Gambling block too easy to undo? How to make it harder to get around

Start here: Ten minutes. That is the whole job.

"I turned it off in a minute." "It blocked the app, so I used the browser." "I found a new site it did not know about." Many people say the same thing about blocking tools: they are too easy to get around, by the exact person they are meant to stop.

That is not a sign you are weak or that blocking cannot help you. A block you can lift in one tap only has to fail once, in the worst minute of the week. The aim is not a perfect wall. It is enough friction that the urge has time to pass before you are through it.

If you feel unsafe or are thinking about hurting yourself, call or text 988 now (in Canada, 9-8-8). If you are in danger, call your local emergency number. The full list of lines by country is at the bottom of this page.

Why blocks slip

• You know the passcode. If you set it, you can lift it, and in a hard moment you may want to.
• It only covers one door. An app block does not stop the browser. A phone block does not stop a laptop, a tablet or a second phone.
• New sites keep appearing. A block that works from a list can miss a site that was not on it yesterday.
• The account is still open. The block stops the page loading, but your account, balance and saved card are still waiting behind it.

Make it harder to undo

1. Do not keep the passcode yourself. Ask someone you trust to set it without telling you, if that is safe for you (see who to choose below). Lifting the block then takes a conversation, not a tap. If there is no one you want to ask, set a passcode you will not remember, write it down, seal it in an envelope and keep it somewhere that takes effort to reach. On iPhone, Screen Time can let you reset a forgotten passcode with an Apple Account. If it uses yours, you can get round the person holding it, so ask them whether their account can be the recovery one instead.
2. Block the sites, not just the apps. On iPhone, Screen Time can block the sites you add in Safari and Chrome: iPhone steps. On Android, a filtered DNS setting covers every browser: Android steps. The guided setup with every tap shown is at /setup.
3. Lock the settings too. On iPhone, in Screen Time, set Installing Apps to Don't Allow so a new betting app cannot go on. On Android the DNS setting has no lock of its own, so pair it with a gambling blocker app that has its own password, and give that password away too.
4. Cover your other devices. A laptop, a tablet, an old phone in a drawer. If you cannot block it, give it to someone else to keep for a while, or put it away somewhere hard to reach.

Close the account behind the block

A block guards the door. Self exclusion closes the room. Many people use both, because one covers the gaps in the other.

• Self exclude from the accounts you use: how to self exclude from every sportsbook. In the UK and Australia there are national schemes that cover many companies at once: UK, Australia.
• Ask your bank to block gambling payments. Then a new site that slips past the block has a harder time taking your money: how to ask your bank.
• Not sure which to do first? Read self exclusion or a blocker app.

When you find a site it missed

Searching for a site the block does not know about is the urge looking for a way round. When you notice yourself doing it:

1. Stop the search. Close the tab without opening the site.
2. Add the site to your block straight away, or ask the person who holds your passcode to add it.
3. Do not open an account. A new account on a new site is how a slip turns into the same problem starting again.
4. Get through the next ten minutes. The urge to gamble right now has a plan.

Choosing who holds the passcode

The person who holds it should be someone you trust and who treats you with respect. They do not need to know everything, only that you want the block to stay on. Agree what happens if you ask for the code: for example, they wait until the next morning and talk it through with you. If someone in your life uses your phone or money to control you, they are not the right person for this, and a helpline counsellor can help you think about other options.

If you already got around it

That happens a lot, and it is useful to know where the gap was. Stop there, do not chase what you lost, and close that gap tomorrow. Read what to do after you gambled again.

A pause the block cannot give you

A block cannot talk to you in the minute you are trying to get past it. Hold The Bet is free with no account. It shows your own number and reason and holds a 30 second pause before you bet, with a one tap text to someone you trust.