INHOUDSTABEL
How to play responsibly
Play with a clear plan
Know your limits
Gambling is entertainment—nothing more
Seek help
How to play responsibly
Want to keep gambling fun? Then it’s important to play responsibly. You do this by betting on your favorite sports while staying in control of your gaming behavior. That way, you can enjoy the excitement without putting your health, finances, or social life at risk.
As soon as you register with VBET, you are required to set a few play limits. But responsible gaming is about more than just staying within safe boundaries. In addition to actively setting limits and sticking to them, it’s important to stay aware of your gambling habits. By making conscious choices, you protect your own well-being.
On this page, you’ll find more information about responsible gambling behavior and what you can do to support healthy gaming habits. It’s good to set limits on your actions, but even better if you don’t need them. And it’s reassuring to know that there’s always someone ready to help when needed.
Play with a clear plan
It might sound like a lot, but in practice, it’s quite simple: create a clear plan before you start playing. Below are the 3 key parts of such a plan.
1. Set your budget
Just like with any other licensed gambling provider in the Netherlands, you must set financial limits at VBET. These include a deposit limit and a balance limit to help ensure you don’t deposit or lose too much. These limits act as a safety net if you lose control of your gambling activities.
That’s why it’s important to decide in advance how much money you’re willing to gamble with for the day. Make sure it’s a realistic amount—money you can afford to lose. Don’t use rent, household money, or any other funds needed for essential expenses.
Extra tip: Open a separate bank account for gambling. Transfer only the money you can afford to lose into it. If the account is empty, stop playing. Even better, try to stop before it’s empty, so you always have something left.
Whatever you do, make sure you never go over your limits. Always stay financially healthy and mindful of your spending.
2. Set a time limit
Have you ever finished gambling only to realize that way more time has passed than you expected? You're not alone. Many players who struggle to control their gambling activities experience this. It’s important to address
Spending much time gambling increases the risk of getting overly caught up in it, with all the negative consequences. You may forget appointments, miss obligations, and quickly find yourself in a pile of problems. Break this negative cycle early.
Set an alarm before you start playing to avoid spending too much time gambling. Turn on your phone’s calendar reminders so you don’t forget (important) appointments. And most importantly: don’t make gambling your top priority. Work, family, social life, and your responsibilities always come first!
Just as important as knowing when to stop is taking regular breaks. If you plan to play for an hour, make sure to take a short break every 15 minutes. Do something else—take a walk, read a book, step away from betting, and take a moment to relax.
3. Don’t make impulsive decisions
Gambling can be very engaging, and as a player, it’s easy to get caught up in the moment. When emotions run high, it becomes harder to make clear decisions. And emotions, especially in gambling, are poor advisors. Learn to recognize your emotions and how you act under their influence, so you can become aware of them right away.
Do you like to celebrate a happy moment with a round of gambling? Or do you place a bet when you're feeling down to lift your mood? Don’t do it. Avoid gambling when you're feeling emotional. Wait until you’re calm before placing another bet. This significantly reduces the risk of making poor decisions.
Know your limits
Everyone is different, with unique needs, preferences, and boundaries. By knowing and recognizing your own limits in time, you’ll learn what you can and can’t handle when it comes to gambling.
Discover your personal tolerance
Taking risks, dealing with losses, managing emotions—you’ll encounter all of these while gambling, and everyone handles them differently. The better you recognize and respect your own boundaries, the lower the risk of crossing them.
Some play with small amounts spread across multiple bets, while others prefer to place everything on a single risky wager. Some players shrug off a loss, while others try to win it back. Some players are overwhelmed by sadness, anger, excitement, or fear, while others remain calm and composed.
There is no right or wrong way to play, as long as you’re aware of your behavior. Recognize your playing habits, reactions, and moods. Accept them and act accordingly, so you can avoid making poor decisions.
Become aware of your emotions
As you’ve already read, an emotional gambler is a risky player. Emotions influence your decisions and can push you to cross your boundaries. That’s why it’s important to learn how to recognize your emotions early and prevent them from affecting your choices.
Emotions are often triggered by the outcome of a bet. A loss may lead to frustration, anger, or sadness. These feelings can drive you to chase your losses and place higher bets than you can afford.
Even after a win, emotions can negatively affect your gambling behavior. Euphoria might lead to overconfidence, pushing you to place bigger bets in an attempt to increase your winnings even more.
Whenever you find yourself in one of these emotional states, it’s time to take a step back. Take a break from gambling and allow yourself to calm down. Only start playing again when you are no longer overwhelmed by frustration, anger, or excitement.
It’s also helpful to do occasional emotional check-ins while playing. Set a reminder—perhaps every 15 minutes, during your break—to pause and reflect on how you’re feeling. Are you experiencing a (strong) emotion? Think about what you can do to calm yourself down.
If you want to get even better at understanding your emotions and their effects, then keep a gambling journal. Write down how you felt beforehand, how long you gambled, how much money you spent (or won), and how you felt afterward. When you read it back, do you notice a (negative) pattern? If so, it’s time to break that pattern.
Know when to stop
The best gamblers are those who know when it’s time to stop. They recognize the moment they’ve reached their limits and understand that continuing to play is no longer a good idea. Stopping doesn’t mean you’ve failed. On the contrary, it means you’re in control.
Stopping in time means quitting when (or preferably before) you reach a limit. That could be a deposit limit, a time limit, or an emotional boundary. As soon as you reach one of your limits, you stop.
- You’ve spent your budget but still have 15 minutes left.
- You agreed with yourself to gamble for an hour, and the hour is up—even though you still have €20 left.
- You’re halfway through your set time and still have €30 remaining, but you feel frustration or another strong emotion building.
In all of these situations, you stop—even if you haven’t hit every limit. As soon as you reach one, it’s time to walk away.
Gambling is entertainment—nothing more
What does gambling mean to you? Is it a way to win money to pay your bills? A way to escape emotions and worries? A "sport" you practice to get better at?
Gambling is none of the above. It is a game of chance where you place a bet, and the outcome is either a win or a loss. This outcome is random. No matter what you do, you can’t control the result—you can at best make smart choices to limit your losses.
You should only place a bet for entertainment. Nothing more, nothing less.
Gambling is not a source of income
Every outcome in gambling is random. Every bet can result in a win or a loss, and you can’t predict or influence what that result will be. Even a champion has off days, and even an underdog can get lucky.
With sports, you get better through training. With hard work, you can achieve success. Gambling doesn’t work that way. You place a bet, and it’s a matter of luck—nothing more. You have no control over the outcome. So enjoy the game, but don’t see it as a way to make money. Gambling is for fun.
Think of gambling like going to the movies or a restaurant: you’re spending your time on something you enjoy, and you pay a certain amount for that experience. Just like you pay for a film or a meal, you pay for gambling through the money you bet.
From fun to dependence
There are several signs that indicate gambling is shifting from enjoyment to dependency. One major warning sign is when other parts of your daily life start to suffer. For example, your finances (you need to borrow money) or your social life (you miss appointments).
Various organizations, such as Jellinek and OpenOverGokken, offer self-tests. Fill them out honestly to find out whether you’re a problem gambler or just playing for fun.
Or you can ask yourself the following questions:
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- Have you ever spent time meant for school or work on gambling?
- Has gambling ever made you or your loved ones unhappy?
- Has gambling affected your reputation?
- Have you ever felt regret or remorse after gambling?
- Have you ever spent money meant for household expenses, groceries, payments, or other essentials on gambling?
- Has gambling had a negative impact on your ambition or productivity?
- After a loss, did you feel the urge to win it back as quickly as possible?
- After a win, did you feel the urge to win even more right away?
- Have you ever gambled until you spent your very last cent?
- Have you ever had to borrow money to fund your gambling?
- Have you ever had to sell belongings to pay for gambling?
- Have you ever reluctantly used money meant for everyday expenses because you wanted to gamble with it?
- Has gambling ever made you lose sight of your own well-being or that of your loved ones?
- Have you ever gambled longer than you had planned?
- Have you ever gambled to forget problems or worries?
- Have you ever committed—or considered committing—a crime to fund your gambling?
- Have you ever had trouble sleeping because of gambling?
- Do arguments, disappointments, or frustrations trigger an urge to gamble?
- Have you ever felt a strong desire to celebrate something with a few hours of gambling?
- Have you ever considered self-harm or suicide as a result of your gambling behavior?
Problem gamblers will answer “yes” to several of these questions.
Read below to learn more about how to keep gambling fun.
Having trouble regaining control? Find out where and how you can get free and anonymous help.
Keep gambling fun with a plan
To gain better control over your gambling behavior, make a plan with yourself before you start playing. You’ve already read a general idea of what such a plan includes. Below, we’ll go into more detail. What’s most important is that you stick to this plan, no matter what. Your plan should at least answer the following questions:
- How long will I gamble? - Set a time limit for yourself—ideally for the whole day (or week, or month). Make sure to also set this in the limit settings of your account. When your time is up, you stop, even if you still have money left.
- When will I take breaks? - It’s important to take regular breaks while gambling, for example, a 5-minute break every 15 minutes. This helps you step away from the game for a moment and gives you time to clear your thoughts and emotions. Take a walk, read a book or magazine, meditate, or do something else to shift your focus.
- How much money will I deposit at most? - You also set this in your account under your deposit limit. Even better: deposit the total amount in advance into a separate bank account, and transfer it in parts to your player account as needed. If you stop before using the full amount, the rest will still be safely in your bank account.
- What is the maximum amount I’ll bet at once? - Many players tend to increase their bets over time. It adds excitement, but also more (unnecessary) risk. That’s why it’s smart to agree with yourself on a maximum stake amount per bet.
- What will I do in case of a big loss? - A big loss or a losing streak can be very discouraging. It’s natural to want to avoid thinking about it, but we recommend you do. What will you do if it happens? If you know this might trigger strong emotions, how will you manage them? You could decide in advance to call someone—a family member, a close friend, or even a professional counselor. The important thing is to have a way to pull yourself out of that emotional state.
- What will I do in case of a big win? - More fun, but just as risky, is a big win or a winning streak. How will you handle it? Can you resist the urge to chase even more winnings? Will you transfer a portion to your bank account so you can’t spend it all? In this case, too, you might choose to call someone or find another way to calm yourself down.
- What will I do if I can’t control my emotions? - As mentioned earlier, in the case of big wins or losses, it can also happen during the game that you struggle to manage your emotions. In such a moment, it’s smart to take a break from gambling and calm yourself down—but how will you do that? Will you call someone? Take a walk outside? Do something else to reset?
- What will I do if I have trouble stopping? - Sometimes emotions take over, but it’s also possible that you simply can’t stop. What will you do then? The best thing is to call someone and talk about it. At the bottom of this page, you’ll find several organizations that offer free and anonymous help.
- Who can I call if I can’t stick to my plan? - If you’ve already listed a name and phone number earlier, that’s probably also the person you should call when you can’t pull yourself away from the game. Make a promise to yourself to reach out to that person.
- What will I do after gambling? - As an extra motivation to stop—and a reminder that there’s more to life than gambling—it’s a good idea to plan something for after you finish playing. Meet up with a friend who can also hold you to that plan. Go out for food, take a walk, or do something that has nothing to do with gambling.
Seek help
If all the tips and strategies above aren’t enough to help you keep your gambling activities under control, it’s time to seek help. Don’t wait until it’s too late.
Seeking help is right, brave, and necessary
It’s not easy to admit that you have a gambling problem. Still unsure? Take another look at the 20 questions on this page. If you answered “yes” to one or more, there’s a good chance you’re struggling to control your gambling activity. Take action now, before the financial, emotional, and social damage grows worse.
Finding it hard to admit to yourself or someone else that you need help? It takes courage and strength to do so. But the reward is great: you take back control of your life and take a step in the right direction. There’s a journey ahead—but the first and most important step has already been taken!
Want help from VBET? Our team is always here for you. Here’s how you can reach us:
- Email: [email protected]
- Live Chat: open chat
- Phone: +31 20 259 5407
Organizations for free and anonymous help
If you need help to stop gambling, don’t wait any longer. Contact a support organization today—they offer free and anonymous assistance. These are major Dutch support organizations that can help you:
- OpenOverGokken– call: 0800-24 000 22 (free)
- AGOG – call: 0800-22 777 22 (free)
- Jellinek – call: 088-505 12 20
- Trimbos Institute – call: 030-297 11 00
And of course, you can exclude yourself from all land-based and online gambling providers in the Netherlands through the Central Register for the Exclusion of Games of Chance (CRUKS) at cruksregister.nl
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