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How to Block Gambling and Betting Sites, Without the Judgment

Sportsbooks and casino sites are built for speed. Your card is saved, deposits take two taps, and a promo for a "risk-free" bet is always one notification away. If you've ever deposited more than you meant to, often late at night or during a game, the problem usually isn't knowing better. It's that nothing stood between the urge and the deposit button.

Not Yet puts something there. Here's what it does on gambling and betting sites, what it can't do, and the other tools worth pairing it with.

Turn On the Gambling and Betting Category

Not Yet groups sites into categories you choose in the welcome guide or in Settings, under Blocked categories. The one called Gambling, Betting, Adult Content is off until you turn it on, because nobody should have that assumed about them. It covers DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Caesars, Bovada, bet365, PointsBet, ESPN BET, and Hard Rock Bet out of the box, and you can add any other site yourself, including casinos and offshore books.

On those sites, Not Yet steps in on deposit and payment pages. Instead of the usual shopping question, the pause asks one written for this moment, in your own voice:

• "What am I hoping this fixes right now?"
• "Have I already spent more today than I planned to?"
• "Would I be comfortable telling someone I trust about this?"

To continue, you retype a freshly generated code, character for character. A new one every time, nothing to memorize. If you'd rather not continue, the Quiet Place is one tap away: a calm page with a mood check-in and a few things to do instead.

When a Pause Isn't Enough: Block the Site Outright

A pause still lets you through on purpose. For the one or two sites where even browsing is the problem, Settings has Block these websites. It's a real block: the moment you land on the site, you're sent to your Quiet Place. No code, no way through. The only way back in is removing the site from that list.

For a Big Game Night: Pause a Site for a While

Pause a site for a while blocks a site on landing for 1 to 24 hours, then lifts on its own. Set it before the game starts, when you're thinking clearly, so the decision is already made when the urge shows up in the fourth quarter.

For Endless Scrolling Through Odds: Time Limits

Time limits on sites gives a site a limit of 1 to 240 minutes per visit. A small countdown sits in the corner, opening a new tab doesn't reset it, and when it runs out, Not Yet sends you to your Quiet Place or shows the pause screen, whichever you choose. Time limits are free.

Make It Stick: Guard Mode

Every one of these settings is easy to turn off in a weak moment. Guard Mode (part of Premium) puts them behind a PIN: removing a site, turning off a category, or making a pause easier all ask for it. Adding protection never does. Some people set the PIN themselves and write it down somewhere inconvenient; others ask a partner or a friend to set it. Once Guard Mode is on, it stays on even if Premium lapses. Your own PIN always opens it.

What a Browser Extension Can't Do

Not Yet works in Safari and Chrome. It can't see inside a sportsbook's own app on your phone, and no browser extension can. If the apps are where you bet, pair Not Yet with:

• Screen Time on iPhone and iPad (Settings, then Screen Time): app limits, or blocking app installs entirely with a passcode someone else holds.
• A dedicated gambling blocker such as Gamban or BetBlocker, which block gambling sites and apps across a whole device.
• Self-exclusion. Most US states with legal betting, and the operators themselves, let you exclude yourself from every licensed sportsbook for a set period.

Why "Without the Judgment"

There's no red stop sign in Not Yet, no warning siren, and no lecture. Shame tends to push people toward hiding, which makes everything harder. The pause is calm on purpose, and the questions are ones you'd ask yourself on a good day. The goal isn't to make you feel bad about wanting to bet. It's to make sure the next deposit is a decision, not a reflex.