Gambling problems are common, and they are not a failure of character — these games are engineered to be hard to stop. Noticing it is affecting your life is the step that matters, and you have already taken it.

Pick a specific date to stop completely. Write it down. Tell someone you trust. Commitment is the foundation.

Delete gambling apps. Block gambling sites with BetBlocker — a registered Scottish charity that is genuinely free, needs no account or personal details, and installs on as many devices as you want. You pick the length — anything from 1 day to 5 years — and its own answer to whether you can end one early is: “No. Once a gambling restriction has begun, it cannot be lifted before the end of the selected restriction period.” That is the same property that makes a bank block and PAGCOR worth having, and here it is free. (Gamban does the same job but costs $6.99 a month, or $41.99 a year.) Know what no blocker can do, though: it only covers the devices you put it on, so it cannot touch cash, a friend’s phone or a walk to a venue — and the people who rely on blockers most are the ones who go looking for the way around. Pair it with something you cannot undo on impulse: PAGCOR's free Self Exclusion/Banning covers every PAGCOR-licensed venue and online site, runs for 6 months, 1 year, 5 years or lifetime, and is irrevocable for the first six months — then lifts itself automatically, so you never have to ask to come back. Expect paperwork, not a button: it starts with an email to PAGCOR's Responsible Gaming account and needs their RG Form 2, a photocopy of a government ID, and a 2x2 photo taken within the last six months. That is a reason to start it on a calm afternoon, not at 3am. Remove saved payment methods too — GCash/Maya no longer carry in-app casino links, but they still fund accounts on the operators' own sites, and cashless money is what makes wagering frictionless. Ask your bank whether your card offers a gambling block: it refuses payments to gambling merchants, and the good ones make you choose a cooldown when you switch it on — Monzo's runs from 2 days to a year — so a 3am you cannot lift it. Not every bank has one, and a block misses any merchant tagged wrongly, so treat it as one more lock rather than the lock. Then clear your feed: unfollow gambling streamers, big-win clips and tournament posts. Seeing the game keeps the urge alive even when you cannot reach the app.

When the urge hits, log a craving here instead of acting on it. Urges rise and fall — most pass within about 20 minutes whether or not you feed them. Naming it buys you that time.

You don't have to do this alone. Tell a family member or friend. Consider professional help or a support group.