How to Set Your Own Social Casino Spending Limits

The limit that works is the one you set before you open the app: an amount written down for the month, then a barrier on your phone that makes going past it slow or impossible. A budget on its own relies on willpower at the worst moment, which is right after a losing run with a coin offer on screen. Pair it with one of the controls below.

How much should you budget?

Pick a monthly amount you would happily spend on any other entertainment and write it down somewhere you will see it. Whatever you spend is gone: coins cannot be cashed out, as our page on why coins have no cash value explains.

For an outer limit, Canada’s Lower-Risk Gambling Guidelines from the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction suggest gambling no more than 1% of household income before tax per month. Their own example is a household income of $70,000, which works out to no more than $58 a month. The guidelines were written for gambling with money, so treat them as a yardstick here, and if you also gamble for real, both kinds of spending count towards the same ceiling.

Then check your actual spending once a month. Apple lists your purchases at reportaproblem.apple.com, and Google Play keeps them under “Payments & subscriptions”, then “Budget & order history”. Seeing the total in one place can be enough to change a habit.

Can you turn off in-app purchases for yourself?

Yes, on both platforms, and it is the strongest single step.

• iPhone or iPad: with Screen Time on, go to Settings, then Screen Time, then “Apps & Websites”, then “App Store”, and set “In-app Purchases” to “Blocked”, as described in Apple’s guide to turning off in-app purchases. If you would rather keep purchases possible but slower, Apple’s password settings let you choose “Always Require” so every purchase asks for your password. If Face ID or Touch ID is already set up for purchases, Apple says that option is hidden because every download already asks for it.
• Android: in the Play Store app, tap your profile picture, then “Payments & subscriptions”, then “Purchase verification”, and choose “Always”. Google’s purchase verification page says this applies to every purchase made through Google Play billing, including inside apps.

Remove saved cards. A card on file turns a purchase into a single tap. On Apple devices you can delete a payment method under your name in Settings, though Apple’s payment method help says you must keep one on file if you pay for a subscription such as iCloud+ or organize a Family Sharing group. Google Play’s help centre explains how to remove a card from your account.

Do prepaid gift cards work as a hard cap?

They do, as long as there is no card saved behind them. Load a set amount, and when the balance is gone, the store has nothing left to charge.

• Apple Gift Card: sold in Canada through Apple’s Canadian store, and usable for apps and games as well as Apple products.
• Google Play gift cards: Google’s Canadian gift card page says they are sold online and in stores, have no fees and no expiry dates, and only work in the country where they were bought. Google’s Canadian payment methods page also says you can add cash to a Google Play balance at a convenience store.

One caution: Google warns that scammers try to trick people into handing over gift card codes, and fake “free coin generator” sites, covered in our guide to where free coins come from, are another trap. Never give a gift card code to anyone promising coins in return.

Can you limit time as well as money?

Time matters too: a longer session means more trips past the coin store.

• iPhone: Apple’s Screen Time guide calls them Time Allowances, which balance time across categories such as games, and Screen Time Schedule, which sets when apps are available. These are the labels in Apple’s current guide; older versions of iOS may use different names.
• Android: Google’s Digital Wellbeing help explains app timers: Settings, then “Digital Wellbeing”, then “App timers”, then “Set timer” next to the app. When time runs out, the app closes and its icon greys out until the timer resets at midnight.

Both are speed bumps rather than locks, since you can change them yourself. They still work, because they put a decision between you and the next spin. Turning off the app’s notifications in your phone’s settings also helps, because bonus reminders exist to bring you back: see our guide to daily bonuses, timers and streaks.

What else helps?

• A cooling-off rule. Wait 24 hours before buying anything you did not plan. An offer that only works under time pressure is one you can skip.
• Card alerts. Check whether your card issuer’s app lets you turn on an alert for every purchase or lock the card when you are not using it.
• Uninstalling. Deleting the app removes the prompts entirely. If you might return, check first whether your progress is saved to a login.

Provincial self-exclusion programs, such as BCLC’s Game Break or Ontario’s BetGuard, are built for real-money gambling venues and websites, so they do not reach a free-play app. The controls on this page are the equivalent for social casinos.

If the limits keep slipping, read when free play stops being fun for the warning signs. To set limits for a child’s device instead, see parental controls and age ratings.