Do I have a problem with the game?

If we extrapolate the figures from other European countries, we can consider that one adult in four runs a low or moderate risk of losing control of his or her gaming habits. If this consumption tends to become excessive, the risk becomes high or very high for 2 to 5% of the population.  Gambling becomes problematic when it leads to significant negative consequences in the gambler's life. Among problem gamblers, a distinction is made between pathological gamblers (also known as compulsive gamblers, and accounting for 1 to 2% of the Belgian population) and "simply" excessive gamblers, in that they are aware of having lost control over their consumption and express this suffering in relation to their dependence. The proportion of pathological gamblers can range from 3 to 5% among young people. It is estimated that more than 200,000 people have a problem with gambling in Belgium and that 25,000 young people under the age of 21 meet the definition of a pathological gambler.

Less than a third of problem gamblers are aware of the extent of their gambling problem.

That's why it's important to take a few simple tests, watch out for certain signs of excess, and assess your personal risk level.

The pathological gambler began his gambling career at and has lost sight of the dimension of chance, convinced that he has a grip on the game, a possibility of influencing the game in his favor. When he loses, he attributes his loss to bad luck and is convinced that he will win again, because he has a poor understanding of the rate of return and the negative expectation of gain.

A gambler can be considered to have become a pathological or compulsive gambler when he or she meets several of the following criteria:

• He's always thinking about the game, about past and future experiences, and about how to get money to play
• When he plays, he loses track of time.
• He plays larger and larger sums: he constantly needs to increase to achieve the excitement he's looking for.
• He spends all his money on gambling and finds it difficult to use it for anything other than gambling.
• He's convinced he's going to win.
• When he wins, he plays the amount back to win more.
• He has often tried to play less, or even stop, but has never succeeded.
• Tense, irritable when trying to stop
• When he's not playing, he feels anxious, distressed, depressed. He plays to forget his troubles.
• He sometimes feels regret and guilt after playing.
• When he loses, he goes back to play later to "make up for it", convinced that he'll win back what he's lost.
• He lies to those around him to conceal his gambling behavior.
• He commits illegal acts to obtain money to gamble: theft, swindling, fraud, embezzlement... or plans to do so.
• He relies on others to give him the money he needs to play.
• He experiences serious failures or major difficulties in his relationship, with his family, in his studies, at work... because of gambling.
• He sometimes thinks of suicide as a solution to his gambling behavior.
• He has trouble sleeping because of his gambling behavior (especially with women).

It's worth noting that players often tend to deny the reality of problems, and so don't fit into the above criteria, either because they're unaware of them, or because they minimize them.

The current tendency is to further simplify detection by considering gamblers to be pathological simply because they need to gamble with ever-increasing sums of money to achieve the desired state of excitement, or because they have lied to their family and acquaintances to conceal the true extent of their gambling habits.