Safer gambling

Over 18s only

In Great Britain you must be at least 18 to gamble online, and licensed operators are required to check your age and identity before you can play. Online gambling is regulated by the Gambling Commission. Only use operators that hold a licence valid for where you live, and check the licence details in the site footer before you deposit.

The demo will not teach you to win

Playing Tower Rush for free shows you the rules and the pace. It cannot teach you to win, because each floor is random and independent of the last. A run of good towers in the demo says nothing about what happens with real money, so treat it as a way to learn the game, not as a warm-up.

Fast games need firm limits

Rounds of Tower Rush last only seconds, and that speed makes it easy to lose track of time and spending. Before you play:

• set daily, weekly or monthly deposit limits in your account,
• use reality checks or time-outs if the operator offers them,
• only play with money you can afford to lose without affecting bills or savings,
• avoid playing when you are tired, stressed, low or have been drinking.

Signs it may be getting out of hand

It is worth stepping back if any of these feel familiar:

• chasing losses to win back what you have spent,
• needing bigger stakes to get the same buzz,
• hiding how much you gamble from people close to you,
• borrowing money or using money meant for other things,
• feeling irritable or anxious when you cannot play,
• work, study or relationships suffering because of gambling.

Taking a break

Licensed operators offer time-outs and longer self-exclusion from your account settings. GAMSTOP lets you exclude yourself from all online gambling sites licensed in Great Britain in one go, for six months, a year or five years. You can also add blocking software to your devices and ask your bank to block gambling transactions on your cards.

Free, confidential support

You do not have to sort this out alone. The National Gambling Helpline, run by GamCare, is free and confidential, open 24 hours a day on 0808 8020 133, with live chat on the GamCare website. It supports people who gamble and the people around them. NHS gambling services offer specialist treatment, and your GP can refer you. Peer support is available through Gamblers Anonymous and GamAnon.

Why speed matters

A Tower Rush round can be over in the time it takes to read this sentence. Ten rounds a minute adds up to hundreds of stakes in an evening, often without noticing. Keep a running note, use a timer and stop when you reach your limit, even if you have just won. Stopping on a win is still stopping.

A quick self-check

Answer these honestly, for yourself only. A single yes is a good reason to talk to someone:

• Have you gambled more than you planned in the last few months?
• Have you ever lied to cover up how much you play?
• Do you think about gambling when you are meant to be doing something else?
• Have you tried to cut down and found you could not?

Habits that make a difference

• Set your budget before you log in, not halfway through a session.
• Avoid saving card details at the casino; a few extra seconds at each deposit give you time to think.
• Keep a simple monthly note of deposits and withdrawals.
• Think of every deposit as money spent on entertainment, never as an investment.

Worried about someone else?

Choose a calm moment and talk about what you have noticed, without blame: the time on their phone, money that has gone missing, the mood after a loss. Try not to pay off debts for them. The National Gambling Helpline offers advice to friends and family as well.