Deposit limit planner
Set a deposit limit that matches what you actually spend
Enter what you put in and what you get back. The planner works out your net deposits, tells you which British checks that crosses, and suggests limits at three levels of firmness.
Why the planner asks what it asks
Net deposits, rather than the gross total you have moved, because that is the figure the British threshold works on. Depositing two hundred pounds and withdrawing eighty leaves a hundred and twenty net, and the rolling thirty-day window means it is measured continuously rather than resetting with the calendar month. A heavy week can cross the line even when the month looks modest.
The fourth field, what you consider comfortably affordable, is the one the regulator has no view on and the one that matters most. The gap between that number and your actual net deposits is the finding. A threshold set by somebody else describes when an operator has to look at you; the gap describes whether you would want them to.
Setting limits on more than one timescale
A monthly limit on its own permits the entire month to disappear in a single evening, which is the pattern that does the damage rather than steady spending. Setting a daily figure alongside it removes that, and most operators allow both.
The direction of travel is deliberately asymmetric. Reducing a limit takes effect immediately. Raising one does not: a cooling-off period must pass first, so a limit cannot be lifted mid-session, which is precisely when people want to lift it. That asymmetry is the whole safeguard, and it only works if the limit is already in place before the moment arrives.
When a limit is the wrong tool
Limits assume the problem is pace. If the difficulty is that you are returning when you meant not to, a time-out shuts the account for anything from a day to six weeks and cannot be reversed early. If it is more settled than that, self-exclusion runs from six months and GAMSTOP applies it across every operator licensed in Britain at once, which is the difference that matters: excluding yourself from one site leaves the rest open. How the tools compare.
The rules this is based on
Every figure below was checked against the Gambling Commission's own guidance rather than a summary of it, and each links to the page it came from.
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9 April 2025
Online slots stake capped at £5 a spin
A maximum of £5 per game cycle on online slots for players aged 25 and over. It applies to slots only, not to roulette, blackjack or other casino games.
Gambling Commission guidance · checked 28 July 2026
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21 May 2025
Online slots stake capped at £2 a spin for 18 to 24 year olds
A lower maximum of £2 per game cycle on online slots for players aged 18 to 24. Again slots only.
Gambling Commission guidance · checked 28 July 2026
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28 February 2025
Light-touch financial vulnerability check at £150
Operators must run a light-touch check once a customer reaches £150 in net deposits in a rolling 30-day period. It uses publicly available data rather than credit reference data, and it is designed to catch financial vulnerability early. The threshold started at £500 net deposits in a rolling 30 days on 30 August 2024 and was lowered to £150 on 28 February 2025; the two figures are consecutive, not tiers for different customers.
Gambling Commission guidance · checked 28 July 2026
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Pilot from late August 2024
Financial risk assessments remain a pilot
The deeper financial risk assessment, the one usually meant by "affordability checks", has not gone live. It has been running as a pilot since late August 2024, with no confirmed thresholds, and the Commission has said final decisions follow the pilot. Anyone telling you a fixed affordability limit already applies is ahead of the evidence.
Gambling Commission guidance · checked 28 July 2026
Questions about limits and checks
What is a net deposit?
Money you put in, less money you have withdrawn, over the period being measured. Depositing £200 and withdrawing £80 in the same thirty days leaves £120 net. It is the net figure the £150 check works on, not the gross total you have moved.
What actually happens when I cross £150?
A light-touch check runs in the background using publicly available data. It is not a credit check and it does not appear on your credit file. Most people never notice it. It exists to flag signs of significant financial vulnerability early rather than after the damage.
Are affordability checks now compulsory?
Not the deep ones. The full financial risk assessment has been in pilot since late August 2024 with no confirmed live thresholds, and the Commission has said decisions follow the pilot. The £150 light-touch check is the part that is actually operating.
Does a deposit limit stop me depositing more?
Yes, that is the point, and a reduction takes effect immediately. Increasing a limit is deliberately slower: operators must impose a cooling-off period before a higher limit applies, so the decision cannot be made in the moment.
What if a limit is not enough?
A time-out shuts your account for a set period, from a day up to six weeks. Self-exclusion runs from six months upward and cannot be lifted early. GAMSTOP applies self-exclusion across every British-licensed online operator at once, which is the difference that matters: excluding yourself from one site leaves the rest open.
Free, confidential help is available at any hour on the National Gambling Helpline, 0808 8020 133.