Responsible Gambling and Player Protection at Sazka Hry

What does the term mean?

A way of gambling in which the player acts consciously and keeps the game under control. Its purpose is to limit the harm caused by excessive play and to prevent addiction.

What does the operator contribute?

Under §§ 13 to 16 of zákon č. 186/2016 Sb., each operator, Allwyn Česko a.s. being one of them, makes tools and information for safer play available to players: financial and time limits, guidance on risks and on self-exclusion, and measures to protect minors.

And the player?

No tool achieves anything if nobody uses it. That is why it pays to watch your own behaviour and not to overlook the warning signs of problem gambling.

Problem gambling takes many forms and is often overlooked for a long time. The warning signs fall into three groups.

Finances

Repeatedly exceeding your own budget, borrowing money to gamble and trying to make up losses with further bets, in other words chasing losses.

Behaviour

A growing need to play more often or for more, neglecting work, school or family, continuing to gamble despite debts and conflicts, and hiding gambling from loved ones.

Mind and health

Restlessness, irritability or anxiety when gambling is not possible, and a decline in mental or physical health linked to play.

If these signs appear in you or in someone close to you, we recommend turning to the prevention tools or contacting professional support.

Zákon č. 186/2016 Sb. expects players to have a way of limiting their gambling. At Sazka Hry, this is served by a set of tools in the user account that all registered players can use.

A financial ceiling

You restrict deposits with a limit that applies per day, week or month: once it is used up, the next deposit can only be made in the new period. Separately, you can set a bet and loss limit, that is, a maximum value of bets or net loss for a selected period. Anyone who hits it cannot place another bet.

Watching the time

A time limit sets how much time per day or week you may spend gambling. The reality check appears at regular intervals with information on how long play has lasted.

Stepping away from play

A time-out means temporary exclusion for 24 hours, 7 days or 30 days. During it you cannot log in or take part in games; once the period has passed, the account returns to service.

Changing the settings

You set, lower or cancel limits in the account. If you want to raise them, the change happens only after a protection period of at least 24 hours.

In § 16bb, zákon č. 186/2016 Sb. requires gambling operators to make a so-called panic button available to players from 1 July 2024. It is a tool that excludes the player from all gambling immediately and temporarily for 48 hours.

The button is part of the user interface and any registered player may use it. As soon as they activate it, they are automatically removed from all the operator's online platforms and cannot take part in gambling for 48 hours. At that same moment they are given the option of applying for entry into the Register of Excluded Persons (RVO).

Do you want to take a longer break from gambling, or stop altogether? Under § 16 and § 16b of zákon č. 186/2016 Sb., you may ask the operator to exclude you from taking part in gambling, either temporarily or permanently.

There are two ways to submit the request: in your user account, or through the gambling operator. An RVO entry made as a result applies to all operators in the Czech Republic, and it can be deleted one year after it was made at the earliest.

What is the RVO? The Register of Excluded Persons, kept by the Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic (Ministerstvo financí ČR) under zákon č. 186/2016 Sb.

Who is on it? People who asked to be excluded themselves, and people excluded by law, for example persons subject to enforcement or insolvency proceedings, or recipients of certain benefits.

How do you get on it? You submit an application in your user account with the operator, confirm it after pressing the panic button, send it to the Ministry of Finance through a data box, or file it in person at Czech POINT.

What does an entry mean? For as long as it lasts, you may not gamble with any operator licensed in the Czech Republic.

Anyone who has not reached 18 must not take part in gambling in the Czech Republic. That is what zákon č. 186/2016 Sb. lays down.

To make the ban work in practice, the operator verifies the age and identity of each player, for instance through the BankID service or another verification procedure. It checks this at registration and once more when a player withdraws winnings.

Answer yes or no to seven questions adapted from the PGSI, the Problem Gambling Severity Index:

1. Has gambling cost you more money than you originally intended?
2. Do you think it would be sensible to gamble less?
3. Is your gambling accompanied by a sense of guilt?
4. Do you try to recover a loss by betting again?
5. Do your duties or the people close to you lose out because of gambling?
6. Has someone around you noticed that you have a problem with gambling?
7. Have you ever borrowed money for gambling?

If you answered yes several times, consider using the prevention tools or contacting professional help. The test is for orientation only; a diagnosis can only be made by a specialist.

Clinic of Addictology, 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General University Hospital in Prague (online at adiktologie.cz), Společnost Podané ruce with its website podaneruce.cz, and the National Helpline for Addiction, which you can reach free of charge and anonymously on 800 350 000, all provide discreet, professional help with gambling addiction.

Do not wait until the problem overwhelms you. You can get in touch as soon as you feel gambling is no longer fun.

You can reach the editorial team at contact@sazka-recenze.cz. Feel free to get in touch with queries about the page content or to ask for more information.

The Ministry of Finance officially warns that gambling may lead to dependence.

By law, only people aged 18 and over may gamble (18+).