Unmasking Gambling
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Questions

What people ask about gambling

Straight answers to what people search for about roulette, slots, betting and lotteries. With exact numbers, sources and, almost always, a tool to check it yourself.

Gambling addiction

  1. Gambling addiction Gambling addiction test: do I have a problem with gambling? This test uses the PGSI, nine questions about the last 12 months used in research worldwide. It takes two minutes, is free and anonymous, and your answers never leave your browser. It is not a diagnosis, but it tells you on real criteria what level of risk you are at.
  2. Gambling addiction What is gambling addiction? Symptoms, causes and treatment Gambling addiction, or gambling disorder, is an addiction recognised by medicine: gambling persistently even though it is harming you. Its signs are gambling more and more, chasing losses, lying about it and being unable to stop. It is treatable, and psychological therapy is the option with the strongest evidence.
  3. Gambling addiction How to stop gambling: what to do if you think you are addicted Start today with three things: put up barriers that do not depend on you (self-exclusion, a blocker, a bank block), put distance between you and the money, and tell one person. When the urge comes, wait 15 minutes before doing anything: it usually fades. And get professional help; it is free.
  4. Gambling addiction I have gambling debts. What should I do? First, do not try to win it back by gambling or take new loans to cover old ones: that is what makes debt grow. List everything you owe, put housing and bills first, talk to creditors about payment plans and get free advice before signing anything. And tell someone.
  5. Help How much money have I lost gambling? Probably more than you think: memory keeps the wins and blurs the losses. The reliable figure is what you deposited minus what you withdrew, from your bank’s and each site’s history. The calculator on this page helps you estimate it.

Self-exclusion and blocking

  1. Help How do you self-exclude from gambling in Spain? By registering in the RGIAJ, Spain’s national self-exclusion register. You can do it online with a digital certificate or electronic ID card, or in person at a public registry office, a post office or a police station. It is indefinite and blocks you from all licensed online gambling.
  2. Self-exclusion Gambling self-exclusion in each Spanish region: how to apply Arcades, bingo halls, casinos and betting shops in Spain are regulated by each region, which keeps its own register. Twelve regions have an agreement with the national register (RGIAJ), but the safest option is to join both. Here is the official procedure for each one.
  3. Help How do you block betting and online gambling? With several barriers at once: self-exclusion for licensed sites, a blocker such as BetBlocker on your phone and computer, a gambling block at your bank and fewer gambling ads. The more layers, the less it all depends on your willpower at the worst moment.

Families

  1. Families How can I tell if my child is gambling? Watch for money that goes missing or appears, a phone hidden during matches and talk of odds and accumulators. In Spain, 13% of students aged 14 to 18 gambled money online in the past year, even though it is illegal for minors. Talk without lecturing, using facts: how the house always wins.
  2. Help How can you help a partner or relative with a gambling problem? Talk calmly, at a quiet moment and without blame: describe what you see and how it affects you. Do not pay their debts or lend them money, and protect your own accounts. And get support for yourself: many gambling support services run groups for families.

Casino and slots

  1. Betting systems Does the martingale work? No. Doubling your bet after every loss turns many small wins into one large, rare loss. The house edge is untouched: whatever the system, you lose on average 2.70% of everything you stake at European roulette.
  2. Roulette Can you beat roulette in the long run? No. You can win on a given night, but the longer you play, the less likely you are to be ahead: after 100 spins on red, 36% of players are ahead; after 1,000, 19%; after 10,000, 3 in 1,000. The zero makes every bet pay back 97.30 cents per euro.
  3. Slots What is RTP on a slot machine? RTP is the share of the money staked that a machine pays back in the long run. An RTP of 96% means the house keeps 4 cents of every euro that goes through the machine, on every spin. At €1 a spin and 600 spins an hour, that is €24 an hour on average.
  4. Slots When does a slot machine pay out? There is no right moment. Online, every spin is independent: hours without a prize do not bring the next one closer. Spanish bar machines must return a minimum over cycles of thousands of games, but you cannot know where in the cycle they are, and the rules only require 70–75% back.

Betting and bonuses

  1. Sports betting Can you make a living from sports betting? Almost nobody does. Every price carries a fee of around 6–8%, and across 113,026 matches over ten seasons no simple rule made a profit. The few who win consistently tend to have their accounts restricted by the bookmaker.
  2. Bonuses Are casino and betting bonuses worth it? For most people, no. A €100 bonus with a 35× requirement means staking €3,500 before you can cash out. In our simulation, only between 1 in 5 and 1 in 3 people end with more money than they deposited; the rest lose their deposit along the way.
  3. Sports betting Do betting tipsters work? Among thousands of tipsters, chance always produces a few with spectacular months, and those are the ones advertised. Follow the best of one season and in the next they perform like anyone else: they lose the bookmaker’s fee. Telling skill from luck takes thousands of bets.

Lotteries

  1. Lotteries What are the odds of winning the Spanish Christmas Lottery? The Gordo comes up for 1 in 100,000 décimos. Some prize, for 1 in 7, but it is almost always the refund or €100. Of every €20 a décimo costs, €14 comes back on average, and about €13 after tax.