If gambling is hurting you right now, call or text 1-800-MY-RESET (1-800-697-3738). That is the National Problem Gambling Helpline. It is free, confidential and open 24 hours a day, every day, and it will connect you to help in your own state (National Council on Problem Gambling).
The gambling helpline USA number changed in January 2026. That is why many pages you find online still show an older one. The good news is simple: the old numbers were not switched off. 1-800-522-4700 still works, and 1-800-GAMBLER still works too, although it is run by a different organisation. You do not need to know which is which to get help. But it helps to know what each one is, so this page explains it plainly.
Written from published clinical sources. This article has not been reviewed by a clinician — see our editorial policy. Nothing here is medical advice.
Which gambling helpline in the USA should you call?
Any of the gambling numbers below will reach a trained person. If you want one answer and nothing else to think about, use 1-800-MY-RESET.
| Number | Who runs it | What it is for | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-800-MY-RESET (1-800-697-3738) | National Council on Problem Gambling | The National Problem Gambling Helpline. Call, text the same number, or chat online. Routes you to services in your state. | 24/7, free, confidential |
| 1-800-522-4700 | National Council on Problem Gambling | The older number for the same helpline. NCPG says existing access points remain active. | 24/7, free, confidential |
| 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) | Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey | A separate helpline, widely shown in gambling advertising. Its own site presents it as a service for New Jersey residents. | Described as 24/7 and confidential |
| 988 | 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline | Any mental health or suicidal crisis, including one caused by gambling. Call, text 988, or chat. | 24/7/365, free, confidential |
| 988 then press 1 or text 838255 | Veterans Crisis Line | Veterans, service members, Guard and Reserve, and the people who support them. | 24/7. No VA enrolment needed. |
What changed in January 2026
On 29 January 2026 the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) adopted 1-800-MY-RESET as the new National Problem Gambling Helpline number. NCPG said the number was “now live and operational to receive calls” (NCPG announcement, 29 January 2026).
The reason was memory, not money. Derek Longmeier, President of the NCPG Board of Directors, said in the announcement: “Making the Helpline number easier to remember is a practical, meaningful step toward reducing barriers to care.” A ten-digit string is hard to recall in a bad moment. A word is not.
NCPG’s Executive Director, Heather L. Maurer, described the service in the same announcement as “a critical lifeline”. That is the plain case for a word instead of a string of digits: the people who most need the number are usually the least able to look it up carefully.
Two details from that announcement matter if you are searching for a number today:
- Nothing was turned off. NCPG said existing Helpline access points, including 1-800-522-4700, “will remain active”. If you have an old number written down, it is still worth calling.
- Not every state promotes the new number yet. NCPG said broader promotion would vary by jurisdiction because of state-level rules and policies. So an advert, a betting app or a casino sign in your state may still show a different number. That is a rules problem, not a sign the new number is wrong.
Is 1-800-GAMBLER still a real helpline?
Yes. 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) is run by the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey, a separate organisation from NCPG. Its site describes a 24/7 confidential service and offers calls, texts and online chat.
It is the number most Americans have seen, because it appears in a great deal of gambling advertising. Its own pages, though, frame the service around New Jersey residents, and the site does not set out which states it serves. We are not going to tell you which states require that number in advertising: that depends on each state’s own law and regulator policy, and we have not verified fifty sets of rules. What we can say is that NCPG itself expects promotion of the new number to differ from state to state.
Practical answer: if you dial a number you saw in an advert, you will reach a helpline. If you want the line built to pass you to services where you live, call 1-800-MY-RESET.
What happens when you call
The National Problem Gambling Helpline is not one office. NCPG describes it as a single point of access to 24 contact centres across the United States, with the network covering all 50 states and the US territories. You call one number and you are put through to people who know what exists where you live.
Three things are worth knowing before you dial:
- You do not have to be ready to stop. People call to ask what their options are. That is a normal reason to call.
- You do not have to speak. You can text the same number, or use the online chat. NCPG describes the service as available 24/7, free and confidential. The web address 1800myreset.org now points to that chat page.
- Language support is not stated. NCPG’s own helpline pages do not say which languages the helpline answers in, so we will not claim it. For comparison, the 988 Lifeline says its text and chat services are available in Spanish, and SAMHSA’s National Helpline states English and Spanish. If language matters to you, ask when you make contact.
One thing the helpline is not: a government agency. NCPG describes itself as a nonprofit that has operated since 1972, says it is “neutral on legalized gambling”, and says it receives no federal or dedicated state-level funding (NCPG, About Us). We think that is worth knowing, in the same spirit as our own funding and independence statement.
What the helpline can and cannot do
- It can tell you what counselling, state programmes and support groups exist near you, talk through self-exclusion, and stay on the line while you are working out what to do next.
- It cannot diagnose you, prescribe anything, close your betting accounts for you, or deal with your debts. Those need a clinician, the operator, or a regulated debt adviser.
- It is not a reporting line. Calling does not put your name on any list, and it is not how self-exclusion happens — that is a separate step you take yourself.
In the US, help is built state by state
This is the part that confuses people who have read about help in other countries. There is no single national treatment service for gambling in the United States. Counselling, prevention and state helplines are funded and run by states, and they differ a lot.
NCPG keeps a help by state page covering all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the US territories. It calls the list “a starting point”, and tells visitors to contact the national helpline to be connected with resources in their state. Each state page lists the local council and self-help organisations rather than a full treatment list.
What a well-funded state looks like
Massachusetts runs its gambling helpline through the Department of Public Health’s Office of Problem Gambling Services. The number is 1-800-327-5050, you can text GAMB to 800327, and the service is described as staffed 24/7, free and confidential.
Its own reporting shows what a state helpline actually does. In fiscal year 2024 (1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024) the Massachusetts helplines took 3,280 calls, of which 3,228 were to the problem gambling helpline, plus 87 text conversations and 554 website chats. 578 of those calls were referral calls — 18% of the total (FY24 Problem Gambling Helpline Report). These are service counts from one state’s own records. They are not a measure of how many people in Massachusetts have a gambling problem, and they should not be read that way.
What a state council offers
Most states have a council rather than a public agency dedicated to gambling. New York’s, for example, is listed with a direct line of 518-867-4084 on NCPG’s New York page, alongside Gamblers Anonymous, Gam-Anon and the Gam-Talk online forum. Councils tend to handle information, training, prevention and referral. They are often the fastest route to a counsellor who knows gambling specifically.
Two federal lines that are not gambling helplines
This trips up a lot of people, so it is worth stating clearly.
- SAMHSA’s National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357), is free, confidential, round the clock, and offered in English and Spanish. But SAMHSA describes its scope as mental and substance use disorders. It does not present itself as a gambling helpline.
- FindTreatment.gov, SAMHSA’s treatment locator, describes its coverage as substance use disorders and mental disorders. Gambling is not named.
That is not a criticism of either service. It just means that if gambling is the problem, the gambling helpline is the faster door.
There are two federal routes that do help. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline handles any crisis, 24/7/365, by call, text or chat, and is the right number if things feel unsafe tonight. And veterans can reach the Veterans Crisis Line by calling 988 and pressing 1, or texting 838255, without being enrolled in VA benefits or health care. Some VA clinics also treat gambling directly: the VA Bedford behavioral addictions clinic, for instance, names gambling among the behavioural addictions it treats for referred veterans.
If gambling has you thinking about ending your life
Call or text 988 now, or chat at chat.988lifeline.org. It is free, confidential and open every hour of every day. Veterans can call 988 and press 1, or text 838255, with no VA enrolment required. Gambling debt feels permanent in a way that it is not; the feeling that there is no way out is a symptom of the crisis, not an accurate account of your options. The research on gambling and suicide is covered separately on this site, and this is not the page for it. Tonight, the only useful step is to tell someone — a crisis counsellor will do.
Free peer support you can use today
Peer support is not treatment, and it is not a substitute for a clinician. But it is free, it is available tonight in most of the country, and nobody asks for your insurance.
- Gamblers Anonymous lists in-person, virtual and telephone meetings through its find a meeting pages. The International Service Office number is (909) 931-9056.
- Gam-Anon is for the family and friends of someone who gambles, with US, Canada, virtual and international meetings in its directory. Its hotline is listed as 844-475-4213 and its office as 718-352-1671 (gam-anon.org).
- Gam-Talk is a moderated online peer forum, described as available 24/7 on NCPG’s state resource listings — useful at 3am when no meeting is running.
If you want to understand what you are dealing with before you talk to anyone, our explainer on gambling addiction sets out the signs and the evidence, and our glossary of responsible gambling terms translates the jargon you will meet in treatment and in state programmes.
Blocking yourself from gambling in the US
Most countries with regulated online gambling have one national list you can join to be shut out of every licensed site at once. The United States does not. Exclusion is organised by state and often by operator, which means doing it properly takes more than one form. We cover the mechanics, state by state, in our guide to self-exclusion in the United States, and the international picture in the complete global self-exclusion guide.
Alongside exclusion, three things reduce access quickly: closing or excluding from each gambling account you hold, asking your bank about gambling transaction blocks, and installing blocking software on every device you use. None of them is perfect, and none replaces support. They buy you time.
If it is someone else’s gambling
You can call the helpline about another person’s gambling. Family members are a routine part of what helplines handle, and state services usually count them as people to be helped rather than people asking on someone’s behalf. Gam-Anon exists specifically for this. Our guides on helping a partner with a gambling problem and the step-by-step process of getting help go into what tends to work and what tends to backfire.
If you are outside the United States, our global directory of gambling helplines lists the verified numbers for other countries.
What to do in the next hour
- Call or text 1-800-MY-RESET (1-800-697-3738), or use the online chat. Free, confidential, any hour.
- If you feel unsafe, call or text 988 first. Veterans: 988 then press 1, or text 838255. The gambling can be dealt with after you are safe.
- Shut the easiest door. Exclude yourself from the accounts and venues you actually use, today, before you feel better about it tomorrow.
- Tell one person. Secrecy is what lets gambling keep growing. One honest conversation changes the arithmetic.
- Find a meeting. Gamblers Anonymous telephone and virtual meetings run outside office hours.
One last thing about the number change. If you find a page listing a US gambling helpline and it does not mention 1-800-MY-RESET, that page has not been checked since January 2026. Treat everything else on it with the same suspicion — especially if it is trying to send you to a casino.
Last reviewed: 10 October 2026. Sources checked on this date.