Responsible gambling at Royal
If you've opened this page, something about your play or someone else's has raised a question. That's worth listening to. Gambling works as entertainment when it stays affordable and optional — the moment it stops feeling like a choice, the tools and resources below exist to help you step back.
Why responsible gambling matters
Royal runs over 5,000 slots, live tables and sports markets. Every one of them is designed to entertain, not to generate income or solve a financial problem. The odds favour the house over time, which means long-term profit from gambling is a statistical impossibility for the player.
What makes gambling a problem is not the activity itself but the behaviour around it — chasing losses, borrowing to play, hiding spend from people who depend on you, or prioritising a bet over a bill. When gambling costs more than money, it has crossed a line.
Signs gambling is getting out of hand
These behaviours are worth noticing, in yourself or someone close to you:
- Spending money you cannot afford to lose, or money set aside for rent, food or other essentials.
- Chasing losses — depositing again immediately after a losing session to try to win it back.
- Lying to family or friends about how much you've spent, or hiding bank statements and transaction alerts.
- Borrowing money, selling belongings, or taking out loans to fund further play.
- Feeling anxious, irritable or restless when you are not playing, or when access is restricted.
- Neglecting work, relationships or responsibilities because gambling takes priority.
If two or more of these apply, the situation warrants a conversation — with someone you trust, or with one of the organisations listed further down this page.
Questions worth asking yourself
A short self-check, answered honestly, can clarify where you stand:
- Do you play with money you cannot afford to lose?
- Have you lied to anyone about how much you spend or how often you play?
- Do you chase losses by depositing again straight after a bad session?
- Has gambling caused arguments with your family or partner?
- Have you borrowed money, sold items, or missed a bill to fund further play?
- Do you feel anxious or irritable when you cannot play?
- Have you tried to stop or cut back, and found you could not?
- Does gambling interfere with your work, your sleep, or other parts of your life?
If you answered yes to three or more, consider reaching out to one of the UK support services below. These questions are not a diagnosis, but they do signal when independent advice is worth getting.
Our control tools
We provide several tools to help you manage your play. Each one is set through your account dashboard and takes effect immediately.
Deposit limits
Deposit limits let you cap how much you can add to your account in a given period. You can set a daily, weekly or monthly ceiling. Once the limit is reached, further deposits are blocked until the period resets. Lowering a limit applies straight away; raising one takes 24 hours to process, which gives you time to reconsider.
Loss limits
Loss limits work the same way, but track net losses rather than deposits. Set a daily, weekly or monthly cap on how much you can lose. When the threshold is hit, you can still play with any remaining balance, but no further deposits are accepted until the period rolls over.
Session limits
Session limits control how long you can play in one sitting. Set a time cap — for example, one hour — and the system logs you out automatically when the session reaches that duration. You can log back in, but the interruption gives you a moment to decide whether to continue.
Wagering limits
Wagering limits cap the total amount you can stake over a day, week or month. This includes every bet placed, win or lose. Once the limit is reached, no further wagers are accepted until the period resets.
Reality checks
Reality checks send a timed reminder while you play, showing how long the current session has lasted and how much you have wagered. The pop-up interrupts the game briefly, which gives you a chance to log out or continue with full awareness of the time spent.
Time-out and self-exclusion
Time-out temporarily suspends your account for a period you choose — anywhere from 24 hours to six months. During a time-out, you cannot log in, deposit or play. The account reopens automatically at the end of the period.
Self-exclusion closes your account for a minimum of six months. Once requested, there is a seven-day cooling-off period before the exclusion takes effect, which gives you time to withdraw any remaining balance. Self-exclusion is not reversible during the minimum term, and any attempt to open a new account with us during that time will be blocked.
Practical limits that work
Tools alone do not prevent harm if the limits set are too generous to mean anything. The suggestions below are starting points, not rules — what matters is that a limit, once hit, actually changes your behaviour rather than being raised to accommodate it.
- Set deposit limits based on disposable income after all essential costs are met — rent, bills, food, transport, savings. If hitting the limit forces you to borrow or skip something necessary, the limit is too high.
- Use session limits to cap how long you play in one sitting. An hour is enough to settle whether it is your day; staying longer to chase a result rarely improves it.
- Enable reality checks at 30-minute intervals. The interruption is brief, but it breaks the flow enough to make continuing a deliberate choice rather than momentum.
- Treat a loss limit as a hard stop, not a target. If you lose the budgeted amount, the session is over — depositing again to recover it is the behaviour that turns entertainment into a problem.
- Take a time-out after any session that ends with frustration, anger or the urge to deposit immediately. A day or a week away costs nothing and prevents decisions made in the moment from compounding.
Where to get help in the UK
Free, confidential support is available from organisations that specialise in gambling harm. None of them report to us, and none of them judge. Reaching out is not an admission of failure — it is the practical first step toward regaining control.
GamCare provides advice, information and emotional support for anyone affected by gambling harm. The National Gambling Helpline is free and operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week: 0808 8020 133. You can also access live chat and email support through gamcare.org.uk.
BeGambleAware offers practical guidance on safer gambling and connects people to treatment services across the UK. Visit begambleaware.org for resources, self-assessment tools and referral pathways to local support.
GamStop is a free national self-exclusion scheme that blocks access to all UK-licensed gambling sites in one step. Registration takes five minutes and lasts for six months, one year or five years. Your details are shared with every participating operator, and any attempt to gamble at a registered site during the exclusion period is refused. Register at gamstop.co.uk.
Gordon Moody provides residential treatment and online therapy for people with severe gambling problems. The service is free and includes a structured programme of one-to-one counselling, group sessions and aftercare. Contact them through gordonmoody.org.uk.
Blocking software
If self-exclusion through an operator is not enough, software that blocks gambling sites at the device level offers a more comprehensive barrier.
Gamban is a paid app that blocks access to gambling websites and apps across all your devices — phones, tablets and computers. It runs in the background and cannot be easily bypassed. The software blocks tens of thousands of gambling domains worldwide, including new sites as they appear. A single subscription covers multiple devices. Download it at gamban.com.
BetBlocker is a free, open-source alternative that works on desktops, Android and iOS. It blocks gambling sites and apps, and cannot be removed without a passcode set during installation. BetBlocker is maintained by a charity and does not collect personal data. Download it at betblocker.org.
Protecting minors
Access to our site is restricted to persons aged 18 and over (18+). If you share a device with anyone under that age, parental control software such as Net Nanny or Qustodio can block gambling sites and monitor browsing activity. Both are available for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS.
Check your browser's built-in parental controls as well — Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge all offer site-blocking features that can be password-protected to prevent changes by unauthorised users.
Contact
For questions about this page or the tools described above, email us at [email protected]. For advice on problem gambling or referral to treatment, contact one of the organisations listed above rather than us — they are better equipped to help.
Gambling should be entertainment, not a chore. If it stops feeling like that, the resources on this page exist to help you step back.
Access to this site is restricted to persons aged 18 and over (18+). If gambling is no longer a choice you are making freely, confidential support is available at BeGambleAware.org.
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