Responsible gaming means ensuring that gambling remains a form of entertainment and does not begin to strain your finances, mood, relationships, or daily life. The purpose of this page is to help you identify risks early on, use tools designed to manage your gambling, and find help easily if you’re concerned about your gambling.
If you’re concerned about your gambling, you should seek help right away. In Finland, free and confidential support services are available for both gamblers and their loved ones. You can contact organizations such as Peluuri, Pelirajaton, or the Takuusäätiö.
Peluuri provides help with gambling problems by phone and online.
Pelirajaton offers peer support to gamblers and their loved ones.
Takuusäätiö helps if gambling has caused debt or financial problems.
If necessary, you can also seek support from your local healthcare or mental health services.
Responsible gaming means recognizing your own limits and staying within them. Gaming should be a controlled pastime, not a way to solve financial problems, escape stress, or try to win back your losses.
In practice, responsible gaming means, for example, that you only gamble with money you can afford to lose, set spending and time limits in advance, take breaks, and honestly monitor your own gaming habits. If gambling starts to affect your sleep, mood, or relationships, you should take the situation seriously as early as possible.
Gambling doesn’t always become a problem all at once. Often, the change shows up in small signs that recur in everyday life. Warning signs can include, for example, chasing losses, spending more money than planned, hiding gambling from loved ones, constantly thinking about gambling, or gambling taking time away from work, school, or sleep.
If you notice even one of these signs recurring in yourself, take a moment to calmly assess the situation. The sooner you address the situation, the easier it will be to manage.
Responsible gaming sites offer tools that help players manage their spending and time. These tools are most effective when used before gambling starts to feel difficult to control.
A deposit limit helps you decide in advance how much money you can transfer to your gaming account per day, week, or month. A good deposit limit is one that you can stick to even on your off days.
A loss limit restricts how much you can lose within a certain time frame. It’s especially useful if you find yourself playing more when you’re trying to recoup your losses.
Time limits and session limits help you control how long you play at a time. If you tend to lose track of time while gaming, a time limit is one of the most important tools you have.
A reality check reminds you during gameplay how long you've been playing and how much money you've spent. A reminder like this can help you stop in time.
A gaming break is a temporary pause during which you cannot play. It’s ideal for situations where you want to take a quick break from gaming and get some distance from the situation.
Self-exclusion is a more effective measure than a standard gaming break. It blocks access to gaming for a set period or permanently. You should activate self-exclusion immediately if you feel that your gaming is getting out of control.
Reviewing your gaming history helps you see exactly how much money and time you actually spend on gaming. For many people, seeing their own data makes the situation clearer than relying on memory alone.
Keep gaming separate from the other pressures of daily life. Don’t play when you’re tired, intoxicated, stressed, or when you’re looking for a quick fix to feel better. Gaming is not a solution to financial worries, loneliness, or difficult emotions.
A good practice is to decide in advance how much time and money you’re willing to spend on gaming. Once you’ve set a limit, it’s easier to stick to it than to make decisions in the middle of a gaming session.
A license determines the regulations and oversight under which a casino operates. From a player’s perspective, what matters most is not just the name of the license, but whether the casino clearly provides responsible gaming tools, easily accessible terms and conditions, a gaming history, self-exclusion options, and effective customer support.
If responsible gaming tools are hard to find or don’t exist at all, that’s a red flag. A safer option is a casino that openly discusses the tools available for managing your gaming and makes them easy to use.
Gambling is only for adults. Preventing underage gambling is an important part of responsible gaming, and parents and guardians should also be aware of the types of gaming content and payment methods young people use online.
If a shared device provides access to gambling websites, you should consider restricting access through technical means if necessary. At the same time, it is important to talk openly about gambling, spending money, and the fact that gambling should not be seen as a way to make money. In Finland, the legal age for gambling is 18.
A loved one’s gambling problem may manifest itself, for example, as secrecy, financial difficulties, mood swings, or constant stress. The most important thing is to bring up the issue calmly and without making them feel guilty. The goal is not to win an argument, but to start a conversation.
It’s a good idea to help your loved one get the help they need, but you shouldn’t take on all the responsibility yourself. Support is also available for loved ones, for example through the services offered by Peluuri and Pelirajaton.
There are several services in Finland that can help with gambling problems and their consequences.
Peluuri offers free and confidential support to gamblers and their loved ones. Peluuri’s helpline is 0800 100 101.
Pelirajaton offers peer support to gamblers and their loved ones.
The Guarantee Foundation can help if the situation involves debt or financial difficulties.
If necessary, you can also seek help from your own healthcare provider, student health services, or mental health services.
Responsible gaming means keeping your gaming under control so that it does not harm your finances, well-being, or relationships.
Warning signs may include chasing losses, hiding one’s gambling, exceeding one’s budget, constantly thinking about gambling, and gambling beginning to interfere with daily life.
Set up a gaming break or self-exclusion right away and seek help as soon as possible. In Finland, you can get support from organizations such as Peluuri and Pelirajaton.
Yes. You should seek help as soon as you start to worry about your gaming. Early intervention is often the easiest way to prevent the situation from getting worse.
Yes. Support and guidance are also available for family members and friends, so you don’t have to face this situation alone.
For many people, the most important tools are deposit limits, loss limits, time limits, reality checks, taking a break from gambling, and self-exclusion. The best tool depends on the situation, but the most important thing is to set a limit early on.
Player
No betting limits
Guarantee Foundation
Finlex / Gambling Legislation
other official and support organizations, as referenced on this page, as needed