Responsible Gaming Resources

An emphasis on player safety is a must for any reputable sweepstakes casino.

Among the criteria that we use to evaluate a site, a platform’s responsible gaming (RG) tools are among the most important. You’ll usually find a link to a casino’s RG tool in the footer of the main lobby.

Within those tools, you should see the following features:

• Time limits
• Time out
• Self-exclude
• KYC (Know Your Customer)

In addition to the features listed above, these sites should also include spending limit tools and links to problem gambling resources.

How to budget and stay within It

It’s important to remember that the games are for entertainment purposes only. When you play casino games, you should only do so with money that you have set aside for entertainment. It’s crucial that you don’t dip into funds that you need for living expenses (bills, rent, emergency fund, etc.).

The best way to enjoy sweeps casino games is to set a budget and stay within it. This can be a daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly budget. 

Once you’ve set a budget, don’t go over it! Chasing losses can lead to major consequences.

Here are a few tips for setting and staying within your sweepstakes gaming budget:

• Establish your budget: Before you start playing, decide how much money you can responsibly allocate to your gaming budget. If it’s a daily budget, consider spreading out your budget over multiple days if you plan on playing on several different days in a week or month.
• Don’t play after drinking alcohol: Alcohol consumption can and will affect your judgment. When you’re sticking to a budget, casino gaming and adult beverages are a dangerous mix.
• Don’t borrow money to play at the casino: Again, the money you place in your sweeps casino budget should only be an amount that you can afford to lose. If you find yourself contemplating borrowing money to play (from the bank, a friend, your credit card, etc.), use the Time Out feature at your casino of choice and take a break.
• Don’t chase losses: We all have winning days at the casino, and we all have days where we lose. It’s critical to stick to your budget and not spend extra money chasing losses. If you’re thinking about going over budget to try to recoup losses, it’s time to call it a night.

Sweeps casinos with RG programs

Let’s take a look at the RG tools offered at sweepstake sites: 

How to set time limits

Some sweepstake sites offer a tool that pauses play after a certain amount of time in your session and reminds you of how long you’ve been playing. Taking that a step further, some casinos will allow you to set time limits on how long you can be logged into your account on a given day.

Chumba Casino, for instance, offers its players access to both tools. 

To use the Activity Reminder tool at Chumba, navigate to the “Responsible Social Gameplay” page from the main lobby. From there, click on the “Activity Reminder” link.

Chumba’s Activity Reminder tool allows you to set reminders at 15, 30, 45, or 60-minute intervals. Each time the reminder pops up, it displays the time you’ve been playing and the option to continue or quit.

To install the Daily Time Limit tool at Chumba, click on the “Contact Us” link on the Responsible Social Gameplay Tools. You can set the time limit for any period, up to 10 hours per day.

If you want to decrease the time limit, the decrease will go into effect immediately. If you want to increase the time limit or remove the tool, that request will be granted after a 72-hour “cooling off” period.

How to self-exclude

Self-exclusion allows you to suspend access to your Sweepstakes casino account for a specific period. While the Time Out/Take a Break tool at a casino allows you to suspend access for up to a month, self-exclusion should be used if you want to restrict yourself from playing at a casino for a longer period.

The process is very similar across the different sweeps casinos. You’ll always find access to the tool on the Responsible Gaming page at a given casino.

At Chumba Casino, for example, you can find the tool by going to the Responsible Social Gameplay page and clicking on “Access Restrictions.” From there, you can choose to self-exclude for six months, 12 months, three years, five years, or indefinitely.

Once you confirm that you want to self-exclude, you won’t be able to sign into your account until the chosen period ends. Indefinite self-exclusions will be enforced for a minimum of six months, after which you can request to access your account again.

Resources for US players

The RG page should provide links to problem gambling resources available. Here are some of the important resources you should be aware of.

• National Problem Gambling Helpline
• SMART Recovery
• Smart Mobile Gamers
• Gamblers Anonymous
• Gaming Addicts Anonymous

Things to look for that could indicate a problem

If you’re wondering if you have a gambling problem, these are some of the questions you can ask yourself:

• Do you miss time at work due to gaming?
• Do you miss out on family time and responsibilities due to gaming?
• Do you feel like you can’t control the amount of time or money you spend on gaming?
• Have you ever borrowed money to play at a casino?
• Have you ever sold or pawned possessions to get money to use at a casino?
• Does your interest in casino gaming exceed that of all of your other interests?
• Have you ever had feelings of depression or hopelessness due to gaming losses?

If the answer to one or more of those questions is yes, you should consider using one of the RG tools or resource links on this page. The resources are available 24/7.