Gamban locks the door. Lessen tells you when you're walking toward it.
Two tools for two different moments. A lot of people end up using both.
What Gamban does well
Gamban blocks gambling sites and apps across your devices. It's cheap, simple, and it works. An independent evaluation commissioned by GambleAware found blockers genuinely limit access to gambling sites and can reduce gambling harm [1].
If you've decided you're done, and the only thing between you and a bet is one tap, a blocker is the right first move. Get one.
What a blocker can't do
A block is a wall. Walls help. But a wall doesn't know it's Sunday. It doesn't know you lost $340 last night. It doesn't know you always bet after the second drink.
A block also only works while it stays up, and a block can be taken down.
What Lessen does
Lessen connects to your sportsbook and reads the bets you already placed. Up to a year of them. Then it learns your pattern.
When one of your usual high-risk windows is coming, you hear about it before it opens, not after the bet.
Use both
Gamban is the wall. Lessen is the warning. They don't compete. Plenty of people run a blocker alongside Lessen. The independent evaluation of blocking software makes the same point: it restricts access, it doesn't cure the pull, and it holds best layered with other tools and support.
Where Lessen goes further
Recognition
A blocker doesn't know your pattern. Lessen reads up to a year of real bets and learns the windows where you usually bet.
Intervention
A wall waits for you to hit it. Lessen moves first. The warning lands before your usual risky hours, not after the bet.
Flexibility
A blocker is built for stopping. Lessen has a mode for quitting and a mode for cutting back, and you can switch if that changes.
What Lessen doesn't do
Lessen does not block anything. It won't help if you bet with cash or on a book we don't support.
Gamban. Stops access
Lessen. Sees patterns
Not sure where you land?
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Sources
1. GambleAware (2019). Evaluating online blocking software: Findings report. Independent evaluation commissioned by GambleAware. Read the study
If gambling is affecting your money, work, or relationships, call 1-800-522-4700 or 1-800-MY-RESET, or find a meeting at ga.org.