Warning Signs of Problem Gambling

Problem gambling is defined by loss of control and by harm, not by how much you lose or how often you play. This page sets out the criteria that clinicians and researchers use, so that you can measure your own gambling against something firmer than a gut feeling.

Nothing here is a diagnosis. A screen tells you whether it is worth talking to someone, and that conversation is free: see where to get help.

The two-question check#

The Lie/Bet questionnaire is a validated two-question screen used in clinics and helplines:

1. Have you ever felt the need to bet more and more money?
2. Have you ever had to lie to people important to you about how much you gambled?

A yes to either question means a fuller assessment is worthwhile. It does not mean you have a disorder. Carry on to the nine questions below.

The PGSI: nine questions about the last 12 months#

The Problem Gambling Severity Index is the standard population screen, used in national surveys in the UK, Canada and Australia. Answer each question for the past 12 months: never (0), sometimes (1), most of the time (2), almost always (3).

1. Have you bet more than you could really afford to lose?
2. Have you needed to gamble with larger amounts of money to get the same feeling of excitement?
3. When you gambled, did you go back another day to try to win back the money you lost?
4. Have you borrowed money or sold anything to get money to gamble?
5. Have you felt that you might have a problem with gambling?
6. Has gambling caused you any health problems, including stress or anxiety?
7. Have people criticised your betting or told you that you had a gambling problem, regardless of whether or not you thought it was true?
8. Has your gambling caused any financial problems for you or your household?
9. Have you felt guilty about the way you gamble or what happens when you gamble?

Add up the points.

The questions and scoring are published by the UK Gambling Commission. For crypto gambling, read "borrowed money or sold anything" to include selling coins you meant to hold, borrowing against crypto, and using exchange credit.

The DSM-5 criteria for gambling disorder#

Clinicians use the American Psychiatric Association's DSM-5. Gambling disorder is diagnosed when gambling causes significant distress or impairment and four or more of these nine criteria are present within a 12-month period:

1. Needing to gamble with increasing amounts of money to get the desired excitement.
2. Being restless or irritable when trying to cut down or stop.
3. Repeated unsuccessful efforts to control, cut back or stop.
4. Frequent preoccupation with gambling: reliving past sessions, planning the next one, thinking of ways to get money to gamble.
5. Often gambling when feeling distressed, for example helpless, guilty, anxious or depressed.
6. After losing money, often returning another day to get even (chasing losses).
7. Lying to conceal the extent of the gambling.
8. Jeopardising or losing a significant relationship, job, or educational or career opportunity because of gambling.
9. Relying on others to provide money to relieve desperate financial situations caused by gambling.

Severity is graded by count: 4 to 5 criteria is mild, 6 to 7 moderate, 8 to 9 severe. A clinician also checks that the behaviour is not better explained by a manic episode. The APA's plain-language summary is on its gambling disorder page.

What the screens do not tell you#

• They are not a verdict. A high score means "talk to someone qualified", and a low score is not a clean bill of health if gambling is worrying you or people around you.
• They depend on honest answers. Answer for how things have been, not how you plan for them to be.
• Amounts are relative. There is no amount of money in any of the criteria. "More than you could afford to lose" is personal.

How the signs show up at a crypto casino#

The criteria were written before crypto casinos existed, and the same behaviours look slightly different there:

• Several deposits in one night, each one meant to be the last
• Moving coins out of long-term storage or selling other holdings to fund play
• Raising bet size after losses, or switching to higher-volatility games to recover faster
• Sessions that run through the night because the site never closes
• Keeping a second wallet or exchange account so that the activity is hard for a partner to see
• Thinking of losses in coins rather than in money, so the total stays vague
• Opening accounts at other casinos after hitting a limit or an exclusion at one
• Treating rakeback, races or high RTP as a reason the next session will be different

One point on that last item. Duel's Originals run at an effective 100% RTP inside a daily allowance, and that is easy to hear as "safe". It is not. Zero edge removes the house's long-run advantage; it does not stop a bankroll being lost through bet sizing and time. Chasing losses on a fair game still fails, because being behind does not make the next result more likely to win.

What to do next#

If you are worried about someone else#

You cannot answer the screens for another person, but the visible signs are consistent: secrecy about money or screen time, unexplained borrowing, mood that follows wins and losses, lost interest in other things, and defensiveness when gambling comes up. Helplines advise family and friends as well as gamblers, and the family section of where to get help covers how to raise it and how to protect shared finances.

Summary#

Use the two Lie/Bet questions as a first check and the nine-question PGSI for a score: 3 or more means act, 8 or more means get support now. The DSM-5 threshold for gambling disorder is four of nine criteria within 12 months. Screens point you to help and do not replace it, and the help is free and confidential.