Adults only
Every exchange we cover is for people aged 18 or older, in places where using one is permitted. The desk confirms this in the chat before issuing an ID and can ask for proof. It declines when the answer is no, and it does not issue an ID to one person for use by another. If a number offers you an ID with no questions asked, it is not the desk described on the official channels page.
What the desk model changes
An ID here is issued by a person after a short chat, not by a form at two in the morning. That matters more than it sounds. A person can notice that you're asking for a third ID in a week, or that you're asking to deposit again minutes after saying you were done. The desk is not a counsellor and won't lecture you, but it will ask, and it will act on what you tell it. The WhatsApp page shows what those chats look like.
The same chat is where you stop. There is no menu to find. You message the number you always message and say you want the ID closed or paused. The desk passes that to the exchange and tells you what has been done.
Limits you set yourself
We do not hold your account, so we cannot set a limit for you. What we can do is help you set one before the first deposit, when it is easiest. Our guide to setting your own limits walks through it. The short version is below.
- Decide the amount before you open the chat. A figure you'd be fine never seeing again. Write it down somewhere you'll see it.
- Deposit only that. The desk confirms the current route in the chat; you decide the amount, not the desk and not the exchange.
- Set a time, too. A session with an end is a session. One without an end is a habit.
- Ask the desk what the exchange offers. Some exchanges have their own limit or cooling-off tools. The desk tells you in the chat what is available on yours.
- Never chase. A loss is the end of the session, not a reason to deposit again.
Signs it has stopped being a game
- Depositing to win back what you lost earlier today.
- Hiding how much you've deposited from people close to you.
- Borrowing, or delaying a bill, to deposit.
- Asking the desk for a second exchange ID after a losing run on the first.
- Feeling relief when a match is over rather than when you win.
If two or more of these sound familiar, tell the desk you want the ID closed today, and talk to someone.
Understanding what you're betting on
Many losses come from misreading a screen rather than from bad luck. Back and lay are opposites; a session market settles on a number of runs, not on who wins. Our guide to back, lay and session markets works through one over so you can see it, and the glossary defines the words the exchange screen uses. A demo ID lets you practise reading that screen with nothing at stake.
One ID or several
Holding IDs on several exchanges makes it harder to see the total you have in play. Our guide on one ID or many is honest about that. If you hold more than one, keep one note with every deposit across all of them, and treat that total as the figure that matters.
Responsible gaming in practice: taking a break or self-excluding from your cricket ID
Responsible gaming on a cricket ID issued through a desk works slightly differently from a site with a settings page, because there is no button to press. There is a person to tell. This section sets out exactly what to say and what happens next, so that the step is as small as possible at the moment you need it.
To take a break, message the desk from the number the ID is tied to and say that you want the ID paused and for how long. The desk notes the date and the length of the break in the chat, stops issuing deposit details to that number for the period, and does not prompt you to come back. Any balance stays on the exchange and can be withdrawn through the ordinary routine before or during the break; the cricket ID deposit and withdrawal page covers that routine. If you message during the break asking to deposit, the desk reminds you of the date you set and asks you to confirm in a separate message the next day, which is a deliberate delay.
To self-exclude, say so in the same way and say that it is permanent. The desk arranges for any remaining balance to be withdrawn, asks the exchange to close the ID, and marks the number so that a later request for a new ID on any of the five exchanges is declined. That mark is not removed on request in the chat; a reader who self-excludes and later wants to return is asked to wait and to write by email after the period they set has passed, and the desk may still decline. This is intended to be hard to undo.
If you are asking on behalf of someone else, such as a family member whose number holds the ID, the desk cannot close an account on a third party's word, but it will stop issuing deposit details to that number while it checks, and it will tell you what the account holder needs to say. The cricket ID betting limits guide has a section on noticing the signs in yourself and in others.
None of these steps involves a fee, a form or a reason. You do not have to explain why. The only thing the desk asks is that the request comes from the number the ID is tied to, so that nobody else can close your account for you, and the cricket ID support page lists the other things the desk can and cannot do. If gambling is causing you harm, the routes to help described in the section above are independent of this site and of any exchange.
Getting help
We do not print helpline numbers because they change by country and we cannot promise to keep them current. A search for a gambling helpline where you live will find one, and speaking to a doctor or counsellor is a real step, not an admission of anything. In the meantime, tell the desk you want to stop. It will confirm the closure in the chat and will not try to change your mind. The help page and the contact page are there if you want to reach us another way. Responsible gaming is not a page here; it is how the desk answers when you say stop.