Most people who open this page are not in crisis. They are checking a limit before it becomes a habit, or looking something up for someone else. Either way, the tools below are real controls you can set on your own Captainmarlin account, not a list of warnings to scroll past.
Why responsible gambling matters
Gambling works as entertainment when it stays inside a budget you chose in advance, not one you discover afterwards. Captainmarlin gives you the settings to hold that budget in place, and this page explains what each one does and how to use it.
None of these tools remove your ability to play. They remove the ability to drift past a line you set for yourself, which is a different thing and, for most players, the more useful one.
Signs gambling is getting out of hand
These are behaviours, not feelings – easier to check against honestly than a mood:
- Chasing a loss with a bigger stake than you'd normally play
- Borrowing money, or dipping into money earmarked for bills, to keep playing
- Losing track of how long a session ran, or lying about it afterwards
- Feeling irritable or anxious when you try to stop
- Playing to escape a bad mood rather than for the game itself
- Hiding deposits or losses from a partner or family member
One of these on its own isn't a diagnosis. Several together, repeated over weeks, is worth acting on before it gets harder to unwind.
Questions worth asking yourself
- Have you played longer than you planned to, more than once this month?
- Have you spent more than you could comfortably lose?
- Have you gone back to try to win back a loss on the same day?
- Has anyone close to you commented on how much you play?
- Do you feel restless or on edge when you're not playing?
- Have you used money meant for something else to fund a session?
- Do you find it hard to stop once you've started, even when you'd planned to?
- Have you kept playing to try to feel normal again after a loss?
A "yes" to two or more of these is a reasonable prompt to try one of the limits below before the next session, not after it.
Our control tools
Captainmarlin gives you five separate settings, each aimed at a different part of the problem – time, money, access, and visibility.
- Session time limits – daily or weekly reminders that tell you how long you've been playing, set in advance rather than relied on to remember mid-session
- Deposit and spending limits – daily, weekly or monthly caps on how much goes into your account, so the ceiling is fixed before you start rather than decided in the moment
- Self-exclusion – you can suspend your account temporarily or close it permanently, and the closure sticks even if you change your mind an hour later
- Account history – a full record of your deposits, bets and transactions, so you can check what actually happened against what you remember happening
- Reality checks – optional pop-up notifications during a session, reminding you how long you've played or how much you've spent so far
These sit alongside age verification, which we run to keep the platform restricted to adults – see the note on minors below.
Practical limits that work
Settings only help if they're set before you need them. A few that make a real difference:
- Set a deposit limit at a figure you'd be comfortable losing entirely, not one you hope to beat
- Turn on reality checks before a session that might run long, not partway through it
- Treat any win as the end of a session, not the start of a bigger one
- Never deposit money that's already earmarked for a bill or a fixed cost
- If you notice you're avoiding your own account history, that's worth acting on directly
- Use self-exclusion for a fixed period rather than "until I feel like coming back" – a defined end date is easier to stick to
Where to get help in the UK
Free, confidential support exists whether or not you play with us, and reaching out doesn't require a crisis point first.
- GamCare – National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133, free and open 24/7
- BeGambleAware – information and free support tools
- GamStop – free national self-exclusion covering all UK-licensed gambling sites
- Gordon Moody – residential and online treatment programmes for more entrenched problem gambling
Blocking software
Account-level self-exclusion works on a single site. Blocking software works at the device level, which matters if the concern is gambling sites generally rather than one platform.
- Gamban – blocks gambling sites and apps across your devices
- BetBlocker – free, multi-platform blocking software with no subscription
Protecting minors
Captainmarlin is restricted to players aged 18+, and age verification checks apply at registration. If a device you own is shared with anyone under 18, that restriction is only as good as the device itself – parental-control software such as Net Nanny or Qustodio adds a layer we can't apply on our end.
Gambling should be entertainment, not a chore. If it's started to feel like one, the tools and contacts above are there for exactly that moment.
Questions about any of the settings above can go to Captainmarlin support at [email protected].
You must be 18 or over (18+) to use this site. Support with gambling is free and confidential at BeGambleAware.org.