Nicole Hayes

Nicole Hayes is the Responsible Gambling Editor at Casino Compass, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. A Certified Gambling Counselor (ICGC-I), she works alongside the Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling and brings a clinician's eye to a corner of the industry that marketing teams would rather you ignore. Her job is to make sure that the casinos we recommend treat player safety as more than a footer link.

Nicole audits every operator on this site for real player-protection tooling - deposit limits, loss limits, session reminders, cool-off periods and self-exclusion - and tests whether those controls actually work rather than simply existing on a help page. She writes our responsible-gambling resources, including our Florida self-exclusion guidance, and insists that every long guide on the site points readers to the 1-888-ADMIT-IT helpline and the national 1-800-GAMBLER line.

Because the offshore casinos that accept Florida players operate outside any state self-exclusion program, Nicole is candid about the limits of player protection in this market and what readers can do for themselves: set hard limits before depositing, never chase losses, and step away the moment play stops being fun. She has reviewed the responsible-gambling setup at more than 90 operators and will flag - or refuse to recommend - any site that makes it hard to set a limit or close an account. To Nicole, the most important number on any casino page is not the bonus; it is the helpline. Anyone in Florida who needs support can call 1-888-ADMIT-IT for free, confidential help, any time. You must be 21 or older to gamble.