Lottery Spending Limits, Self-Tests and Help Services in Asia

Helplines by country: who to call

The fastest route is usually a phone call, and in most of these markets the line is free from a local phone. The table below is the short version. Everything after it explains what each service actually does, when it is open and what happens when you get through.

Two things are worth knowing before you dial. First, these lines are staffed by trained counselors, not by the lottery itself, so calling does not affect your tickets, your account or your winnings. Second, in several markets the same organization runs both a helpline and a face-to-face counseling service, so a call can turn into an appointment if you want one.

If you are a visitor rather than a resident, you can still use these numbers. None of the services listed here asks for a residency document or a customer number before it will talk to you. The one thing that varies is language: the Korean, Japanese, Thai and Hong Kong services operate mainly in the local language, while Singapore's runs in English and Chinese.

South Korea: Donghaeng Clean Center and the Korea Center on Gambling Problems

South Korea has the most structured system of the group. Gambling addiction counseling is delivered mainly through in-person visits and telephone counseling, and it is backed by regional Gamblers Anonymous self-help groups that meet locally¹. That combination matters: the phone line is the entry point, and the self-help groups are what many people use week to week afterwards.

The telephone counseling line is 1336, and you do not need an area code to reach it. It is aimed at gamblers with problems and at their families, so a spouse or a parent can call on someone else's behalf⁷. Hours are 365 days a year from 09:00 to 22:00, which means evenings and weekends are covered¹.

If you would rather not speak, text counseling runs on #1336⁷. That is often the easier first step for someone who is not ready to say the words out loud, and it works the same way as the phone line in terms of who can use it.

The Korea Center on Gambling Problems runs the wider network behind these services, including the counseling centers and the self-help groups. You do not need to verify your identity to contact any of it. Identity checks in the Korean system sit on the buying side, not the help side.

Japan: Public Sports Gambling Addiction Counseling Center

Japan's main national service for this is the Public Sports Gambling Addiction Counseling Center, which covers the publicly operated sports bets: keiba, keirin, boat racing, auto racing and the sports lotteries. It offers three routes in: telephone counseling, a self-check tool, and email counseling².

The toll-free number is 0120-321-153². If you prefer to book rather than call cold, the reservation form on the center's website accepts bookings 24 hours a day, and email counseling is booked the same way⁸.

Alongside the national center, individual operators run their own support. The Japan Sports Promotion Center, which runs the sports lottery, publishes a customer center line on 0120-9292-86⁹. KEIRIN.JP publishes a self-check tool and a consultation window through its topics page¹⁰. The Japan Racing Association's own responsible play pages point to the same national counseling center¹¹.

There is also a separate telephone counseling service that specializes in pachinko and pachislo addiction, run through the recovery support network¹². If your lottery play sits alongside machine play, that is the more targeted line.

For lottery specifically, the national basic plan on gambling addiction sets out voluntary measures that include staffing the lottery call center with counselors trained by gambling addiction specialists, and purchase restrictions on the lottery website¹³. In plain terms: the takarakuji call center is not just a sales line, and the website has limits you can hit.

Singapore: National Council on Problem Gambling

Singapore's system is built around the National Council on Problem Gambling. The public helpline is the National Problem Gambling Helpline on 1800-6-668-668, and it is aimed at anyone in Singapore who may be gambling excessively³. It is a toll-free number, so calls from a Singapore phone cost nothing.

The council itself can be reached on 6354 8154 for matters that go beyond a conversation, including exclusion orders and visit limits¹⁴. Under changes that took effect on September 21, 2026, the council can immediately substitute an exclusion order with a visit limit and the other way round, and can impose stricter safeguards such as replacing a visit limit with an exclusion order where that is needed¹⁵. For a lottery player, the practical meaning is that the barrier you ask for can be adjusted as your situation changes rather than being fixed for a set period.

Singapore Pools, which runs the lottery, gives account holders a direct route to self-exclusion: online betting self-exclusion through the National Council on Problem Gambling website¹⁶. If your lottery play runs through an online account, that is the switch that turns it off.

If you want to stop, the National Council on Problem Gambling runs Self-Exclusion and Visit Limit tools that cover casinos and certain gambling products in Singapore, and account holders can apply for Online Betting Self-Exclusion through the NCPG website¹⁷. You can reach the NCPG on 6354 8154, or the National Problem Gambling Helpline on 1800-6-668-668¹⁸.

Hong Kong: official and independent counseling services

Hong Kong runs a mixed model: government-funded services plus operator-funded ones. The government side funds four counseling and treatment centers, and those four centers share a gambling counseling hotline on 1834 633⁴. The centers are staffed by trained professionals, and all information you give them is treated in strict confidence¹⁹.

The operator side is the Hong Kong Jockey Club, which runs Mark Six. Its responsible gambling program includes treatment and counseling service hotline information in all of its responsible gambling warning messages, information leaflets and betting websites, and it contributes continuously to the Ping Wo Fund, which pays for counseling, treatment and support for problem gamblers²⁰. In practice this means the hotline number appears on the material you already have in front of you.

The Jockey Club also publishes a self-test on its responsible gambling pages, in both English and Chinese²¹. It is short, and it is the same style of screen used by the counseling centers.

Opening hours differ by center, so it is worth checking before you travel to one. One center runs Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 10:00 to 18:00, Wednesday and Friday 10:00 to 22:00, and Saturday 14:00 to 22:00, and is closed on Sundays and public holidays²². Another runs Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 10:00 to 18:00 and Wednesday, Friday and Saturday 10:00 to 22:00, also closed Sundays and public holidays²³. A third runs Monday to Friday 10:00 to 22:00 and Saturday 10:00 to 18:00²³. A fourth runs Monday, Tuesday and Saturday 10:00 to 18:00 and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 10:00 to 22:00²³.

The Caritas Addicted Gamblers Counselling Centre, an independent service, can be reached on WhatsApp at 6829 8764¹⁸. Its hours are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 10:00 to 18:00, Wednesday and Friday 10:00 to 22:00, and Saturday 14:00 to 22:00, closed Sundays and public holidays¹⁸.

Malaysia: Gambler Rehab Centre

Malaysia's main listed route for lottery-related help is the Gambler Rehab Centre, a non-profit organization that helps individuals overcome gaming addiction⁵. The contact number is +6013 336 2933⁵.

The center is listed on Magnum 4D's responsible play page, which is where most players will first see it, since that page sits alongside the game information⁵. If you play 4D, that is the page you are most likely to land on when you go looking for help.

Because it is a non-profit rather than a government body, the practical advice is to call ahead and ask what is available in your area. The number is a mobile line, so it is reachable outside standard office hours more often than a fixed government line would be.

Thailand: Department of Mental Health hotline 1323

Thailand splits the two functions. For mental health support, including distress connected to gambling, the Department of Mental Health runs the national hotline 1323⁶. It is a general mental health line rather than a lottery-specific one, which means the person who answers is trained in mental health first and can refer you onward.

For lottery-specific questions, the Government Lottery Office runs its own call center on 0 2528 9999²⁴. That line handles general inquiries, and for status inquiries from successful advance buyers and reservers it operates from 07.30 to 15.30²⁵. It is a service line rather than a counseling line, so use it for ticket and purchase questions and use 1323 for the other kind of call.

The Government Lottery Office also states that it provides channels for advice or help for people who may have problems or be at risk of lottery addiction, working with external partners who have expertise and resources in that area¹⁷. In other words, the lottery itself will point you to help if you ask.

One practical detail for anyone buying digitally: the Paotang app route requires buyers to register through the app and verify their identity as the app requires²⁶. That is a purchase requirement, not a counseling one. There were 10,513 agents signed to distribute digital lottery tickets when the platform was set up²⁶.

Lottery over-immersion self-test: what it asks

Most of the self-tests published across Asia are short screens, not diagnoses. The version used on the Hong Kong Jockey Club's responsible gambling pages is the Brief Biosocial Gambling Screen, and the rule is simple: answering yes to any one question indicates a possible problem gambling impact and a need for further assessment¹⁸.

That single-question threshold is the part people find surprising. You do not need to answer yes to most of it. One yes is enough to make a conversation worthwhile.

The same style of screen appears in several places: on the Jockey Club's English and Chinese responsible gambling pages²¹, through the Japanese Public Sports Gambling Addiction Counseling Center's self-check tool², and through the KEIRIN.JP self-check tool¹⁰. They take a few minutes and you can do them privately.

If a self-test flags something, the next step is a call rather than another test. The number to call depends on where you are:

• In South Korea that is 1336⁷.
• In Japan it is 0120-321-153².
• In Singapore it is 1800-6-668-668³.
• In Hong Kong it is 1834 633⁴.
• In Malaysia it is +6013 336 2933⁵.
• In Thailand it is 1323⁶.

If you want to understand the games themselves before deciding what to change, our guide to how lotteries work explains draws and prize pools, and lottery spending limits covers the caps that operators already apply to tickets, draws and accounts. For the country-level picture on what is legal and who may play, start with lotteries in Asia.