Call Hjelpelinjen on 800 800 40. It is anonymous, open weekdays 09:00–18:00, with a chat from 11:00 to 15:00. Norway has no single national self-exclusion register: only two operators may legally offer gambling, Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto, and you exclude yourself inside each account. At Norsk Tipping you can take a pause of 1, 7, 30 or 180 days, or exclude yourself permanently. Treatment sits in the public health service and needs a referral from your GP; several services need no referral at all. The age limit is 18.
| National helpline | 800 800 40 — Hjelpelinjen, anonymous, weekdays 09:00–18:00 |
|---|---|
| National self-exclusion register | None. You exclude yourself with each licensed operator |
| Norsk Tipping options | Pause of 1, 7, 30 or 180 days, or permanent self-exclusion |
| Payments | Banks and payment institutions may not process payments to unlicensed operators |
| Site blocking | DNS blocking of illegal gambling sites since 1 January 2025 |
| Treatment | Public specialist care via GP referral; several services need no referral |
| Regulator | Lotteritilsynet (Norwegian Gambling and Foundation Authority) |
| Legal gambling age | 18 |
Verified helplines
| Service | Phone / chat | Hours | Website |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hjelpelinjen | 800 800 40Chat weekdays 11:00–15:00 | Phone weekdays 09:00–18:00; completely anonymousNorwegian; English spoken; interpreters have been used | hjelpelinjen.no/en/front-page |
Helplines and online chat
Hjelpelinjen is the national line for gambling problems: 800 800 40, completely anonymous, open weekdays 09:00–18:00, with a chat from 11:00 to 15:00 and an email address at hjelpelinjen.no. It is staffed by health personnel with training in gambling problems, and it is a collaboration between the gambling authority and Blå Kors. Counsellors speak Norwegian, English is available, and interpreters have been used.
Spillavhengighet Norge runs a second line on 477 00 200, aimed at people who gamble and their families.
If you are thinking about ending your life, call 112, the emergency number across the EU and Norway. Debt secrecy is the part that isolates people; telling one person tonight changes the risk more than any block does. A gambling helpline is not a crisis line; use both if you need to. More numbers: findahelpline.com and our helplines directory.
Self-exclusion
There is no cross-operator national self-exclusion register in Norway as of September 2026, and the reason is structural. Only operators holding a Norwegian licence or special permission may offer gambling here, which in practice means Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto. Exclusion is therefore set inside the operator’s own account rather than in a central database.
At Norsk Tipping
Two separate tools, and the difference matters. A spillepause (gambling pause) is time-limited: 1, 7, 30 or 180 days, after which access returns by itself. Utestengelse (self-exclusion) is the permanent option, and you can apply it to a single game, a group of games or all of them. Norsk Tipping also offers the Gamban blocking filter alongside deposit and time limits.
A 180-day pause is the longest reversible option and is usually the right first move; permanent exclusion is not something to reach for while you are still deciding. Either way, add a blocking app: see apps that block gambling sites.
Because the register is per-operator, an exclusion at one company does not carry over to the other, and neither reaches offshore sites. Our overview of self-exclusion schemes by country explains how Norway compares with the Danish and Swedish registers.
Blocking gambling payments and sites
Norway restricts unlicensed gambling from two directions, and both work without you doing anything.
Payment blocking: banks and payment institutions are prohibited from facilitating transactions with operators that have no Norwegian licence. Deposits and withdrawals to those sites are supposed to fail at the bank.
DNS blocking: since 1 January 2025 the Norwegian Gambling Authority can order internet providers to block illegal gambling sites. If you try to open one, your provider redirects you to a page explaining that the site offers gambling that is not legal in Norway. Operators do move to mirror domains, so the block is a friction layer rather than a wall.
Neither measure touches the licensed operators; for those, use the exclusion tools above. If the money side has already gone wrong, read what to do about gambling debt.
Treatment and counselling
Specialist treatment sits in the public health service and requires a referral (henvisning), usually from your fastlege. Child welfare services and advisers at your local NAV office can also refer you. You can submit the application digitally on helsenorge.no, and the referral is assessed before a treatment plan is set.
Several services need no referral at all, which matters if you want to start this week rather than after an assessment: Hjelpelinjen, Spillavhengighet Norge, Blå Kors’ remote treatment with weekly phone sessions with a fixed therapist, and Helse Bergen’s e-treatment for gambling addiction, which is open regardless of where you live.
Public care is not free at the point of use for adults: you pay user fees (egenandel) until you reach the exemption card threshold, which is NOK 3,278 for 2026, after which the rest of the calendar year is covered. Children and young people under 18 are exempt from user fees.
Support for family and friends
Hjelpelinjen and Spillavhengighet Norge both take calls from partners, parents and friends, and you do not need the person who gambles to agree, or even to know. Blå Kors works with relatives as well as with people who gamble.
You cannot set a pause or an exclusion on someone else’s Norsk Tipping account; that has to come from them. What you can do is stop covering losses, separate your finances, and get your own support. See how to help someone with a gambling problem.
Gambling law and the regulator
The regulator is Lotteritilsynet, the Norwegian Gambling and Foundation Authority (Lottstift), based in Førde, which supervises gambling, foundations and match-fixing work.
Norway keeps an exclusive rights model: only operators with a national licence or special permission from the Norwegian authorities may offer gambling, so foreign online casinos and bookmakers are not legal providers here even when they accept Norwegian players. That is what the payment and DNS blocking measures enforce. All Norsk Tipping games carry an 18-year age limit.
Frequently asked questions
Is online gambling legal in Norway?
Only through operators holding a Norwegian licence or special permission — in practice Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto. Foreign online casinos and bookmakers are not legal providers in Norway, which is why banks may not process payments to them and why the Norwegian Gambling Authority can order internet providers to block their sites.
How do I self-exclude from gambling in Norway?
Inside each operator’s account, because there is no national register. At Norsk Tipping you can set a pause of 1, 7, 30 or 180 days, or a permanent self-exclusion covering one game, a group of games or all games. Norsk Rikstoto is separate, so exclude yourself there too if you bet on horses.
Is gambling treatment free in Norway?
Specialist treatment is part of the public health service, but adults pay user fees (egenandel) until the exemption card threshold — NOK 3,278 in 2026 — after which the rest of the year is covered. Under-18s pay nothing. Hjelpelinjen, Spillavhengighet Norge and Blå Kors’ remote treatment need no referral.
Do I need a referral for gambling addiction treatment?
For specialist health services, yes — usually from your fastlege, though child welfare services and NAV advisers can also refer you, and you can apply digitally on helsenorge.no. Hjelpelinjen, Spillavhengighet Norge, Blå Kors and Helse Bergen’s e-treatment can be used without one.
Sources
- Hjelpelinjen — the national gambling helpline
- Helsenorge — Pengespill og avhengighet (referral routes, services without referral)
- Helsenorge — Frikort for helsetjenester (2026 user-fee threshold)
- Lottstift — DNS blocking in Norway and payment blocking
- Lottstift — the Norwegian Gambling and Foundation Authority
- Norsk Tipping — Spillegrenser, pause og spillregnskap (pause durations, exclusion, age limit)
- Norsk Tipping — Verktøy (self-exclusion scope, Gamban filter)