Gambling addiction glossary
This glossary explains the clinical, product, regulatory and recovery terms that come up when people look into gambling harm. Entries are listed A to Z; each one links to the pages on this site that cover the subject in more depth.
A · B · C · D · E · F · G · H · I · K · L · M · N · O · P · R · S · T · U · V · W
- Accumulator (parlay)
A single bet that combines several separate selections, where every leg has to win for the bet to pay. The odds of the legs are multiplied together, so the advertised return grows quickly while the chance of collecting falls with each leg added.
- Affordability check
A check by a gambling operator on whether a customer's losses are likely to be sustainable for them. Great Britain's Gambling Commission guidance tells operators to set thresholds against realistic income data rather than wait for very large losses, and the Commission has been piloting "financial risk assessments" that use credit-reference data for the heaviest-spending accounts.
- Alternative dispute resolution (ADR)
A free, independent service that rules on a gambling complaint after the operator's own complaints process has run out. In Great Britain a customer can take the dispute to an approved ADR provider once the operator has had eight weeks with it. ADR does not cover an operator refusing to accept a bet or declining someone's custom.
- Bailout
Taking money from family, friends or lenders to cover gambling losses or the debts they created. Relying on others to relieve a desperate financial situation caused by gambling is one of the nine DSM-5 criteria for gambling disorder.
See: gambling debt what to do, how to help someone with gambling addiction
- Bank gambling block
A setting in a bank or card app that declines card payments to gambling merchants. It works on the merchant category code carried by the payment, normally MCC 7995, so it stops direct card deposits but not cash, bank transfers, or money routed first through an e-wallet.
- BetBlocker
A free gambling-blocking app run by a charity registered in Scotland (SC049565). It restricts access to gambling sites and apps on Android, iOS, Windows, Mac and Linux, can be installed on any number of devices, and a restriction cannot be lifted before the period the user chose has ended.
- BetStop
Australia's National Self-Exclusion Register, free to join. While registered, licensed Australian online and phone wagering providers must not open an account for you, take your bets, or send you marketing. The minimum period is three months, and ending it early requires a statutory declaration confirming you have seen a counsellor or a GP.
- Cash out
An option to settle a bet before the event finishes, at a price the bookmaker calculates from the current state of play. It is normally offered alongside in-play betting, and operators suspend or withdraw it whenever the underlying market is suspended.
- Chasing losses
Returning to gamble in order to win back money already lost. It is one of the nine DSM-5 criteria for gambling disorder and one of the clearest early markers that gambling has stopped being recreational.
- Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
A structured talking therapy that works on the beliefs and habits keeping gambling going. NICE guideline NG248 recommends group CBT as the treatment to offer for gambling that harms, with individual CBT where a group is not suitable or not available, delivered by a practitioner with gambling-specific CBT training.
See: cbt for gambling addiction, gambling addiction treatment
- Comorbidity
Another disorder present alongside gambling disorder — most often depression, anxiety, or alcohol and other substance use. It changes what treatment is appropriate, which is why assessment normally covers mood, alcohol and drugs as well as gambling.
- Compulsive gambling
An older, non-clinical name for what is now diagnosed as gambling disorder. Gamblers Anonymous still uses it; clinicians use "gambling disorder" from DSM-5 or code 6C50 from ICD-11.
- Cooling-off period
A built-in delay before a protective setting can be weakened. Great Britain's technical standards require at least 24 hours before a request to raise a deposit or loss limit takes effect, while reductions apply immediately. The Dutch CRUKS register applies an eight-day reflection period before a registration can be ended.
- Crash game
An online game in which a multiplier climbs from 1.00× and stops at a randomly determined point. The player has to cash out before it stops; if they do not, the stake is lost.
- Craving
A strong, often sudden pull to gamble. Craving is one of the features that places gambling alongside substance addictions in ICD-11, and it is what techniques such as urge surfing and stimulus control are aimed at.
- Credit card gambling ban
A rule stopping gambling businesses from accepting credit card payments. In Great Britain it covers online and land-based gambling, extends to e-wallet deposits funded from a credit card, and exempts only lottery tickets and scratchcards bought in person alongside other goods or by post.
- CRUKS
The Netherlands' central gambling exclusion register (Centraal Register Uitsluiting Kansspelen), overseen by the Kansspelautoriteit. Licensed online operators, casinos and arcades must check it before letting someone play. The minimum registration is six months, and ending it after that involves an eight-day reflection period.
- Deposit limit
A cap you set on how much money can be paid into a gambling account in a given period. Great Britain's technical standards require operators to offer limits over at least 24 hours, seven days and one month, to apply reductions immediately, and to hold increases for at least 24 hours.
See: how to set gambling limits, responsible gambling tools 2025
- DSM-5 gambling disorder criteria
The nine-item diagnostic list in the American Psychiatric Association's DSM-5: preoccupation, tolerance, failed attempts to cut down, restlessness when stopping, gambling when distressed, chasing losses, lying about gambling, damage to a relationship, job or education, and relying on others for money. Four or more within twelve months meets the diagnosis; 4–5 is mild, 6–7 moderate, 8–9 severe.
- Electronic gaming machine (EGM)
The general term for a machine running gambling games electronically: slots, video poker and similar. Australia and New Zealand use EGM (or "pokies"); Great Britain instead sorts them into categories running from category D machines with stakes of 10p to £1 up to category B1 with a £5 stake and a £10,000 top prize.
- Entrapment
Continuing to gamble because of what has already gone in rather than because of what might come out. Researchers describe it as an escalation of commitment held in place by sunk costs, obligations and self-image, in which play carries on after the enjoyment has gone.
- Financial counselling
Free, independent and confidential help with debts, creditors and budgeting, for example StepChange in the UK or the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007 in Australia. It is separate from gambling treatment and is normally used alongside it.
See: gambling debt what to do, gambling budget tracker how to start
- Fixed odds betting terminal (FOBT)
The common name for a category B2 gaming machine in British betting shops. Its maximum stake is £2 and its maximum prize £500, and the category is restricted to casinos, betting shops and tracks with pool betting.
- Free bet
A promotional stake credited by a bookmaker, usually with conditions: minimum odds, an expiry date, and a stake that is not returned with any winnings. Great Britain's rules require operators to make clear when you are playing with bonus funds rather than your own money.
- Gam-Anon
A mutual-support fellowship for the partners, family and friends of someone who gambles compulsively. It runs its own meetings, separate from Gamblers Anonymous, and operates a hotline on 844-475-4213.
- Gamban
A commercial blocking app that blocks gambling websites and apps across the major device platforms under one licence. It is sold as a subscription after a seven-day free trial.
- Gambler's fallacy
The belief that past outcomes change the odds of the next one — that red is "due" after a run of black. Independent events such as roulette spins and slot results carry no memory of what came before.
- Gamblers Anonymous
A twelve-step mutual-support fellowship for people who want to stop gambling, meeting in person, by phone and online. Its 20 questions self-assessment is widely used; GA states that most compulsive gamblers answer yes to at least seven of them.
See: gamblers anonymous
- Gambling disorder
The clinical diagnosis for gambling a person cannot control that is causing harm. DSM-5 places it among the substance-related and addictive disorders and requires four of nine criteria within twelve months; ICD-11 lists it as code 6C50.
- GamBlock
A commercial blocking product for Windows, macOS, iOS and Android that identifies gambling sites and apps by analysis rather than from a fixed list. It is built to resist removal, including through a factory reset on some Android devices.
- GamStop
Great Britain's free national online self-exclusion scheme. It blocks access to gambling websites and apps licensed in Great Britain for a period you choose from six months to five years, and the exclusion stays in place after that period ends unless you contact GamStop to remove it.
See: what is gamstop, gamstop vs blocking software, united kingdom
- Harm reduction
An approach that aims to cut the damage gambling causes without requiring complete abstinence — lower limits, blocking the riskiest products, cash-only play. NICE states that the agreed aim of treatment is typically abstinence, so harm reduction usually functions as a step towards it or as a fallback where it is not achievable.
- Helpline
A free, confidential phone, chat or text service staffed by advisers trained in gambling problems. Britain's National Gambling Helpline is 0808 8020 133, run by GamCare; numbers for other countries are listed in the helplines directory.
- Hot hand
The belief that a run of wins makes further wins more likely — that the player or the machine is "hot". It is the mirror image of the gambler's fallacy, and it pushes stakes up after a winning streak.
- House edge
The share of every stake the operator expects to keep on average. The Gambling Commission describes it as the percentage a casino expects to keep from each hand or spin. It is the mirror of return to player: a 95% RTP is a 5% house edge.
- IBAS
The Independent Betting Adjudication Service, an ADR provider for gambling disputes in Great Britain. Operators registered with IBAS agree that its decisions bind them up to a total value of £10,000.
- ICD-11 gambling disorder
Code 6C50 in the World Health Organization's classification. It is defined by three features — impaired control over gambling, gambling taking increasing priority over other activities and interests, and continuing or escalating despite negative consequences — to the point of marked distress or impaired functioning. ICD-11 separates predominantly offline (6C50.0) from predominantly online (6C50.1) gambling.
- Illusion of control
Believing you can influence an outcome decided by chance — picking your own numbers, stopping the reels yourself, following a betting system. In studies of online gamblers the belief gets stronger as gambling severity rises.
- Implied probability
The chance of an outcome as expressed by the odds on offer. For decimal odds it is 1 divided by the odds, so 2.50 implies 40%. The implied probabilities across a full market add up to more than 100%; the surplus is the bookmaker's margin.
- In-play betting
Betting on an event while it is under way. Great Britain's technical standards require operators to tell customers that live broadcasts are delayed and that other people may hold more up-to-date information.
- Know your customer (KYC)
The identity checks an operator runs before a customer gambles. In Great Britain online operators must verify name, age and identity before play or deposit, using database matches or documents such as a passport, driving licence or household bill; the same check confirms whether the person is on a self-exclusion scheme.
See: what is gamstop
- Licensed operator
A gambling business holding a licence from the regulator of the country it serves, and therefore bound by that country's rules on self-exclusion, limits, advertising, complaints and dispute resolution.
- Loot box
An in-game container bought or earned whose contents are randomised. Britain's Gambling Commission has said that where the items cannot be cashed out and stay inside the game, a loot box is unlikely to be licensable gambling; where they can be converted into money or money's worth, it can be.
- Loss limit
A cap on net losses over a chosen period, set on a gambling account. It differs from a deposit limit because winnings recycled into further bets still count towards it. Great Britain's standards let operators offer deposit, spend or loss limits.
- Losses disguised as wins
A slot outcome that returns less than the amount staked but is presented with the sound and animation of a win. Research links them to a distorted sense of how often you are winning and reduced awareness of net losses; Great Britain's design standards now prohibit celebrating a return that is less than or equal to the total stake.
- MCC 7995
The merchant category code for betting: lottery tickets, casino chips, off-track betting and wagers at racetracks. Card networks require gambling merchants to use it: Visa's merchant data standards mandate MCC 7995 for all online gambling transactions even where gambling is not the merchant's main business. That code is what makes bank gambling blocks possible.
See: bank gambling block
- Motivational interviewing
A brief, collaborative counselling style that builds a person's own reasons for changing rather than arguing for change. NICE recommends it both to encourage people who are reluctant to seek help and to strengthen commitment at the start of treatment.
- Near miss
An outcome falling just short of a win — two jackpot symbols with the third one position off. Brain-imaging work finds near misses activate reward circuitry almost as strongly as actual wins, which is why they sustain play instead of discouraging it.
- OASIS
Germany's nationwide player-blocking file (Spielersperrsystem), maintained by the Regierungspräsidium Darmstadt. Connection is mandatory for licensed gambling operators, and it works across gambling types, covering both online gambling and land-based venues such as arcades and casinos.
- Odds
The price of a bet, and the bookmaker's expression of how likely an outcome is. Decimal odds show the total return per unit staked (2.50 returns 2.50 including the stake), fractional odds show the profit only (6/4), and American odds show the profit on a 100 stake or the stake needed to win 100.
- Pathological gambling
The DSM-IV name for the diagnosis, where it sat among the impulse-control disorders. DSM-5 renamed it gambling disorder, moved it to the addictive disorders, lowered the threshold from five criteria to four, and dropped the criterion about committing illegal acts to finance gambling.
- Prediction market
A market in event contracts — typically yes/no contracts that settle at a fixed value depending on whether an event happens. In the United States they trade on venues designated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which warns that unregistered platforms operating outside the US offer few protections.
- Problem gambling
Gambling that is causing harm to the person or the people around them, whether or not it meets a clinical diagnosis. In population research the term usually means a Problem Gambling Severity Index score of 8 or higher.
- Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI)
A nine-question screening tool scored from 0 to 27. The bands are 0 for a person who reports none of the nine symptoms, 1–2 low risk, 3–7 moderate risk, and 8 or higher problem gambling.
- Reality check
An on-screen message during play showing how long the session has lasted, which the customer has to acknowledge before continuing. Great Britain's technical standards require the feature and say that where a default frequency is offered it must be set to the minimum available.
- Regulator
The public authority that licenses gambling operators and enforces the rules in a jurisdiction: the Gambling Commission in Great Britain, the Kansspelautoriteit in the Netherlands, Spelinspektionen in Sweden, Spillemyndigheden in Denmark. Complaints about an operator's conduct go to the regulator; disputes about a specific bet go to an ADR provider.
- Relapse
A return to gambling after a period without it. NICE treats relapse as an expected part of the course rather than a failure, recommending continued follow-up and rapid re-entry to therapy, and listing naltrexone as an option where relapses repeat despite an adequate course of psychological therapy.
See: gambling recovery and relapse, gambling addiction medication
- Residential treatment
A live-in programme for severe gambling problems, combining individual and group therapy with case management and safeguarding. In England, Gordon Moody runs a 14-week residential programme for men over 18 with a severe gambling history.
- Return to player (RTP)
The share of money staked that a game returns as prizes across a very large number of plays. The Gambling Commission stresses that RTP is a long-run average, not a session expectation: an 85% machine does not hand back 85p on each £1 staked during a sitting.
- ROFUS
Denmark's register of voluntarily excluded players, run by the Danish Gambling Authority (Spillemyndigheden). It covers online gambling, physical casinos and betting shops, and offers a 24-hour pause, one, three or six months, or permanent exclusion.
- Same-game parlay
An accumulator whose legs all sit on one event: a team to win, a named player to score, a total number of corners. Because the legs are correlated rather than independent, the operator prices them with its own model instead of simply multiplying the individual odds.
- Self-exclusion
A formal request to be barred from gambling for a set period. It can cover one operator, a whole sector, or every licensed operator in a country through a national register such as GamStop, BetStop, Spelpaus, ROFUS, CRUKS or OASIS. Most national schemes cannot be cancelled before the chosen period ends.
See: gambling self exclusion by country, gambling self exclusion usa by state
- Skins betting
Using tradeable in-game items ("skins") as stakes on third-party gambling sites. Britain's Gambling Commission holds that offering gambling facilities with virtual currencies or in-game items still requires an operating licence, and that tradeability is what pulls such items into scope.
- Slot machine
A game paying out on symbol combinations produced by a random number generator, online or on a physical machine. Great Britain caps online slot stakes at £5 per spin for players aged 25 and over and £2 for those aged 18 to 24, and requires at least 2.5 seconds between spins.
- SMART Recovery
A mutual-aid programme grounded in rational emotive behaviour therapy and CBT, organised around four points: building motivation, coping with urges, managing thoughts, feelings and behaviours, and living a balanced life. Unlike twelve-step fellowships it has no steps or sponsors, and participants choose their own goals and tools.
- Spelpaus
Sweden's national self-exclusion service, run by the gambling authority Spelinspektionen. Periods are 10 days, one month, three months, six months or indefinite (a minimum of twelve months), and an exclusion cannot be undone or ended early.
- Sponsor
In Gamblers Anonymous and other twelve-step fellowships, a longer-standing member who works one-to-one with a newer member between meetings and guides them through the steps.
See: gamblers anonymous
- Stimulus control
Changing the environment so the cues that set off gambling are not there: deleting apps and accounts, blocking sites, avoiding venues, handing card control to someone else. It is one of the standard change strategies used both in formal treatment and in mutual-aid programmes.
See: how to stop gambling, best apps to block gambling sites ios android
- Sunk cost
Money or time already spent that cannot be recovered. Treating it as a reason to keep going — "I've put too much in to walk away now" — is a documented driver of continued play and the reasoning underneath chasing losses.
- Tilt
A state of anger or frustration, usually following losses, in which decision-making deteriorates and control slips. Studies of players describe it as emotional dysregulation associated with disrupted sleep and low mood, and treat it as a risk factor for gambling problems.
- Time-out
A short break from a gambling account during which you cannot gamble but the account is not closed. Operators offer a preset range of periods to choose from. A time-out is shorter and lighter than self-exclusion, and it lapses on its own.
- Tolerance
Needing to gamble with increasing amounts of money to reach the same excitement. It is one of the nine DSM-5 criteria and one reason stakes climb over time even when nothing else in a person's gambling changes.
- Unlicensed operator
A gambling site holding no licence from the regulator of the country where the customer is. It is outside that country's self-exclusion register, limit rules and complaints route, so schemes such as GamStop do not reach it.
- Urge surfing
A mindfulness technique for riding out a craving instead of acting on it: noticing the urge, watching it rise and fall, and letting it pass. It is used as a coping skill in relapse-prevention work alongside stimulus control and competing activities.
- Video lottery terminal (VLT)
An electronic gambling machine operated by a state or provincial lottery rather than by a casino company. The games play like slots or video poker; Oregon Lottery video lottery, for example, is a state lottery product sold through licensed retailers.
- Volatility
How a game's payouts are spread around its RTP, also called variance. High volatility means rare, larger wins and long losing runs; low volatility means frequent small returns. Two games with identical RTP can feel entirely different because of it.
- Wagering requirement
The amount that must be staked before bonus funds, or winnings from them, can be withdrawn — "30× bonus" means a £10 bonus has to be staked £300 in total. Great Britain's rules require operators to be clear about when you are playing with bonus funds and what restrictions apply to them.
- Withdrawal
Restlessness or irritability when trying to cut down or stop gambling — one of the nine DSM-5 criteria. It is behavioural rather than physical, and commonly arrives with disturbed sleep, low mood and strong urges.