We want to make sure that you have fun when you bet on sports and play sweepstakes casino games. The best way to do this is to always gamble responsibly. The good news is that each site we recommend will have player protection tools to help you keep your wagering in check. This means that you should never overspend - even if you are just playing sweepstakes games with virtual credit.

Your online security is at the heart of all our reviews. This means that we’d never recommend you visit any online sportsbook or sweepstakes site unless we felt safe there. As such, you’ll see that each site we recommend has all of the licensing and regulation required to operate in the US.

This is important because any online sportsbook acting without the correct licensing will be acting illegally. Plus such licensing and regulation means that the sportsbook has to give you a fair and secure betting experience. Even if it's a sweepstakes casino, we will still check to make sure that it has the required security standards to safeguard your data and ensure that only those of the minimum age requirement can play there.

Helping you gamble responsibly

It can be all too easy to get caught up in the excitement of betting on sport and playing casino games online. This means that you might make the mistake of spending too much time and money at these sites. So we’ve created this handy shortlist of tips you can use to avoid these issues:

• Only bet on sport for fun and not as a means of making money
• Give yourself a sensible limit on how long you spend playing sweepstakes games and betting on sport
• Always play within your means by setting yourself a budget
• Never chase after your losses - even if you are just using virtual credit
• Take frequent breaks to gain some perspective over your betting and gaming
• Don’t get too emotional when you play

How to spot when your playing might be getting out of control

It can often be hard to recognize when you might be running the risk of problem gambling. So take a look at the following list of telltale signs of when someone might be getting carried away:

• Spending an increasing amount of time at online sportsbooks and sweepstakes casinos
• Paying little attention to how much they are spending on betting
• Losing control of their emotions when they play casino games or bet on sport
• Getting defensive or lying about how much time they spend betting
• Asking for a loan so as to fund their online gaming

How to gamble responsibly

Most of the above traits can be avoided simply by using whatever responsible gambling tools are available at an online sportsbook or sweepstakes casino. This is because you can do things like set limits on your deposits, purchases, losses and even time spent on the site. Plus there might be even more severe options such as setting yourself a cooling off period or even excluding yourself from the gambling site.

All of this should help you stay in control of how you play, but ultimately it’s down to you keeping yourself in check. This can simply be done just by treating sports betting and casino gaming as a mere form of entertainment and not taking it too seriously.

Doing something as simple as taking a break can work wonders, and it’ll help you enjoy betting and gaming much more in the long run. Perfect for avoiding the perils of problem gambling.