If you want gambling addiction help right now, the fastest route is a free helpline, and you do not need a diagnosis, a plan, or a particular amount of debt before you call. In Great Britain that is 0808 8020 133. In the United States it is 1-800-MY-RESET. In Australia it is 1800 858 858. All three are free, confidential and open around the clock.
The rest of this page explains what actually happens when you make that call, what support exists beyond it, and the order that usually works best. Every phone number here was checked against the organisation’s own website on the date at the foot of the page.
Written from published clinical sources. This article has not been reviewed by a clinician — see our editorial policy. Nothing here is medical advice.
Start here: the order that works
People often try to do everything at once, or wait until they have a full plan. Neither is necessary. A workable order is:
- Make the money harder to reach. Self-exclusion and blocking software take minutes and work whether or not you have spoken to anyone.
- Talk to one person. A helpline counts. So does a friend.
- Get the debt looked at by someone qualified, separately from the gambling.
- Start treatment. This is the part that changes the pattern rather than just containing it.
The first step is deliberately placed before the others. It reduces how many decisions you have to get right in a day, which matters most in the early weeks.
Verified helplines by country
| Country | Service | Number | Hours stated by the operator |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great Britain | National Gambling Helpline (GamCare) | 0808 8020 133 | 24 hours, every day |
| United States | National Problem Gambling Helpline (NCPG) | 1-800-MY-RESET (1-800-697-3738) | 24/7/365 |
| United States | 1-800-GAMBLER (CCGNJ) | 1-800-426-2537 | 24/7 |
| Australia | Gambling Help Online | 1800 858 858 | 24/7 |
| Ireland | Gambling Awareness Trust | 1800 936 725 | 24 hours, 365 days |
| New Zealand | Gambling Helpline Aotearoa | 0800 654 655 (text 8006) | 24 hours |
| Ontario, Canada | ConnexOntario | 1-866-531-2600 | 24/7, 365 days |
Great Britain
GamCare runs the National Gambling Helpline and states that it is free on 0808 8020 133 and “available 24 hours a day, every day of the year”. You can also use live chat or WhatsApp on the same number. GamCare notes that call recordings and chat transcripts are kept for 28 days for quality assurance.
Beyond the phone, GamCare provides free, confidential one-to-one support for anyone affected by gambling harm, including family and friends, plus online treatment, self-guided tools and peer support.
United States — the number changed, and most pages are wrong
This is the single most out-of-date fact on competing websites, so it is worth being precise.
The National Council on Problem Gambling announced on 29 January 2026 that 1-800-MY-RESET is the National Problem Gambling Helpline number. The same announcement confirms that existing access points, including 1-800-522-4700, remain active — so if you have the old number written down, it still works.
NCPG states that the helpline offers call, text and chat 24/7/365, that contacting it is confidential, and that “no payment or insurance information is required”. Translation is available in more than 240 languages.
The change was not a routine rebrand. NCPG’s statement of 29 September 2025 refers to a New Jersey Supreme Court decision regarding the use and management of 1-800-GAMBLER as the national helpline number, and says NCPG would operate the helpline using its former number, 1-800-MY-RESET, until a permanent solution was determined.
1-800-GAMBLER is a separate service operated by the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey, which describes it as a 24/7 confidential helpline. The New Jersey Department of Human Services attributes the line to the CCGNJ and describes it as free and confidential “in NJ and throughout much of the US”.
You will see claims about which states legally require which number in advertising. We have not found a primary government source establishing that state by state, so we do not repeat it. Practically, both numbers are live and either will reach help.
Australia
Gambling Help Online offers free, 24/7, anonymous support on 1800 858 858, with online chat and email counselling alongside the phone line. The Victorian Department of Health independently confirms the number and states that Gambler’s Help services are “professional, free, confidential and available 24/7”, including face-to-face and financial counselling.
Ireland, Canada and New Zealand
In Ireland, GamblingCare.ie operates a free, confidential helpline on 1800 936 725, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and the number is also listed by the statutory regulator, the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland. In the interest of disclosure: the Gambling Awareness Trust behind it is industry-funded in origin, which is worth knowing even though the regulator lists it.
Canada has no single national gambling helpline — treatment is commissioned province by province. In Ontario, ConnexOntario is free and confidential on 1-866-531-2600, 24/7, needs no doctor’s referral, and is funded by the Government of Ontario and Ontario Health. Elsewhere in Canada, look for your provincial service.
In New Zealand, the Gambling Helpline is free day or night on 0800 654 655, with an anonymous free text service on 8006 and dedicated Māori and Pasifika lines.
What actually happens when you call
Not knowing what a call involves stops a lot of people from making one. Here is what the operators themselves say.
GamCare describes the call in detail: it is usually answered within about 30 seconds; it opens with a simple question like “National Gambling Helpline, how can we help?”; and it is up to you what you share. Advisers like to ask for a first name and may ask for the first part of your postcode, but the conversation stays between you and the adviser, and nothing is shared without your permission “unless someone is in immediate risk”.
In the United States, NCPG explains that your call is routed by area code to a contact centre for your state, that sharing details is optional, and that what you share is confidential.
Two honest caveats. First, “confidential” and “anonymous” are not the same word, and the US helpline says the former rather than the latter. Second, on whether a call shows up on a phone bill: the gambling helplines we checked do not address this. Samaritans does, and states that its 116 123 number is free from landlines and mobiles and will not appear on your phone bill. We are not able to make that claim for the gambling lines, so we do not.
Blocking access: the fastest practical step
Self-exclusion means asking gambling companies to refuse you service. It is not a substitute for treatment, but it is the thing you can do in the next ten minutes.
GAMSTOP is free and blocks you from online gambling companies licensed in Great Britain, for 6 months, 1 year or 5 years. In Australia, BetStop is free, covers licensed online and phone wagering providers, and runs from a minimum of 3 months up to a lifetime. Our global self-exclusion guide covers the other national schemes.
Blocking software works differently, stopping the device rather than the operator. BetBlocker is a registered Scottish charity and is free — “absolutely nothing, ever” — across Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS, with restriction periods from one day to five years that cannot be lifted early.
One correction worth making, because many guides still get it wrong: Gamban is no longer free in England and Scotland. Gamban states that the TalkBanStop partnership ended on 31 March 2026 and that it moved to a subscription in England and Scotland, while remaining free in Wales. If you read elsewhere that it is free UK-wide, that page is out of date.
Many banks also offer a gambling block on your card or account. The Gambling Commission explains how these work and notes that implementations differ — with some banks, a restriction can be lifted but transactions still decline until the period ends.
Treatment options
Talking therapy
Cognitive behavioural therapy has the best evidence base. NICE guideline NG248, published on 28 January 2025, recommends offering group CBT as soon as possible after diagnosis, and individual CBT for those who prefer it — usually 8 to 10 group sessions or 6 to 8 individual ones. We cover the evidence in gambling addiction explained.
NHS clinics in England
NHS.uk states that you can self-refer to a gambling clinic rather than needing a GP letter, and lists regional services including the National Centre for Behavioural Addictions and the Northern, Southern, West Midlands, East Midlands, East of England and South West gambling services. Note that this page was last reviewed on 8 December 2023.
The National Gambling Clinic takes self-referrals by online form, phone or email on 020 7381 7722, and treats people aged 13 to 18 from anywhere in England, and adults living in Greater London. It offers CBT individually or in groups, psychodynamic therapy, and a service for family and friends.
Mutual aid and peer support
Gamblers Anonymous states that there are no dues or fees and that “the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop gambling”. SMART Recovery UK offers free meetings, face-to-face and online, grounded in CBT — a secular alternative for people who do not want a twelve-step approach.
Residential treatment
Gordon Moody provides residential treatment in Great Britain and states that it “now offers all services at NO COST”, with an average wait of four to six weeks. This is intensive support for severe cases, not a first step.
A word of warning about searching for “gambling rehab”. Many of the most prominent results are marketing pages for private clinics that pay for placement. A free national helpline has no commercial interest in where you end up; a lead-generation site does. Start with the former.
Money and debt
Treat the debt as a separate problem with its own specialists. Gambling counsellors are not debt advisers, and debt advisers are not therapists. In Victoria, financial counselling is offered free alongside gambling support; in Great Britain, free regulated debt advice is available independently of gambling services.
Nothing on this page is financial advice. What we would say is that decisions made in the first panicked week — a consolidation loan, borrowing from family, a payday product — are the ones people most often regret. Free advice first.
If you are helping someone else
Support for affected others is not a consolation prize; it exists in its own right. GamCare’s free one-to-one support explicitly covers family and friends, SMART Recovery runs dedicated Family & Friends groups, and Gambling Help Online has sections for supporting a family member, friend or workmate.
Two things that generally help: talk about specific behaviour rather than character, and get your own support rather than waiting until the other person is ready. Two things that generally do not: paying off the debt without any other change, and ultimatums you are not prepared to follow through.
If you are in crisis
Gambling harm and suicidal thoughts travel together more often than most people realise, and it is not a sign that you are beyond help. Free, round-the-clock services exist for exactly this: Samaritans on 116 123 in the UK and Ireland, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the United States, and Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia. If someone’s life is in immediate danger, call your emergency number.
What if you are not ready to stop?
A lot of people reading a page like this are not certain they want to quit. That is an ordinary position, not a disqualifying one, and no helpline will refuse to speak to someone who says it out loud.
Ambivalence is the normal state at the start of changing any entrenched behaviour. Good counsellors expect it and work with it rather than arguing against it. You are allowed to call and say “I am not sure this is a problem, but I keep thinking about it.” That is a complete and reasonable reason to get in touch.
If you would rather not speak to anyone yet, two things are still worth doing, because neither commits you to a decision. Put a blocker on your devices, which you can reverse later but not instantly. And write down what you actually spent over the last three months, from statements rather than memory. People are often surprised, and the number tends to make the decision easier than any argument would.
Questions people ask before calling
Will anyone be told?
GamCare states that the conversation stays between you and the adviser and that nothing is shared without your permission, with the standard exception where someone is at immediate risk. NCPG describes its helpline as confidential. No helpline here reports to employers, banks or gambling companies.
Do I need to know how much I have lost?
No. You will not be asked to produce a figure, and plenty of callers genuinely do not know it yet.
Is there a waiting list?
Helplines answer immediately — GamCare says usually within about 30 seconds. Ongoing treatment may involve a wait, which varies by service and location. Gordon Moody, for residential treatment, states an average wait of four to six weeks.
I am not the gambler. Can I still call?
Yes, and you do not need the person’s permission or knowledge. Support for affected others is offered in its own right by GamCare, Gambling Help Online and SMART Recovery’s Family & Friends groups.
Does it cost anything?
Every helpline listed on this page is free to contact. NCPG adds that no payment or insurance information is required. Treatment through the NHS, GamCare and Gordon Moody is also provided at no cost; private clinics are a separate matter, and are where the commercial incentives live.
About this page
Written by Jose Del Pozo. Every number was checked against the operator’s own website on the date below; where we could not verify a claim, we left it out and said so. We take no money from gambling operators — see funding and independence — and we accept no payment for listing any treatment provider. To report an error, see our corrections policy.
Last reviewed: 20 September 2026. Sources checked on this date.