Between 2019 and 2020, more people in Great Britain started to gamble online. With Covid-19 lockdowns in place, online gambling increased. Some British gambling companies have introduced deposit limit tools, which limit the amount of money someone can gamble during period of time. In a previous study (Phase 1), the authors found that, although safer gambling tools on websites were used more often when they were made available, it did not have an impact on gambling behaviours. This report (Phase 2) explores the impact that deposit limits have on online gambling behaviours. The report covers the project background, developing safe gambling tools, and details about the live trial with gambling company bet365 and the findings. Recommendations are made, including:
- Changing deposit limit tools so no maximum or minimum amounts are shown, allowing users to enter their own limit amounts (to mitigate the 'anchoring effect').
- Highlighting deposit limit tools more and actively facilitating their uptake.
- Requiring gambling companies to participate in independent evaluations.
