Gambling Deposit Limits Are Changing on 30 September

Set a £100 weekly deposit limit.

Deposit £100.

Withdraw £80 the next day.

How much can you deposit now?

Most people would say nothing. You set a £100 limit and you have already put £100 into the account.

From 30 September 2026, that is how a limit simply called a deposit limit will have to work on gambling sites licensed in Great Britain.

Until now, operators have not all calculated these limits in the same way. Some financial limits take withdrawals into account. Deposit £100, withdraw £80 and your net deposits are £20. Depending on the limit being used, that can leave another £80 available to deposit.

Operators can still offer that kind of limit. They just cannot call it the same thing.

£100 in means £100 in

From 30 September, operators must offer a deposit limit based on the total amount paid into the account during the chosen period.

Withdrawals do not reduce that total.

If you set a £100 weekly deposit limit and deposit £100, the limit has been reached. Withdraw £20, £80 or the full £100 and it makes no difference to the amount you have already deposited.

The Gambling Commission calls this a gross deposit limit. On the site itself, it can simply be called a deposit limit.

Only this type of limit will be allowed to use that name on its own.

Net deposit limits are staying

A net deposit limit works differently.

Using the same example:

Deposited: £100
Withdrawn: £80
Net deposits: £20

Because withdrawals are deducted from deposits, taking £80 out can create room to deposit again.

That option is not being banned. Operators can continue to offer it, but it must be identified as a net deposit limit.

The difference is easy to miss until money starts moving in and out of the account. If £100 is the maximum you want to transfer into gambling during a week, a net limit may not do what you expected.

With a standard deposit limit, once £100 has gone in, that is it until the limit period restarts.

No new national deposit cap

There is no new government-set £100, £500 or £1,000 maximum arriving on 30 September.

Customers still choose the amount of a customer-set deposit limit.

Operators must offer gross deposit limits and give them at least equal prominence to any other financial limits they offer.

Gross deposit limits must use fixed time periods. Other financial limits can use fixed or rolling periods.

The existing 24-hour cooling-off rule also remains in place if a customer wants to increase a financial limit.

Existing limits may not change automatically

If you already have a limit on an account, do not assume the calculation behind it will automatically change on 30 September.

The Gambling Commission requires gross deposit limits, and any other financial limits an operator offers, to be available to existing customers. Operators are not required to convert every existing customer from another type of limit onto a gross deposit limit.

It is worth checking what your current limit is called and how it is calculated.

The rules were originally due to take effect on 30 June 2026. The Gambling Commission pushed implementation back three months after operators asked for more time to complete the technical work.

From 30 September, the wording should at least be clearer.

Deposit limit: £100
Deposited: £100
Withdrawn: £80
Available to deposit again: £0

Choose a net deposit limit and the calculation can be different.

For the wider differences between deposit limits, loss limits and other account controls, see Gambling Limits Explained.