How to set deposit limits

How to set deposit limits at a UK casino

A deposit limit is a ceiling you put on your own account: once your deposits in the chosen period reach it, the cashier won't accept any more until the period resets. It is one of the simplest safer gambling tools and every casino licensed by the Gambling Commission has to offer it. The tool sits in the account area, and UK rules now require a direct link to it from the homepage and the deposit page, so you shouldn't have to hunt.

This guide is about using the tool well: finding it, choosing a sensible amount, understanding what counts towards it and knowing what happens when you want to change it. For the regulation behind it, see our page on UK deposit limit rules, and for the full set of practical how-tos, our casino bonus guides.

Gambling is entertainment that costs money. Over time, most people lose more than they win because of the house edge. A deposit limit turns that cost into a figure you have decided in advance.

How to set deposit limits, step by step

1. Log in on the website or app and open your account menu (often your name, balance or a person icon).
2. Find the section called 'Safer gambling', 'Responsible gambling', 'Gambling controls' or similar. The deposit page should also link straight to it.
3. Choose 'Deposit limit' and pick the period the casino offers, such as daily, weekly or monthly. Some let you set more than one at once.
4. Type your amount in pounds. UK rules say the box must accept a figure you type yourself, not only amounts suggested by the casino.
5. Confirm. A lower limit applies at once; check the account screen shows it as active.
6. Note the date and the figure somewhere outside the casino, so you can see later whether you have been tempted to change it.

The deposit limit prompt before your first deposit

Since 31 October 2025, a UK online casino must prompt you to set a financial limit before you make your first deposit. Setting a limit is the default option, and if you choose not to, the casino has to ask you to confirm that choice. The Gambling Commission's announcement of the change (opens in a new tab) describes the aim as making limits easier to find and use, and our page on the financial limit prompt sets out the detail.

The prompt must not suggest an amount for you. That matters, because a pre-filled figure tends to anchor people to a higher number than they would have picked. Treat the empty box as a question about your budget rather than about the casino.

If you skipped the prompt when you signed up, nothing stops you setting a limit later, and the casino is required to remind you: at least every 12 months if you have no limit, and at least every six months if you do, so you can check it still fits. The Commission expected every active customer without a limit to have been prompted at least once by October 2026.

Gross vs net deposit limits, with worked numbers

This is the part most people get wrong. A gross deposit limit counts every pound you pay in, whether or not you later withdraw any. A net limit subtracts your withdrawals, so taking money out frees up room to deposit again. Under the Commission's newest rules, only gross limits can be labelled 'deposit limits', and casinos had to offer them by 30 September 2026 (a deadline extended from 30 June 2026). Our glossary entries on gross deposit and net deposit define the two.

The gross version is stricter, which is why the Commission reserved the name 'deposit limit' for it. If you have a limit set from before the change, open it and check how it is described. A tool that subtracts withdrawals may still be offered, but it should no longer be called a deposit limit.

Choosing a deposit limit amount that holds

The right figure is the amount you are comfortable losing in the period, because over time that is what gambling tends to cost. Work it out from your budget after essentials, savings and other spending, not from what feels like enough to play with.

A worked example. Say you have decided gambling is worth £60 a month to you as entertainment. A monthly gross limit of £60 is the obvious setting. Some people add a weekly limit of £15 as well, so the whole month's amount can't go in one evening. With both set, the first limit reached stops further deposits.

• Set it when calm. Decide the figure away from the games, not after a loss or a win.
• Count all your gambling. If you use more than one site, your budget has to cover them all, so each site's limit should be a share of it.
• Don't size it to an offer. If a promotion's minimum deposit is above your limit, that is a reason to skip the promotion, not to raise the limit. Our guide on when to say no to a bonus covers this.
• Lower beats higher. You can lower a limit instantly; raising one takes time, by design.

Lowering, raising or removing a deposit limit

The rules deliberately treat the two directions differently. A decrease must be actioned immediately, so if you realise mid-month that you want to cut back, the change bites at once. An increase or removal has to wait. The Commission's technical standard on financial limits (RTS 12) (opens in a new tab) requires a cooling-off period of 24 hours before an increase takes effect, and the casino should ask you to confirm the higher figure once it has passed.

That pause is the point. Wanting to raise a limit straight after a losing run is one of the clearest signals that the limit is doing its job. If you find yourself asking for an increase more than once, look at the self-exclusion and blocking options in our guide on how to self exclude.

The Commission's blog on changes to customer-led tools (opens in a new tab) explains why it standardised how limits are offered and named.

Deposit limits compared with other safer gambling tools

A deposit limit controls money going in. Other tools control losses, time or access altogether. Many people combine two or three. Our safer gambling and bonuses page and how financial limits work cover them in more depth.

Read more on a reality check and a time-out in our glossary. Loss limits and session limits are offered by many casinos, but which ones and on what terms varies, so check the safer gambling section of your account.

How deposit limits interact with casino bonuses

A deposit limit counts the money you pay in. Bonus funds or spins credited by the casino are not deposits, so they don't use up your limit, but the deposit you made to qualify does. Our answer to do bonuses count towards deposit limits explains the detail.

There is a more important point. A bonus can make it feel as if you have more to play with, and offers often need a minimum deposit or a set amount of play. Neither should shape your limit. The Gambling Commission requires casinos to stop marketing and new bonus take-up for customers showing strong signs of harm, which tells you how the regulator sees the link between incentives and harm. Our guide to bonuses and gambling harm and the rules on bonuses and harm indicators go further, and if promotions are a pull you want to remove, see how to stop bonus emails.

Setting deposit limits when you use more than one casino

Each limit lives on one account at one operator. If you have accounts at three casinos, each with a £50 monthly limit, your real ceiling is £150. Brands owned by the same company may or may not share account controls, so set the limit on every account and check each one shows it.

1. List every gambling account you hold, including ones you rarely use.
2. Decide your total monthly budget across all of them.
3. Split it between the accounts you intend to keep, and set each limit to that share.
4. Close or self-exclude from accounts you no longer want, rather than leaving them open with no limit.
5. If you want one control for every site, add a bank gambling block or GAMSTOP.

The Commission keeps a list of banks offering gambling blocks (opens in a new tab). It includes Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds, Monzo, NatWest, RBS, Santander and Starling. Turning a block off usually involves a delay, which works like the cooling-off period on a limit increase.

Reminders and checks you may see after setting a limit

Setting a limit doesn't end the casino's duties. It must remind you about your limit at least every six months, and it must act on signs of harm under the customer interaction rules. Separately, since 28 February 2025 casinos run a financial vulnerability check using public records (such as bankruptcy or county court judgments) once your deposits minus withdrawals pass £150 in a rolling 30 days.

You may read about 'affordability checks'. Credit-reference-based financial risk assessments were piloted but, as of October 2026, have not been introduced, and the Commission says the term 'affordability check' is inaccurate. Our page on how affordability checks affect bonuses explains where that stands.

UK deposit limit rules: timeline

When a deposit limit isn't enough

Limits work best for people who are in control and want to stay that way. If you keep hitting the limit, open new accounts to get round it, borrow to gamble or feel anxious when you can't play, a limit alone probably isn't the right tool. Self-exclusion through GAMSTOP, a bank block and talking to someone are stronger steps.

• National Gambling Helpline: 0808 8020 133, free and open 24/7, run by GamCare (opens in a new tab).
• NHS gambling support: self-referral to NHS gambling clinics in England.
• Gamblers Anonymous: peer support meetings across England, Wales and Ulster.
• GAMSTOP: free self-exclusion from all GB-licensed online gambling for six months to five years.

18+. Gambling should be entertainment that costs money, not a way to make it. Decide a budget before you play: set a budget. Free, confidential help: National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133.