Am I Addicted to Gambling? A 9-Question Self-Test

If you've landed here, you're probably not asking the question for the first time. Maybe it came up after a long night, or after you finally opened your banking app and looked at the number. This gambling self-assessment takes about three minutes and it's anonymous: nothing you answer is stored.

One thing up front, so you know what you're working with. The test is an orientation tool, and only a clinician can give you a diagnosis. The nine questions below follow the criteria of the DSM-5, the diagnostic manual US clinicians use to assess gambling disorder. Your score shows where you stand, and every result comes with a concrete next step further down the page.

Two questions before the full test

If even three minutes feels like too much right now, start with a validated screen that takes under one. The Lie/Bet Questionnaire was developed in 1997 by Edward Johnson and colleagues because counselors needed a tool that works in a single minute. In the validation study, it correctly identified 99 out of 100 people with a gambling problem.

1. Have you ever felt the need to bet more and more money?
2. Have you ever had to lie to people important to you about how much you gambled?

A single yes already counts as a positive screen. It simply means the full nine questions are worth your time.

The gambling addiction test: 9 questions

Answer each question with yes or no. Nobody is watching, and your answers are neither stored nor sent anywhere. Think about the last 12 months, the same window clinicians use.

1. Do you need to gamble with more and more money to feel the same excitement?
2. Do you feel restless or irritable when you try to cut down or stop?
3. Have you tried more than once to cut back or quit, without success?
4. Do you spend a lot of time thinking about gambling, such as reliving past bets, planning the next one, or working out how to get money for it?
5. Do you often gamble when you feel bad, for example helpless, guilty, anxious, or down?
6. After losing money, do you come back another day to win it back?
7. Do you lie to others about how much you gamble?
8. Have you risked or lost a relationship, a job, your education, or a career opportunity because of gambling?
9. Have you relied on someone else's money to get out of financial trouble caused by gambling?

Now count your yes answers. One note on question 2: restlessness and irritability when you cut back are real withdrawal symptoms, and gambling triggers them much like substances do. What happens in your body during that phase, and how long it takes, is covered in our guide to gambling withdrawal symptoms.

Your result at a glance

In clinical practice, 4 or more criteria met within 12 months indicate gambling disorder. Severity follows the count:

• 0 yes answers: no current signs of problem gambling.
• 1–3 yes answers: risky gambling, below the clinical threshold but a warning sign.
• 4–5 yes answers: signs of gambling disorder, mild.
• 6–7 yes answers: signs of gambling disorder, moderate.
• 8–9 yes answers: signs of gambling disorder, severe.

Here is what each band means in practice.

0 yes: There is little cause for concern right now. If your gambling still nags at you, retake the test in a few months; with a sportsbook app on your phone, the picture can change faster than most people expect. Write down today's score and the date, so a future you compares two numbers rather than trying to remember how this week felt.

1–3 yes: Your gambling shows risk patterns, even though it stays below the clinical threshold. You have company in this band: the National Council on Problem Gambling estimates that 5 to 8 million US adults have mild or moderate gambling problems, meaning they meet one or more criteria without reaching the full diagnosis. Turning things around is easiest at this stage, because debts and conflicts at home are usually still manageable. Many people wait anyway, since the gambling still feels controllable. The smarter move is to set up the first barriers from the next section while that is still true.

4–5 yes (mild): On paper, you meet the criteria for gambling disorder, at the lower end of the range. "Mild" refers only to the number of criteria met; it says nothing about what the gambling is already costing you. For you, this result means counseling and access barriers are worth starting now, because both work best at this stage. A conversation with a problem gambling counselor is free and confidential, and the next section shows where to find one.

6–7 yes (moderate) and 8–9 yes (severe): In this range, gambling has very likely caused real damage already, to your finances or to your relationships. Gambling disorder is a recognized mental health diagnosis, and it's treatable. You're also less alone with this score than it feels: the National Council on Problem Gambling estimates that 2.5 million US adults, about 1 percent, meet the criteria for a severe gambling problem in a given year. The most important next step is a conversation with a professional, and the section directly below shows how to get one for free.

What to do with your score

Talk to a counselor (urgent from 4 yes, useful from 1): The National Problem Gambling Helpline offers free, confidential support around the clock, and the current contact options are listed at ncpgambling.org. The counselors there work with results like yours every day and can connect you with treatment options in your state. Most states also run self-exclusion programs that bar you from licensed betting sites and casinos, and the details vary by state; the help-by-state pages on ncpgambling.org point you to yours.

Make access harder (from 1 yes): In a weak moment, often late at night, a deleted betting app is back on your phone in about 40 seconds. Barriers work best when you build them while you're thinking clearly. On the iPhone, you can block gambling apps with the tools built into iOS, and if you want protection that holds when you try to remove it yourself at 3 a.m., read about the gambling blocker you can't just delete. This is where BETTR OFF fits in, the app we build: its in-app self-assessment score is based on the same research criteria you just answered, and its blocking layers work as access barriers, shielding betting apps at the system level and filtering more than 300,000 gambling sites in every browser. If you recently started gambling again after a break, begin with the guide on what to do after a gambling relapse, which picks up exactly at that point.

Tell one person (from 4 yes): Tell someone you trust about your result today. That lowers the bar for every next step, from a counseling appointment to a blocking setup, because a plan another person knows about is harder to drop quietly.

Frequently asked questions

Is this gambling addiction test a diagnosis?

No. The test follows the 9 DSM-5 criteria for gambling disorder, but a diagnosis has to come from a clinician, such as a physician or a licensed therapist. Your score tells you whether there is good reason to seek that assessment. A counselor reached through ncpgambling.org can refer you to one near you.

How many yes answers mean I'm addicted to gambling?

Clinicians speak of gambling disorder when 4 or more criteria are met within 12 months. Severity rises with the count: 4–5 criteria are classed as mild, 6–7 as moderate, and 8–9 as severe. A first warning sign takes far less, and even one yes on the two-question screen deserves attention.

I scored high, but I don't feel addicted. Is that possible?

Yes, and it's common, because downplaying belongs to the pattern of the condition. Ask yourself whether gambling is harming you or the people around you, and whether you keep doing it anyway. If the honest answer is yes twice, take the score more seriously than the feeling.

Do sports betting and daily fantasy count as gambling?

Yes. Online sports betting even carries one of the highest addiction risks, especially for young men. Knowing the sport well doesn't change the underlying mechanics much: after a loss comes the urge to win it back with new bets. The nine criteria above apply to a sportsbook app exactly as they do to a slot machine.

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A note on timing: the motivation a score creates fades within a few days. Whichever step fits your band, start it today, while the number is still fresh.

Author: Philipp Längle, founder of BETTR OFF, an iOS recovery app for gambling. He works with the screening criteria cited here every day.

This self-test is for orientation and does not replace a diagnosis. BETTR OFF supports your recovery but is not a substitute for professional medical or psychological treatment. If gambling is hurting you or someone close to you, free and confidential help is available through the National Problem Gambling Helpline; current contact options are listed at ncpgambling.org.

Sources (accessed July 14, 2026):

• Johnson, E. E., Hamer, R., Nora, R. M., Tan, B., Eisenstein, N., & Engelhart, C. (1997): The Lie/Bet Questionnaire for Screening Pathological Gamblers. Psychological Reports, 80, 83–88. Sensitivity .99, specificity .91 (follow-up study 1998: 1.00 / .85)
• American Psychiatric Association: DSM-5 / DSM-5-TR, Gambling Disorder. 9 criteria, 12-month reference window, diagnosis from 4 criteria met; severity: 4–5 mild, 6–7 moderate, 8–9 severe
• National Council on Problem Gambling: "FAQs: What is Problem Gambling?", ncpgambling.org/help-treatment/faqs-what-is-problem-gambling (2.5 million US adults with a severe gambling problem in a given year; 5–8 million with mild or moderate problems)
• National Council on Problem Gambling: "About the National Problem Gambling Helpline", ncpgambling.org/help-treatment/about-the-national-problem-gambling-helpline