Gambling addiction help in Switzerland

Verified helplines

Helplines and online chat

0800 040 080 is the Swiss gambling line, described by the service itself as reachable 24 hours, free of charge and anonymous. It is run by "Spielen ohne Sucht" / SOS-Spielsucht, an intercantonal gambling addiction prevention programme commissioned by 18 cantons and the Principality of Liechtenstein - a publicly mandated service, not an operator initiative. The hotline is German-speaking; regional counselling centres can arrange interpreters.

For written contact, SafeZone.ch provides free online counselling on addiction questions, with a reply usually within about two working days. It is the option to use at night, when a phone call is not possible or not wanted.

Self-exclusion

The Spielsperre is unusually wide by European standards. It applies to all casinos on site and to all Swiss providers of money games conducted online under the federal Gambling Act - that includes lotteries, sports betting, and online casino and poker games. It works nationwide, and the Federal Gaming Board confirms it has also been valid in Liechtenstein since 7 January 2025. The legal basis is Articles 80 to 82 of the Gambling Act, with Articles 84 and 85 of the implementing ordinance.

There are two ways in, and they are not the same thing:

• You ask for it. Contact the casino you visit most often by phone, by post or in person. For online lottery and sports betting products, call Swisslos on 0848 877 855 or set it in your account. This exclusion can be lifted at the earliest after three months.
• An operator imposes it. Operators are required to do this in certain cases under the Gambling Act. This exclusion can be lifted at the earliest after one year.

A relative can also request an exclusion, and may do so anonymously. Whichever route it came through, only the casino that entered the Spielsperre can remove it, on application - it does not simply run out.

SOS-Spielsucht is direct about what an exclusion is worth: a good short-term solution that stops you reaching the offer, and no substitute for counselling. See our comparison of self-exclusion schemes by country for how the Swiss scheme compares with Germany's OASIS and the Dutch Cruks.

Blocking gambling payments and sites

A Spielsperre reaches Swiss-licensed operators only. Foreign sites are handled separately, by blocking at the network level: the Federal Gaming Board (ESBK) maintains a blocking list of unauthorised online casino domains, updated four times a year, and Gespa maintains the equivalent list for large-scale games. Swiss telecom providers are required to block the listed domain names by DNS; the Gespa list was last updated on 25 August 2026.

DNS blocking is a speed bump rather than a wall - it is trivially bypassed with a VPN or a changed resolver, and it does not stop a site you already have an account with. If foreign sites are where you play, the effective layer is on your own devices: see apps that block gambling sites. Before assuming a site is regulated here, check it against ESBK's list of licensed online casinos and Gespa's blocklist.

Free treatment and counselling

The 0800 line and SafeZone.ch online counselling are free. Beyond them, SOS-Spielsucht lists specialist counselling centres by canton, which is the normal entry point for ongoing help: outpatient counselling first, and inpatient treatment where it is needed, though inpatient provision is not available in every canton.

Before starting therapy, ask the counselling centre what your health insurance covers and whether prior approval is required in your canton - this varies, and the centre will know the local answer better than the insurer's hotline. If debt is the immediate problem, our guide to gambling debt covers what to deal with first.

Support for family and friends

Relatives have a concrete lever in Switzerland that they lack in many countries: they can request a Spielsperre for a family member, and they can do so anonymously. It is still a serious step - the resulting exclusion can only be lifted by the casino that entered it, and not before the minimum period.

The 0800 line and SafeZone.ch are open to relatives on the same terms. How to help someone with a gambling problem covers the conversation, and the signs of a gambling problem covers what you are actually looking at.

Gambling law and the regulator

Supervision is split. The Federal Gaming Board (Eidgenössische Spielbankenkommission, ESBK) oversees casino games; the intercantonal authority Gespa oversees lotteries, sports betting and games of skill. Casino games may be offered only by licensed casinos, and concessions are granted only to public limited companies under Swiss law - which is why the legal online offer in Switzerland is an extension of the land-based casinos rather than an open market.

The minimum age for casinos is 18: only adults may enter. Foreign operators without a Swiss licence are, in ESBK's and Gespa's framing, circumventing Swiss supervision, and their domains are the ones on the blocklists. The helplines directory lists lines outside Switzerland.