When gambling starts to cause problems
Chasing losses or repeatedly breaking your own spending rules are reasons to stop. Pay attention to how gambling affects your money and the rest of your day.
Chasing losses
You keep playing or increase your bets because you want to win back money you have lost.Spending essential money
You gamble with money needed for bills or everyday costs, or borrow money to keep playing.Struggling to stop
You stay longer than planned or return to gambling after deciding to take a break.Hiding your gambling
You conceal how much you spend or let gambling take time away from work and relationships.
If you recognise these behaviours, pause your gambling and ask for help. You do not need to recover a loss before you stop.
Set your own budget and stopping time
Treat gambling as paid entertainment, never as a way to earn money. Set a spending budget yourself before you start, using only money you can afford to lose without affecting your wellbeing.
- Keep money for bills and everyday needs outside your gambling budget.
- Choose a stopping time before you begin and stop when you reach it.
- Do not increase your budget to chase losses.
- Avoid gambling while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
These are personal boundaries you set and follow yourself. If you keep going beyond them, stop playing and request self-exclusion.
Request self-exclusion or account closure
Mellstroy offers temporary or permanent self-exclusion and account closure. Contact support to make either request.
Use the live chat, open 24/7, or email [email protected]. The Mellstroy support channels handle responsible-gaming requests as well as account enquiries.
- Tell support that you want to stop gambling and request self-exclusion or account closure.
- For self-exclusion, state whether you want a temporary restriction or permanent exclusion. For a temporary restriction, explain how long you want the break to last.
Name the restriction you want in your message so support can distinguish a responsible-gaming request from a general account question.
Age checks and precautions for parents
You must be at least 18, or the legal age of majority where you live if that is higher. Mellstroy's responsible-gaming policy requires identity and age verification before access to gambling services.
The identity and age verification requirements explain the documents involved. Mellstroy also monitors attempts by minors to access gambling.
If children use your devices, use parental controls to restrict access to gambling sites. Keep your account password private and sign out when you finish using a shared device.
Organisations for gambling support
GamCare, Gambling Therapy and Gamblers Anonymous are the help organisations named in Mellstroy's responsible-gaming policy.
- GamCare: gamcare.org.uk.
- Gambling Therapy: gamblingtherapy.org.
- Gamblers Anonymous.
You can seek help with gambling while also asking Mellstroy to restrict or close your account.
- First version of the page.
