Responsible gambling

Rules that make a difference

• Set a budget before you start and do not exceed it, whatever happens.
• Never gamble with money needed for essentials, or with borrowed money.
• Never chase losses by increasing your stakes — it is the most expensive mistake there is.
• Set time limits and take regular breaks, even when you are winning.
• Do not gamble under the influence of alcohol or medication, or while emotionally distressed.
• Treat the money staked as the price of entertainment, not as an investment.

Warning signs

• Gambling for longer, or with more money, than you had planned.
• Hiding your gambling from family, friends or colleagues.
• Borrowing money or selling possessions in order to gamble.
• Feeling irritable, anxious or restless when you are not gambling.
• Letting work, studies or personal relationships slide.
• Gambling to escape problems, stress or low mood.

Tools at licensed operators

Every SRIJ-licensed operator is required to offer deposit limits and to show session time information. Most add loss limits, wager limits, cooling-off periods and self-assessment tests.

Limit reductions take effect immediately. Increases are subject to a reflection period imposed by regulation, precisely to prevent decisions made in the heat of the moment.

Self-exclusion: the most effective measure

The SRIJ runs a central self-exclusion register. Once you sign up, you are blocked from every operator licensed in Portugal simultaneously, for the period you choose. You do not have to contact each operator separately.

The request can be submitted online on the SRIJ site or made with any licensed operator. While it is active, it cannot be lifted before the period you set.