Safer play when your casino travels with you

Sitting down at a laptop gives a session a clear beginning and end. Your phone offers no such cue, because the games are right there on the bus, on the couch or during a hockey intermission. Since access is so easy, it pays to choose your boundaries ahead of time, while you are relaxed, and not in the middle of a cold run.

Pick your limits before the first spin

Account profiles at online casinos commonly include controls for daily, weekly or monthly deposits, for losses and for session length. The exact options at Kanuuna, and their place in the mobile menu, vary by operator and account, so after logging in, check your profile or the responsible gambling area. These habits help your limits do their job:

• Choose a monthly sum you could comfortably lose in full, then divide it across the weeks.
• Set a time cap as well. On a small screen, a quick extra spin can easily stretch into an hour.
• Reductions tend to apply right away, while increases tend to take longer. Make that difference work for you.
• If you catch yourself topping up on impulse, stop storing your card details on the site.

Put your phone to work

The tools you need are probably on your device already. iPhone users can limit browser or app time through Screen Time, while Android's Digital Wellbeing offers similar caps plus a bedtime mode that fades the display to grey. Take the casino icon off your home screen, turn off promotional alerts and opt out of bonus emails, since all of them exist to bring you back to the lobby. Using a PIN to unlock your phone, not just a swipe, also gives you a brief, helpful moment to think.

Warning signs

• Your sessions run longer or cost more than you planned.
• You raise your bets to win back what you lost.
• You turn to loans or bill money to keep playing.
• You keep your playing time or spending from others.
• You get edgy or short-tempered when you can't play.

If two or more sound familiar, take a break and reach out to someone.

Support for Ontario residents: ConnexOntario

If you live in Ontario, ConnexOntario provides free support around the clock, 24/7, for problem gambling, addiction and mental health. Phone 1-866-531-2600, text CONNEX to 247247, start a chat or go to connexontario.ca. Relatives and friends are welcome to reach out as well, and other provinces run their own lines. (Living overseas? Local counselling services can help.)

Live in another province? ConnexOntario serves Ontario only, but your province has its own help lines. And from anywhere at all, Gambling Therapy provides online support to anyone affected by gambling, in any country.

A step beyond limits: self-exclusion with BetGuard

If account limits stop being enough, BetGuard, the centralised self-exclusion program from iGaming Ontario, takes you off every regulated Ontario iGaming site with a single registration, for 6 months, 1 year or 5 years. Its reach is limited to regulated Ontario sites. Elsewhere in Canada, self-exclusion is handled through individual operators or provincial lottery corporations. The self-exclusion page walks you through each step.

A quick word on tax

Here is some welcome news for your wallet: gambling winnings are generally not taxable for Canadian players, whatever the amount. The exception is a prize that counts as income from employment, a business or property, such as professional gambling, or a prize for achievement. Any interest your winnings earn is taxable.

Questions

You may also like: Kanuuna on your phone and handling complaints and disputes.