Loss limit
A loss limit is a cap you set on how much money you can lose with an operator over a fixed period, usually a day, a week or a month. Once your net losses for that period reach the figure, the account stops accepting new bets until the period resets. It is a player protection tool, chosen by you rather than imposed by the site, and it sits in the responsible gambling settings beside deposit limits and reality checks.
How a loss limit is calculated
The usual formula is simple: what you staked in the period, minus what you won back. Set a weekly limit of €100, stake €300 and get €220 back, and you have used €80 of it.
The detail is where operators differ. Some count stakes against returns on settled bets only, while others work from deposits minus withdrawals, and a pending bet may or may not count until it settles. The terms page or the limit screen itself should say which method applies, and what we check first is whether bonus funds are included in the calculation or left out of it.
Lowering a limit normally takes effect at once.
Raising or removing one usually comes with a cooling-off delay, and the length of that delay varies between operators.
Loss limit versus deposit limit
The two are easily mixed up, and they protect you in different ways. A deposit limit caps the money you put into the account, whatever happens to it afterwards.
A loss limit lets you keep playing with winnings you have recycled, but stops you once the net damage reaches your figure. If you deposit €50, win it up to €200 and then lose it all, a deposit limit of €50 was never breached, yet you lost €200 of play that felt like yours.
Many players set both.
If you find that no limit is holding, self-exclusion with the operator is the next step, and the support links on the responsible gambling page are the place to start.
