Staying in control

Set a limit on how much time you will spend

It’s easy to lose track of time when you’re gambling. And when you gamble for longer periods of time, the amount of money you spend can also increase. 

Think about how much time you can afford to spend gambling. What are other life priorities you need to be there for? What do you miss out on when you spend time gambling?

Set a time limit. When that time is up, do something else. 

Don’t chase losses

If you find yourself trying to win back money you’ve lost, usually by spending more time and more money, this is a sign that things are getting out of control.

Take breaks 

While gambling, it’s helpful to take regular breaks so that you can clear your mind, keep to spend and time limits you’ve set and remember other priorities you have in your life.

Balance your time spent gambling with other activities like going for a walk, cooking a meal or chatting with friends. Having others around you who can support you with this can be useful. 

Check your gambling

If you have sensed a change in the way you gamble or think you may be experiencing harm because of it, use our Test your gambling tool. The tool supports you to reflect on the impact gambling may be having and offers options to help you stay in control if harm is identified.  

Avoid places with gambling

Try to avoid going to the places where you can gamble, or only go when you’re with people who are not gambling.

Take a break from gambling by self-excluding or banning yourself 

If you want to take a break from gambling, you can exclude yourself from a venue or multiple venues as well as online accounts. 

To ban yourself from a venue in person, tell the staff at the casino or pokie machine venue you want to self-exclude. The venue operator must, by law, exclude you from the venue. If you self-exclude, both you and the venue operator can be fined if you enter the gambling area.

Getting support to ban yourself from venues:

• A local counsellor can help support you with the self-exclusion process.
• You can contact your local multi-venue exclusion coordinator for support with self-exclusions.

To ban yourself online, you can choose the amount of time you’d like to block access to your account: 

• TAB provides two options: take a break from your online account or self-exclude from online and in-person venues.
• Lotto NZ offers ways to block yourself from online games or exclude yourself from purchasing Lotto games in retail outlets.
• Most online casino accounts will provide options to take timeouts or to self-exclude.