Gambling addiction help in Hungary

Verified helplines

Helplines and online chat

The counselling line is 06 80 980 025, the Szerencsejátékos Segélytelefon, free on weekdays between 15:00 and 19:00 — twenty hours a week. There is also a landline, 06 1 411 6778. It is run jointly by the Pro Psychologia Foundation, the Institute of Psychology at ELTE PPK and the national lottery's player-protection programme, and it is genuinely anonymous: no data is taken and no registration happens when a call comes in. Counselling is available by phone, by e-mail at szerencse@ppk.elte.hu and over Teams. The service takes calls from people who gamble and from affected family members, and refers callers on to specialist treatment where longer therapy is needed.

One number that is often mistaken for a helpline: SZTFH's player-protection green number +36 80 205 352 is free from anywhere in Hungary and answers 24 hours a day, but it is a recording. After a short greeting and a beep you have two minutes to report a player-protection or responsible-gambling problem. Use it to report an operator; use 06 80 980 025 to talk to a psychologist.

Self-exclusion

Since 1 January 2016 a player can file a jelentős önkorlátozó nyilatkozat with the authority. It puts you into the játékosvédelmi nyilvántartás, the player-protection register, and licensed organisers may only give access to identification-based gambling to players who are not listed. The register records which restriction applies, whether it is voluntary or court-ordered, and its term.

You choose two things. The term: one year, three years or five years. And the scope: card room games, casinos, online casino, remote gambling — one category or several. That granularity is unusual in Europe, and it cuts both ways, because a declaration that covers only casinos leaves online play open.

Withdrawal is possible only in person, on form SZTFH_42-1, with identification at the authority's designated customer service. Filing the declaration itself can be done in person with ID, by post as a notarised private document, or electronically through the government portal with electronic authentication. The Szjtv exempts people making a significant self-limitation declaration from the administrative service fee, so it costs nothing. Forms are on sztfh.hu.

Like every national scheme, it binds licensed operators only. Pair it with blocking software on your devices to cover offshore sites.

Blocking gambling payments and sites

SZTFH publishes a register of banned payment accounts under section 13/E of the Gambling Act: accounts used for organising gambling without a licence. Payment service providers must monitor the register continuously, including updates, and apply payment blocks based on it under section 13/C(3). The authority also maintains registers of blocked gambling websites and blocked gambling advertising pages (sztfh.hu).

All of that is aimed at unlicensed operators rather than at a player who wants out. There is no statutory bank gambling block in Hungary; a card-level gambling block, where offered, is a feature of an individual bank or payment app. The tools that are yours are the self-limitation declaration and device blocking, with the debt side handled separately.

Free treatment and counselling

The Segélytelefon is free at the point of use and refers callers to specialist treatment facilities (szakellátóhely) when longer therapy is needed — that referral is the practical route into care, since there is no separate gambling treatment hotline. SZTFH publishes information sheets for players covering psychiatric service providers and social services, alongside material on organisations working on gambling addiction, on its player-protection page.

Our self-test is a way to put words to the problem before that first call.

Support for family and friends

The helpline explicitly serves affected family members as well as gamblers, with counselling and space to talk the problem through, on the same anonymous, free basis — nothing is recorded and you do not have to give a name. The service's own page is maradjonjatek.hu.

Before you call, how to help someone with a gambling addiction covers what tends to work and what usually backfires.

Gambling law and the regulator

Gambling is supervised and licensed by the Szabályozott Tevékenységek Felügyeleti Hatósága (SZTFH) under the Szjtv, the 1991. évi XXXIV. törvény on the organisation of gambling. The age rule is stated plainly in the Act: people under 18 may not take part in gambling, with a narrow exception for non-continuously organised draw games under section 16.

Online casino is tightly held. Under the Act, online casino games may be organised only by the concession company set up or operated for casino games by the holder of a concession to run a physical casino in Hungary; remote gambling likewise needs an SZTFH licence, and the authority keeps a public register of who holds one.

SZTFH also spells out what playing on an unlicensed site costs you: winnings cannot be enforced in court, no player-protection mechanism applies, winnings count as personal income for tax, and blocking may leave you unable to reach your account or receive a payout. Terms used above are explained in our glossary.