Gambling Awareness at Squawka

    Keeping football betting in perspective

    Updated: June 2026

    What Squawka does – and doesn’t do

    Squawka is a football media brand. We create data-led analysis, betting previews, comparison guides and tools to help you make more informed decisions if you choose to bet.

    We don’t take bets, hold accounts or handle your money. When you click through to a bookmaker from Squawka, you’re opening an account directly with that operator. We may receive a commission if you sign up or place a bet via our links, but that never changes the editorial independence of our coverage or our commitment to responsible gambling.

    Our goal is that football betting sits alongside your enjoyment of the game – not instead of it.

    Football betting: where it can get tricky

    Football is emotional. Late goals, red cards, VAR decisions and derby matches all create big swings in feeling – and those emotions can spill over into betting.

    Some common pressure points:

    • Accumulators and bet builders – chasing a big win for a small stake can be fun, but it can also lead to regular, unnoticed losses.
    • In-play impulsiveness – reacting to every missed chance or momentum swing can push you into bets you wouldn’t normally place.
    • Chasing a bad weekend – losing an early Saturday acca and then trying to “fix it” on the evening kick-off or Sunday games.
    • Following tips blindly – whether from mates, social media or websites like ours, treating tips as guarantees rather than opinions.

    Being aware of these patterns helps you keep control.

    Questions to ask yourself

    Use these questions as a sense-check. If several of them feel familiar, it might be time to pause:

    • Do you regularly spend more time or money betting on football than you meant to?
    • Do you place extra bets during matches just because you’re frustrated or chasing a decision?
    • Have you ever increased stakes to try and win back what you lost on an earlier game or weekend?
    • Do you feel anxious, low or irritable when you’re not betting or checking prices?
    • Have you kept the full extent of your betting from friends or family?
    • Are you using money that should be going on essentials (rent, bills, food, travel) to fund football bets?
    • Are you betting on leagues, markets or sports you don’t really follow, just to have action?

    If the honest answer to some of these is “yes”, it’s worth taking steps to change how you’re betting – or to take a break altogether.

    Tools that can help you stay in control

    All of the bookmakers we work with are licensed by the UK Gambling Commission and provide tools designed to help you stay in control of your gambling. These can usually be found in your account settings or “safer gambling” sections:

    • Deposit limits – set a cap on how much you can deposit over a day, week or month.
    • Loss or spend limits – control how much you can lose or stake in a given period.
    • Reality checks – prompts that remind you how long you’ve been playing or how much you’ve staked, so one match doesn’t quietly become an entire evening.
    • Time-out options – pause your account for a short period (e.g. a few days or weeks) if you feel you need a break.
    • Self-exclusion – a longer break, usually six months or more, where you can’t log in or open a new account with that operator.

    If you bet with several bookmakers, it can be harder to keep track of your overall gambling.

    GAMSTOP allows you to self-exclude from all UK-licensed online gambling sites in one go. Blocking software can also help reduce access from certain devices.

    Protecting under-18s

    Football is for everyone. Gambling isn’t.

    You must be 18 or over to bet with any bookmaker we feature on Squawka. If you share devices with people under 18:

    • Don’t stay logged in to betting or casino accounts.
    • Don’t save payment details or passwords on shared devices.
    • Consider using parental controls or content filters to block gambling websites.
    • Keep bank cards and log-in details secure and out of sight.

    If you suspect a young person is gambling, please speak to them and consider seeking specialist advice.

    Support if you’re worried about gambling

    You’re not on your own, and you don’t have to wait until things feel extreme before reaching out.

    Free, confidential support is available from:

    • GamCare – live chat, 24/7 helpline and structured support: gamcare.org.uk | 0808 8020 133
    • GambleAware – information, tools and signposting: gambleaware.org
    • Gamblers Anonymous – local and online meetings with others who’ve experienced gambling problems: gamblersanonymous.org.uk
    • NHS services including the National Problem Gambling Clinic and regional hubs.

    Talking to someone early can make a big difference.

    How Squawka approaches betting content

    We take responsible gambling seriously. Across Squawka:

    • We only promote licensed, regulated bookmakers.
    • We aim to give viewers context, stats and information – not guarantees.
    • We avoid language that suggests betting is a way out of financial difficulty or a guaranteed route to profit.
    • We clearly label partner content and affiliate links.
    • We review high-intent pages regularly and update them if offers or terms change.

    If you ever see Squawka content that you feel isn’t in the spirit of responsible gambling, contact us – we’d rather know and fix it.