Responsible Gambling: Warning Signs, Tools and Helplines

Need to talk about it?

The Telefono Verde Nazionale per le problematiche legate al gioco d'azzardo (800 55 88 22), the national gambling helpline run by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (the Italian National Institute of Health), is free and anonymous and offers listening, information and guidance towards local services. You can also contact the addiction services (SerD) of your local health authority (ASL), which treat gambling disorder at no cost.

Warning signs not to ignore

you gamble for longer or spend more money than you had decided;
you raise your stakes to feel the same excitement;
you gamble to win back what you have lost;
you cancel withdrawals to gamble the balance again;
you hide how much you gamble from family or friends;
you use money meant for something else, borrow or sell belongings in order to gamble;
you feel irritable or anxious when you try to stop;
gambling takes time away from work, study, sleep or relationships.

If you recognise yourself in one or more of these points, the Istituto Superiore di Sanità provides a self-assessment test and the Uscire dal gioco portal ("Getting out of gambling"), with information and addresses of services.

Practical rules for players

Decide in advance how much to spend and treat it as the cost of entertainment, not as an investment.
Set a maximum time and stick to it, even if you are winning.
Do not chase losses: no strategy turns a game with a house edge into a source of profit.
Do not play when you are tired, angry, under the influence of alcohol or trying to escape a problem.
Do not use bonuses and missions as a reason to play more: they are designed to increase the volume of play.
Withdraw your winnings instead of leaving them in the account.

Tools on Sportaza

According to AskGamblers, Sportaza offers self-exclusion and a self-assessment test, but no deposit, loss, stake or session limits. Check the responsible gambling section of your profile for the tools that are active. For a resident of Italy it is important to know that self-exclusion from the national register managed by the Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli (ADM, the Italian customs and monopolies agency) does not apply to Sportaza, which is not an Italian licensed operator. How to proceed step by step is explained in the guide limits, self-exclusion and account closure.

Tools that work on all sites

Gambling payment blocks offered by several banks and cards, which can be activated from the app or by asking at the branch.
Gambling-site blocking software for computers and smartphones.
Phone limits with Screen Time (iOS) or Digital Wellbeing (Android).
A dedicated prepaid card with a fixed amount, never linked to automatic top-ups.
Self-exclusion from the ADM register: it covers all legal gambling sites in Italy but not foreign ones, for which the previous tools are needed.

Minors

Gambling for money is prohibited for people under 18. If your device has profiles used by minors, turn on the parental controls of the operating system and the browser, which allow you to block categories of gambling sites.

For family and friends

Those who live alongside a person with a gambling problem can also ask for help: the Telefono Verde Nazionale and the SerD offer support to family members, who often bear the financial and emotional consequences of problem gambling.

Sources consulted and verification method

The sources were consulted on 8 October 2026. Data from the official website takes priority; secondary sources are used for comparison and are identified as such in the text. The full method is described on the page how we produce our analyses.

Responsible gambling