Responsible Gambling in Canada – Things You Must Know

Gambling is a lot of fun, which is why so many Canadians love it. After all, who doesn’t want to win a huge cash prize when one least expects it? Since all gambling games are based on chance, one can never know when one will win or lose. Gambling wouldn’t be fun if one could correctly predict its outcomes.

Also, all online casino games have a high house advantage, and there isn’t anything players can do to change the odds in their favour. If you aren’t careful, you can easily fall prey to problem gambling or become a gambling addict. For this reason, all the top Canadian online sports betting sites urge their customers to gamble in a responsible manner.

Canada Cares for Its Gamblers

Canada is home to one of the biggest gambling industries in the world and is therefore eager to advocate responsible gambling and support awareness programs, information drives, and research on problem gambling and gambling addiction. Every year, Canada’s gambling industry invests millions of Canadian Dollars to support awareness and education on responsible gambling, fund research, and provide proper treatment for gambling addicts and problem gamblers.

Online gambling websites are required by law to provide responsible gambling tools to their customers. Operators collaborate with managers, site owners, and regulators to reach business decisions that not only generate profit but also minimize the harmful effects of gambling. The ultimate goal of the nation is to create a safe and secure gambling environment for its adults.

How to Gamble Responsibly

Here are a few tips that will help you gamble in a responsible manner:

• Plan your gambling activities well in advance. This will save you from spending long hours on an activity that might deplete your bankroll and leave you broke. In other words, keep your gambling sessions short.
• Learn to manage your bankroll well.
• Tell yourself right at the beginning of a gambling session that you will play only till you lose or win a specific amount.
• Avoid blowing your winnings by placing more bets. Instead, withdraw part of your winnings as profits.
• Never gamble to escape from heartbreaks, unhappy relationships, loneliness, anxiety, or depression.
• Never gamble with money set aside for education, loans, groceries, medical care, utility bills, and others.
• Never drink and gamble as it is the fastest way to lose your hard-earned money.
• Gamble with friends or family members as they can prevent you from chasing losses or gambling for too long.
• Never chase losses. As soon as you have lost a pre-determined sum of money, stop playing.
• Understand the game rules and strategies perfectly before wagering real money on it.
• Maintain a gambling diary and carefully record the exact amount of money and time you spend on gambling activities. This will help you control your gambling.
• Avoid loading online betting accounts with credit cards. Use prepaid cards as they can help you establish better control over your gambling.
• Use all the responsible gambling tools offered by your online gambling site.
• If you feel that gambling is harming you, get help immediately.

How to Get Help

Here is a brief list of resources for problem gamblers and gambling addicts in Canada:

Responsible Gambling Council: Based in Ontario, the Responsible Gambling Council (RGC) is a not-for-profit and independent organization that focuses on preventing problem gambling. They organize information and awareness programs on problem gambling and urge operators to adopt high standards and best practices to make gambling as safe as possible.

Responsible Gambling Resource Center: This organization is RGC operated, but has independent centers all over Ontario.  The focus is on helping people who are worried about their own or their loved ones’ problems with gambling. The centers connect people with community assistance or agencies devoted to the treatment of problem gambling.

Canadian Gaming Association: The Canadian Gaming Association is a strong supporter of responsible gambling and initiates programs at provincial levels to help curb problem gambling and gambling addiction. These programs vary from one province to the other, but share similar aims:

• Prevention of underage gambling
• Allowing players to exclude themselves from gambling facilities
• Including responsible gambling messages in their advertisements
• Connecting players with centers and organizations dedicated to curbing and treating problem gambling
• Adopt annual strategies for the guidance of operators
• Provide guidelines for awareness programs, research, regulations, and so on

British Columbia’s Responsible Gambling Program: This program helps the residents of British Columbia to understand responsible gambling better and learn responsible gambling tips. It also includes a large number of resources, which the British Columbia Lottery Corporation has developed through GameSense.

Canadian Partnership for Responsible Gambling:  This body comprises a number of not-for-profit organizations, research centers, gaming providers, and regulators who work together to discover and promote ways to minimize the risks of problem gambling.

Alberta Gaming & Liquor Commission: This regulator strongly advocates responsible gambling not only independently, but also in collaboration with regulators, operators, and policymakers. The credit for developing GamTalk, an online support forum for problem gamblers, goes to AGLC.

Problem Gambling Institute of Ontario: This institute has an exhaustive list of resources for Canada’s problem gamblers.  It brings together experts, researchers, and professionals so that they can share information and devise ways to minimize gambling risks.

How Online Sports Betting Websites Help You to Gamble Responsibly

Each online sports betting site we recommend urges customers to gamble responsibly and provides a set of tools to help them manage their bankrolls better. Players can set deposit and betting limits, request the site to freeze their accounts, and even exclude themselves from the site’s services for some time. These betting sites also connect problem gamblers to organizations that can help them.

To conclude, it is safe for Canadians to gamble at the sites we recommend.