Licensed operators are generally required to offer deposit limits, and the mechanism has one deliberately asymmetric feature: lowering a limit takes effect immediately, while raising it only applies after a cooling-off delay, usually 24 hours or more. The design assumes correctly that the wish to lower is considered and the wish to raise is often impulsive.
Some markets go further than optional limits. Germany's 2021 treaty imposes a cross-operator online deposit limit of 1,000 euro per month, tracked centrally through the LUGAS system, and other jurisdictions require operators to prompt customers to set limits at signup. A limit set at a calm moment does its work precisely at the moments that are not calm.
Why it matters
Deposit limits are the mildest tool on the responsible gambling ladder, useful long before anything feels like a problem: they convert an intention about spending into a rule the software enforces.
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