upon qualifying bet settlement, expire after 3 days and valid for football markets only • Free Bet stakes not included in returns • Withdrawal restrictions, payment methods, country & full T&C’s apply.

Safe online gambling

• Ensure that any gambling site unfamiliar to you is reputable by researching them. Remember that the best way to find a reputable site is via recommendation from a trusted source.
• Use only UK-based sites, as:
  • You will get access to local customer support.
  • You have the possibility of recourse in the event of a dispute as the UK industry is subject to strict controls.
  • Deposits and withdrawals are faster and more efficient.
• Make sure you fully understand the workings and rules of the type of gambling or betting you are taking part in.
• Read and understand the site’s terms and conditions thoroughly before opening an account.
• Choose a user name that does not reveal any personal information. Similarly, if your game includes the ability to create a personal profile, make sure you don’t give away any personal information.
• Use strong passwords, and never reveal your passwords to other people.
• Try ‘play for fun’ games before gambling, but remember that the payouts are generally far larger than in real games.
• Before entering payment card details on a website, ensure that the link is secure, in two ways:
  • There should be a padlock symbol in the browser window frame, which appears when you attempt to log in or register. Be sure that the padlock is not on the page itself … this will probably indicate a fraudulent site.
  • The web address should begin with ‘https://’. The ‘s’ stands for ‘secure’.
• The above indicate only that the link between you and the website owner is secure, and not that the site itself is authentic. You need to do this by carefully checking the address for subtle misspellings, additional words and characters and other irregularities.
• Always log out of sites into which you have logged in or registered details. Simply closing your browser is not enough to ensure privacy.
• Check credit card and bank statements carefully to ensure that the correct amount has been debited, and also that no fraud has taken place as a result of using the site.
• Ensure you have effective and updated antivirus/antispyware software and firewall running before you go online.
• Do not reply to unsolicited emails from companies you don’t recognise.
• Ensure you have effective and updated antivirus/antispyware software and firewall running before you go online.
• Keep a regular check on how much you are spending.
• If you feel that your gambling is getting out of control, refer to advisory websites or seek professional help.

If you feel that your gambling is getting out of control, you can contact GamCare for free, confidential information, advice or counselling support: Freephone 0808 8020 133 or via web chat at www.gamcare.org.uk (8am-midnight, seven days a week).

If you are not sure how much gambling has become a problem for you, you might like to take GamCare’s online assessment tool. It will ask you a series of questions about your gambling behaviour. When you have finished it will give you a personalised report and advise you as to what your next steps might be.

If you’ve experienced cybercrime, you can contact the charity Victim Support for free and confidential support and information.

Grosvenor

The best gaming and sports betting VPNs

NordVPN

This is one of the best VPNs in the market, with over five hundred servers in sixty countries worldwide.

If you love live betting, you’ll be pleased by its fast and reliable speed owing to its advanced encryption.

There’s also a 30-day cash back if dissatisfied with the service.

Surfshark

Surfshark is the best VPN to use if you are on a budget.

It offers a 7-day free trial, fast internet speed, and optimum security and privacy. You can also bet on multiple devices.

ExpressVPN

Though more costly than the above, it is general-purpose and boasts 3,000 servers and a presence in over 94 countries worldwide.

It is speedy, stable, and user-friendly, compatible with Android devices, iPhones, Mac and Windows.

The Independent Betting Adjudication Service (IBAS) is an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) service, approved by the Gambling Commission to provide informed and impartial adjudications on disputes that arise between licensed gambling operators and their customers, after the customer has completed the operator's own internal dispute procedures and where a deadlock still exists.

Visitors can use this website to find out more about the service that we offer and the approach that our Adjudication Panel takes when considering different types of disputes. If you consider that you have a valid claim for payment or increased payment against a gambling operator, you can create an account and complete an adjudication form. The IBAS service is free of charge to all consumers.

The members of the IBAS Adjudication Panel apply their specialist knowledge to the facts and adjudicate mainly by reference to the operator's own terms and conditions. IBAS also check that operators have complied with the standards set by the Gambling Commission and with the IBAS terms and conditions of registration.

IBAS rulings are legally non-binding on consumers, who are free to pursue any case through the court system after using IBAS. Rulings are binding on registered operators up to the value of £10,000. Above that threshold, operators may demand that the dispute is also heard by a court.

The online gambling firm Betway has been fined more than £400,000 after its marketing material was found on the children’s section of the West Ham United website, including a page where young fans were invited to colour in a teddy bear.

The Gambling Commission found Betway’s logo appeared on parts of the football club’s website aimed at children over a period of more than 18 months.

The betting company’s marketing material began appearing one month after it was fined £11.6m, a record at the time, for accepting stolen money from high-spending “VIP” customers.

Its logo continued being shown to children even after the government had launched a review of gambling laws that considered whether the industry should be allowed to sponsor football clubs.

Gambling reforms were paused indefinitely during the Conservative leadership contest and it is now thought that Liz Truss is considering scrapping it altogether as part of her government’s anti-regulation agenda.

The fine levied against Betway adds to campaigners’ concern over the extent to which gambling imagery has saturated football since Tony Blair’s Labour government liberalised gambling laws in 2005.

Betway’s logo, which linked to its website, was displayed on a West Ham United webpage offering the opportunity to print a teddy bear for children to colour in.

Inquiries also revealed a logo, also linking to Betway’s website, featured on the Young Hammers at Home webpage between 24 October and 15 November 2021.

Betway was fined £408,915 for breaching the commission’s rules that gambling advertising must be socially responsible.

However, its licence to operate will not be suspended, despite previous warnings from the commission that repeat offenders could face more severe penalties than being fined.

James Grimes leads the Big Step campaign to kick gambling advertising in football, part of the charity Gambling with Lives.

He said: “Promoting gambling on children’s pages of club websites is at best extremely callous and at worst an attempt to hook in the next generation of gamblers

“We welcome the Gambling Commission taking action but such a small fine when compared to Betway’s giant profits will not act as a deterrent.

“Until they are at genuine risk of having their licences revoked gambling companies will just see fines as a cost of business and carry on.

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“This shows again that the government must step in end all gambling sponsorship in football – by continuing to promote gambling, clubs are risking the health and lives of their young fans.”

Leanne Oxley, the Gambling Commission’s director of enforcement, said: “Protecting children from gambling harm is at the heart of what we do.

“Although there is no suggestion that the operator was deliberately targeting children, or that children had been allowed to gamble, we take the breach of any rules aimed at protecting children extremely seriously.

“We note the remedial actions since taken by licensee but advise all operators to learn from this case and ensure that they take responsibility and have the correct processes in place so that websites directed at children do not include advertisements for gambling.”

A spokesperson for Betway said: “As a responsible, licensed operator, Betway has zero tolerance with marketing to under-18s. As one of the first betting operators to remove our branding from under-18s’ kit and supporter merchandise, we feel very strongly about our responsibility in this area.

“On this occasion, the Betway logo – owing to a technical error – appeared on a restricted section of the West Ham United website. As soon as we were made aware of this error, we took immediate action to get it removed.

“Nonetheless, we accept the fine and will continue to work closely with the club to ensure this does not happen again.”

West Ham's 'colouring in' page has a direct link in the top left hand corner to its gambling sponsor's website

The Gambling Commission says it will investigate how seven Premier League and Championship clubs had direct links to betting sites from children's pages of their websites.

BBC Sport contacted top-flight clubs Arsenal, Tottenham, West Ham and Aston Villa, plus Championship clubs QPR, Millwall and Reading, to inform them of the links, which contravene the regulatory body's rules.

The links appeared at the bottom of their junior membership and games pages, and have since been taken down.

In some cases the links clicked through to offers of free bets.

But at the time of publication there is still a direct link to West Ham's gambling sponsor on its children's 'colouring in' page which has pictures of a teddy bear, the club mascot and former captain Bobby Moore.

The sponsor features on a banner across every page of its website.

The Gambling Commission said it would be "looking into the matter raised".

It added: "Gambling advertising and sponsor credits must not appear on any web pages that are directed at under-18s.

"Sports teams should be ensuring that all content on such webpages is appropriate for children, and we expect gambling companies to take responsibility for where their adverts and logos appear."

Campaign group The Big Step, part of the charity Gambling with Lives, said: "The junior section of a club website should be a safe place for children to engage with their club - not be one click away from an online gambling site.

"Most clubs thankfully don't have any gambling links on pages targeted at children and although it's welcome clubs have now acted after pressure, the damage has already been done."

A similar issue was highlighted by the BBC 5 Live Investigates programme in 2018, when 15 British clubs had links to betting websites from their junior pages.

West Ham, Tottenham, Aston Villa, QPR, Millwall and Reading said the links at the bottom of some of its junior pages were made in error.

Arsenal said the list of sponsors only appeared on its junior membership programme, which was "aimed at parents who want to sign their children up" but "took its responsibilities with regard to marketing to children very seriously" and removed the links "to avoid future confusion".

A Tottenham spokesperson said: "We sincerely regret this error and have adjusted our practices to ensure this does not happen again. We apologise for any offence caused."

QPR said: "The club appreciates this issue being raised. The link has subsequently been removed and an internal investigation will now take place to understand how this has happened and to ensure it does not occur again."

The Big Step added: "With 55,000 children already addicted to gambling, this is another awful example of how football is normalising gambling to a generation of young fans."

A link to Tottenham's gambling partner at the bottom of its Fun & Games page has now been removed