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When it comes to having a flutter, the UK is one of the best countries in the world. Gambling and betting here is easy – you’ve got an ample choice of bookies, sports, and betting types. Whether you like to bet on the horses, throw an acca on the footie, or play casino and live slot games, you’re not short on options. However, according to statistics from GamCare, around three and a half million Britons suffer from gambling debt. How can UK bettors make their betting smarter, not harder?
One of the easiest ways is to use tools that are already available to you. Sure, a quick look at a list of UK bookies shows that many offer tools such as self-exclusion, but it’s easy enough to just change to another bookie. Your best bet is to use third-party savings tools.
What are some of the tools you could use to help get a better handle on your betting? How can you stop the fun from becoming a problem?
Set Spending Limits
One of the first places you should start is with a spending limit. You can set this directly through your bank app. Set a spending limit of £X per month, and then your banking app helps you stick to it. You can also usually set a spending limit on your chosen bookies app, but doing it on your actual banking app can be more effective.
If you chose to break the spending limit, you would need to go and withdraw physical cash and head to a bookmaker. Worried about doing this due to a lack of impulse control? Use the exclusion tip we gave above. Go to your local bookie and ask them to self-exclude you and refuse service.
Most of the time, though, the fact that you need to go lift the cash and go to a bookie’s is enough to make you stop and think for a second. A spending limit can also be a good way to help you manage your bets. You might wish to choose a few high-value bets earlier on in the month, or when big events come up that you are confident of predicting accurately.
You can then keep the smaller amount you have left over for ‘flutter’ type bets. That helps you get more bets out of your same amount of money, whilst still allowing you to bet on the bigger events as you normally would.
Track Your Spending
Most savings tools also give you easy ways to have a look at your spending habits. Sometimes, seeing it all written down in black and white is enough to shock you into changing your ways.
This is especially true if you share your bank account with your partner. If they see you are going a little too wild with the betting, you’ll soon be having a conversation about it. Sometimes, gamblers just need to be reminded of the cost of what they are doing. It’s easy to think of it as a fiver here, a tenner there, but it all adds up.
Use savings tools or your bank’s spending insights to help give you a clear indication of what you are spending. These little reminders, paired with a spending limit, help you to really see if you are having a good time or if you happen to have a bit of a problem. Having visual clarity on how much money is actually going out on betting can give you all the help you need to take stock of your situation.
Ring Fence Your Winnings
Savings tools are great for being able to ring-fence money and stop it from being used for anything until a certain date. You can do the same with any winnings that you get during your betting runs.
Your winnings should be the reward for your skill and, yes, at times, luck. As such, it would make sense to use a savings tool to help ring-fence any money you win. That means you cannot then just sink all those winnings back into your gambling. At the end of the month, you’ll then have your winnings to play with.
The 2020 Credit Card Ban
The ban on using credit cards for gambling has been in place for nearly six years now, so this comes as no surprise to most of us. Still, it’s good to remind yourself that you cannot use a credit card for gambling.
This is very sensible, and a great way to make sure you don’t turn your gambling enjoyment into a genuine debt. The easiest way to find yourself in trouble financially as a bettor is by taking on debt. Make sure that you only use the finances you actually have – and, ideally, have put aside specifically for your betting. That’s the best way to keep the gambling entertaining as opposed to a financial risk.
Set Up A Percentage
Using a spending or savings tool, you can work out how much you earn per month versus how much of your money is spoken for when it comes to things like your mortgage/rent, food, utilities bills, travel costs for work, etc.
We recommend that you use that to try to build a very clear picture of how much money you actually have to play with each month. Then, you can set a percentage of what is remaining away for your betting fun. At the same time, be sure to check your social calendar; you might have an event coming up that needs you to prioritise your remaining funds instead of putting that on a rugby match!
Never Chase Losses
Finally, make sure that you never start chasing losses – it’s the easiest way to rip through your betting budget and leave yourself potentially in arrears financially.
Chasing a loss will see you put more risk on each bet to come. If you hit your budget and you’ve not won, so be it – you can come back next time with a fresh budget and maybe get lucky then!
Keep these tips in mind, and you should be much more likely to get the most out of betting. Be cautious. Be transparent. Tell people if you think you have a problem. And, as the ads say, when the fun stops, stop. Don’t push yourself into debt or into arguments with your loved one(s) – set a budget, stick to it, and use savings tools to keep your impulses in check.
