Prevention

Most people play for the entertainment, which means gaming to a responsible extent and within their financial means. But, for a small percentage, games of chance are not a form of entertainment – they are a problem which must be taken seriously.

Pathological gambling has been listed as a recognised psychological disorder in the international classification systems DSM and ICD since 1980. It is defined as persistent, recurring and often increasing gambling despite negative personal and social consequences such as debt, breakdown of social relations and impairment of professional development.

We would like to stress that diagnoses relating to clinical disorders can only be made by trained specialists. This page offers material which will allow you to quickly assess and consider your own behaviour. If you can identify with four or more of the following characteristics, we recommend that you self-exclude and contact a counselling provider.

• Do you feel the need to gamble with increasing amounts of money in order to achieve the desired excitement?
• Do you feel restless or irritable when attempting to cut down or stop gambling?
• Have you made repeated unsuccessful efforts to control, cut back, or stop gambling?
• Are you often preoccupied with gambling?
• Do you often gamble when feeling distressed?
• After losing money gambling, do you often return another day to get even?
• Do you lie to conceal the extent of involvement with gambling?
• Have you jeopardized or lost a significant relationship, job, or educational or career opportunity because of gambling?
• Do you rely on others to provide money to relieve desperate financial situations caused by gambling?
  

Try the brief self-assessment developed by the Division on Addiction to find out whether you are at risk of developing gaming-related problems. All your answers are completely anonymous and not retained by partypoker.

By observing the following rules, you will be able to relax and enjoy your gaming:

• Gaming is just for fun, not a way of earning money
• Only play when you are relaxed and concentrated
• Take regular breaks
• Decide your monthly gaming stake in advance. Only gamble what you can afford to lose
• Independently of our standard deposit limits, you may set a lower amount as your own personal limit
• Do not increase the maximum limit which you have decided for yourself later on
• Before you start playing, decide the winning amount at which you will end the game
• Decide beforehand how high your losses can be
• Never play under the influence of alcohol or medication
• Never play if you are feeling depressed
  

Health-e-Gambling is your online source for gambling information, resources, and self-help tools created by the Division on Addiction, Cambridge Health Alliance, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School.

The Division on Addiction has collected its scientific findings from research into addictions and created a Self Help Toolkit. This website offers support to individuals who might have gambling-related problems, detailed analysis of existing behavioural traits, and assistance with developing self-help strategies. ‘Your first step to change, a resource to help guide your journey to change’ takes just 20 minutes.

partypoker has created tools to support Responsible Gaming and actively encourages its players to use them. All requests for Responsible Gaming measures are taken very seriously by us and are always valid for the agreed period of time.

partypoker customers are able to exclude themselves from further gaming for prevention reasons. We offer time-outs for distinct periods of 1 day, 1 week, 1 month or any other period up to 6 weeks. After the timeout period has expired, your account will reopen automatically.

We also offer an indefinite self-exclusion, which will extend itself automatically until revoked by the customer. Revocation will not be possible prior to a minimum duration of 6 months.

During temporary time-out or indefinite self-exclusion, customers will not be allowed to deposit or play. Also will they be exempt from targeted commercial communication.

In addition to self-exclusion, blocking software, such as Cyberpatrol, Cybersitter and K9 Web Protection, can be used to disable access to gaming sites.

If you think you have a problem with gambling, and/or you are a person whose social status and/or income level may make you more susceptible to gambling and gambling addiction, you have the right to be entered in the "Register of Excluded Persons ”(RVO), in order to prohibit or prevent you from participating in gambling activities. The entry in the Register of Excluded Persons upon request and possible deletion is made by the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry of Finance recommends using interactive forms for public requests.

If you wish to verify whether you are entered in the Register of Excluded Persons and for what reasons, you may submit a request for an extract to the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry of Finance recommends using the interactive form for public requests.

Applications concerning the Register of Excluded Persons can be sent electronically to the data box of the Ministry of Finance, by e-mail to podatelna@mfcr.cz , or in printed form by post or in person to the address of the Ministry of Finance, Letenská 525/15, 118 10 Praha 1 - Malá Strana. For applications sent in printed form (by e-mail), it is necessary to provide an officially verified signature (recognized electronic signature).