Safer boundaries
I define what “responsible” can mean when I refuse to sell a strategy. The notes cover harm, public sources, and why a self-imposed limit still needs a human boundary. Read the boundary notes.
I start with the limits a gambling blocker cannot cover
I write these notes for technically curious adults who want a local way to make online casinos and sportsbooks harder to open, without pretending a filter is recovery. The site stays informative: it does not block anything itself, it does not take accounts, and it does not name operators or suggest how to play.
What I keep returning to is a split. Access control changes which sites a device can reach. Harm from gambling is a health and money problem that can continue through another phone, a friend’s laptop, cash, or a shop. I treat the first as a configuration task and the second as something a blocker was never built to settle.
I separate access controls from recovery
When I sketch a boundary, I start by writing down what the tool is allowed to do. A browser extension, a hosts file, or a DNS filter can refuse a name or an address. It cannot repay a debt, repair a relationship, or decide whether someone should stop entirely. I have no clinical role here, and I do not claim a method that worked for a particular person.
Gambling can cause serious harm, including debt, strained relationships, and health problems. A device block is not treatment and not personal advice. In the United States, the National Council on Problem Gambling publishes information and routes toward help. SAMHSA and MedlinePlus carry broader public-health material that a reader can use as a starting point. If harm is already present, a qualified clinician or a recognised support service is the right next conversation, not another rule in a filter list.
A closed tab is not the same thing as a closed habit. I keep that sentence where I can see it before I touch a configuration file.
I map the routes worth closing
I use a short checklist before any build, because a tidy extension on one browser can leave the rest of the house open. The point is not a score. It is a list of routes I would rather notice than discover later.
- Name the devices that can reach the internet: a laptop, a phone, a tablet, and any shared machine.
- On each device, list the browsers, not only the one I use most.
- Note whether apps, not just sites, can open a sportsbook or casino flow.
- Check whether a VPN, private DNS, or a second network profile can step around a home filter.
- Look for IPv6 as well as IPv4, because a block that covers only one family of addresses is incomplete.
- Decide who else uses the device, and whether a local rule can be removed by that person in a minute.
- Write down what the rule will not cover: cash venues, another person’s account, and any path I have not listed.
I explain the layers in more detail on the access-path notes, and I treat gaps as expected rather than as a failure of will.
I divide the work into four decisions
Access layers
Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS do not share one switch. I compare where a block can sit, and where an app store or a second browser walks past it. Trace the access paths.
Local build
I describe a static WebExtensions shape for Mozilla Firefox and Chromium: a list the reader fills, loaded only on their own machine. Assemble the local list.
Gap checks
DNS, IPv4, IPv6, and a client-side script are different kinds of fence. I borrow a caution from OWASP about not mistaking a browser control for a security boundary. Check for gaps.
I keep these uncertainties visible
Does a blocker count as treatment?
No. I use it only as an access inconvenience. Support and clinical care sit elsewhere, including material from the National Council on Problem Gambling.
Why is a browser extension not enough?
Another browser, an app, or a phone on mobile data can ignore a rule that lives in one profile. I map those routes before I trust a single extension.
Should I publish a list of casino domains?
I do not. A public list ages, names operators, and is not mine to maintain. The reader supplies names they already know they want closed.
Can this website block gambling for me?
It cannot. These pages are static notes. Nothing here intercepts traffic on your network or in your browser.