This gambling self-assessment quiz is ten short questions about the last 12 months. Answer honestly, press the button, and you’ll get a score out of 30 with a plain explanation of what it suggests. It’s free, takes about two minutes, and your answers never leave this page.
Gambling self-assessment quiz: what it looks at
The questions cover the things that tend to change first when gambling stops being just a pastime:
- Control: spending more or playing longer than you meant to, and finding it hard to cut down.
- Chasing: going back to win back what you lost.
- Money: borrowing, selling things or using bill money.
- Secrecy: keeping it from the people close to you.
- Effects: on your mood, sleep, work and relationships.
Each answer scores 0 for never, 1 for sometimes, 2 for often and 3 for almost always.
Reading your score
| Score | What it suggests |
|---|---|
| 0 | No warning signs right now. |
| 1 to 5 | A few early signs. The easiest stage to change things. |
| 6 to 12 | Gambling may be causing you problems. |
| 13 to 30 | Strong signs that gambling is harming you. |
A score isn’t a diagnosis, and this quiz isn’t a clinical test. It’s a mirror. If a few questions made you pause, that pause is worth more than the number.
How it compares with the PGSI
Gambling services and researchers often use the Problem Gambling Severity Index, or PGSI, a nine-question screen from the Canadian Problem Gambling Index. Our questions are written for this site and cover similar ground in our own words, with one or two extra areas like secrecy and time. So the scores aren’t interchangeable, and you shouldn’t read a PGSI band into ours.
If you’d like to take the PGSI itself, BeGambleAware and GamCare both offer free versions on their websites, and an adviser can go through it with you.
Whatever your result
A low score is a good moment to put a few guard rails in place while it’s easy: a deposit limit, a session timer, and a look at what you actually spend over a year.
A higher score doesn’t mean anything is decided about you. Lots of people get gambling back under control, and it’s usually easier with some help. The helplines below talk to people in exactly this position every day. They’re free, confidential, and you don’t have to commit to anything by calling.
If you’re worried about someone else, the same services support partners, parents and friends.