Gambling helplines in 50 countries: when they answer and how to reach them

• 16of 50 countries answer the phone at any hour
• 16answer on weekdays only
• 21offer chat, WhatsApp or text
• 13have no dedicated gambling helpline in the directory

When the phone is answered

Gambling losses and the urge to chase them often come late in the evening and at weekends. A line that closes at 17:00 on Friday is shut for most of that time.

Reaching a helpline without calling

Many people will write before they will speak. A live channel means chat on the service's site, WhatsApp, SMS or another messenger; email and booked online counselling are slower and are counted separately.

What kind of service answers

Where a country has no gambling-specific line, the directory lists the closest working alternative and says so on the country page.

By region

Country by country

Method and limits

• The source is the Zona Bet helpline directory: one main national service per country, with hours, channels and notes taken from the site of the operator, the regulator or the government and last checked on September 1, 2026.
• Each country is sorted into one group per table from the wording of its directory entry. “Around the clock” means the phone line itself is described as 24-hour; a service whose chat runs at night but whose phone line does not is counted by its phone hours.
• The 50 countries are the ones the directory covers, 31 of them in Europe. They are not a sample of the world, and the figures say nothing about countries that are not listed.
• Only the main national line is counted. Regional lines, treatment centres and lines run by gambling operators can widen access beyond what is shown here.
• The directory is open data: gambling-helplines-by-country.csv.