Keep it the size
of a coffee break.

Habits worth keeping

Taking a break.

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• Decide how long you want to play before you deal the first hand, and set a timer if that helps. Free games are unusually easy to lose an afternoon to.
• Close the tab when you stop. The balance resets anyway, so there is nothing to protect by leaving it open.
• Play when you're in reasonable shape for it. Card games are poor company for boredom, stress, or a bad night's sleep.
• Keep it separate from anything that costs money. If a session here makes you want to find a table that takes real stakes, that's a signal to stop rather than continue.
• Let other things interrupt you. If a game is regularly winning against sleep, work, or the people around you, the length of the session is the problem, not the game.

Signs to take seriously

Even with no money involved, play can stop being play. Some things worth noticing in yourself:

• Reaching for the game automatically, without deciding to.
• Feeling restless or irritable when you can't play.
• Playing much longer than you planned to, repeatedly.
• Hiding how much you play from people you live with.
• Using the game to avoid something rather than to enjoy something.
• Finding yourself curious about where you could play the same thing for money.

None of these are catastrophic on their own. Several at once, over weeks, are worth talking about with someone you trust. Confidential support for gaming and gambling concerns is available in most parts of the world through national health services, independent charities, and counselling organisations; because Sellentrake is not tied to any one country, we encourage you to look up the service that covers where you live rather than pointing you somewhere that may not.