Gambling is entertainment that costs money, and the best sessions are the planned ones. This page puts the phone numbers first, then the account controls that keep play fun.
Support lines by province
All are free and confidential, and all take calls from family members as well as from the person gambling.
| Province | Service | Number |
|---|---|---|
| Alberta | Problem Gambling Resources Network | 1-866-461-1259 |
| British Columbia | Problem Gambling Help Line | 1-888-795-6111 |
| Manitoba | Addictions Help Line | 1-800-463-1554 |
| Quebec | Gambling: Help and Referral | 1-800-461-0140 |
| Saskatchewan | Problem Gambling Helpline | 1-800-306-6789 |
| Nova Scotia | Mental Health and Addictions Crisis Line | 1-888-429-8167 |
For every other province and territory, the Responsible Gambling Council maintains a national directory at responsiblegambling.org, listing the services for each jurisdiction and kept up to date.
Set the limits early
Deposit limits and session reminders are the two controls that do most of the work, and the CasinoChan support team, available by live chat and email around the clock, can set them with you.
The best moment is the day you register. The decision is easy while everything is going well, and a limit set in advance keeps working for the version of you who is in the middle of a session.
- A deposit limit caps what can go in over a day, week or month. It gives you a budget that holds up in the moment.
- A session reminder pauses play at a fixed interval. Its value is the pause itself: a session that has run for three hours is useful information.
Taking a break
Self-exclusion is a request to the support team to close access for a set period, and it is built to hold for that whole period. That firmness is the feature, because it protects a decision you made with a clear head.
Provincial services can help arrange wider exclusion across several operators and give you someone to talk it through with. Self-exclusion handles access, and a conversation with a counsellor handles the reason.
Signs it is time to pause
- Playing to win back what was lost, rather than for enjoyment.
- Using money that was allocated to something else.
- Keeping the amount or the time from people close to you.
- Borrowing, selling or moving money around to keep going.
- Needing bigger stakes to hold the same interest.
- Feeling that stopping would be difficult.
Noticing one of these is a good reason to take a break. Several at once are worth a call today. The people at the numbers above hear from callers every day and are glad to take the call.
How slots and games really work
Every spin is independent. Slot outcomes come from a random number generator with no memory of earlier spins, so each spin starts fresh, whatever the run before it.
The odds stay the same. The mathematics of a game stays the same under any staking pattern, so the best approach is to set a budget for the session and enjoy it as an evening out.
Planned sessions are the happiest ones. Choose the amount before you start, play within it and stop when the plan says stop.
If you are helping someone else
You can call whenever you decide to, and the conversation can start from wherever you are. The provincial services take calls from partners, parents, adult children and friends, and a first call to them is a good first step.
18+, or 19+ where your province requires it. Play with money set aside for entertainment.