Gambling Helplines by Country (Checked Oct 2026)

If you are worried about your own gambling or someone else's, you can speak to a trained person for free and in confidence. The services below are grouped by country. The shaded help box at the bottom of this page shows the phone numbers, text and chat options that we have confirmed against each service's own website, together with the date we checked them. Phone and text lines are staffed by people who hear from gamblers, family members and friends every day, and you do not have to be in crisis to call.

If you are in immediate danger, call your local emergency number first.

United States

• National Problem Gambling Helpline (National Council on Problem Gambling). The council's own site lists a call, text and online chat service, free, confidential and open 24 hours a day, every day (1-800-MY-RESET). It is not an emergency line; the council says to call 911 or 988 in a crisis. The council's text-message terms also list its older number, 1-800-522-4700. Both are in the help box below.
• Gamblers Anonymous. A free peer fellowship with in-person, online and telephone meetings. It has no dues or fees, and lists a national hotline and a meeting finder on its site.
• Gam-Anon. Peer support for family members and friends of people who gamble. It lists a hotline and a meeting directory (in the US, Canada, online and international) on its website. See How to Help Someone With a Gambling Problem.
• SAMHSA National Helpline. A free, confidential 24/7 referral and information service for mental health and substance use, run by the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. It is not a gambling-specific line and it does not provide counselling, but it can point you to treatment services. The American Psychiatric Association's page on gambling disorder lists it as a place to start.
• 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Call or text 988, or use chat at 988lifeline.org. Free, confidential and open 24/7. If gambling is making you think about suicide, use this line or emergency services rather than waiting. See Gambling and Mental Health: Anxiety, Depression, Crisis.

United Kingdom

• National Gambling Helpline (GamCare). The NHS page on gambling addiction and the Gambling Commission both give the GamCare helpline as free and open 24 hours a day, every day. The number is in the help box below; GamCare's own site is gamcare.org.uk. The Gambling Commission also lists a separate line for Wales, 0808 2819 265.
• GambleAware. Information, a seven-question self-assessment, a spend calculator, a postcode support finder, blocking and self-exclusion tools, and a "friends and family check-in". These services are available only to people living in Great Britain.
• NHS gambling treatment clinics (England). You can ask your GP for a referral or, according to the NHS, refer yourself.
• Gamblers Anonymous and GamAnon. The NHS page lists local Gamblers Anonymous groups (which use a 12-step approach) and GamAnon meetings for people affected by someone else's gambling.

Canada

Gambling help in Canada is organised by province.

• Ontario: ConnexOntario. A free line for gambling, mental health and addiction, open 24/7, with live chat on its website. It serves Ontario only. Its text service was shown as temporarily unavailable when we checked, so call or use chat.
• British Columbia: Gambling Support BC. A free, 24/7 helpline and online support request for people in British Columbia.
• Other provinces. Search for your province's problem gambling helpline, or ask your family doctor. If you are unsure, your family doctor or your province's health line can direct you, and Gambling Therapy (below) works online.

The help box lists the numbers we have confirmed for Ontario and British Columbia.

Australia

• Gambling Help Online is the national service run by Australian state and territory governments. Its website describes free, confidential counselling by phone, online chat and email, around the clock. The Queensland Government gives the national helpline as 1800 858 858, free, confidential and open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The website for chat and email counselling is gamblinghelponline.org.au.
• National Debt Helpline. Free, confidential financial counselling at ndh.org.au; see Gambling and Debt: Where to Get Money Help.

Other countries and online support

• Gambling Therapy, run by the Gordon Moody charity, offers free online advice and emotional support, including one-to-one sessions, and describes itself as global: gamblingtherapy.org.
• Your doctor or local health service. If you do not see your country here, start with a general practitioner or a national mental health line. Gambling disorder is a recognised mental health condition and health services can refer you.
• Local emergency number. For immediate danger or a suicide crisis, use the emergency number in the country you are in.

We have only listed services we could confirm on an official website. A short list that is right is more useful than a long one that is not, so we have left out countries where we could not confirm a service.

How to use a helpline

• You can call about yourself, about a family member, or just to ask questions.
• You do not have to give your name.
• The first conversation usually covers what is happening, how you are feeling and what kinds of support are near you (counselling, peer groups, financial advice).
• If you are not ready to talk, try a chat or text option, or read about Signs of Problem Gambling: What to Look For first.

How we check these

Each entry is checked against official pages, not a directory. For most services that is the service's own website. Two (GamCare in the UK and Gambling Help Online in Australia) block automated readers, so we confirmed their numbers and hours on government and regulator pages (the NHS, the Gambling Commission and the Queensland Government) instead. The date in the help box is the date of that check. We plan to recheck every quarter, and we correct any change as soon as we find it. Anything we cannot confirm is left out and linked instead.