Why This Page Sits on a Site Like This One
This site covers bookmakers that GamStop does not reach. It would be dishonest to publish that without also publishing this. A reader arriving here because a self exclusion expired is in a different position from a reader arriving because a self exclusion is in the way, and the second reader is the one this page is written for.
GamStop is the national self exclusion scheme. Register once and every operator holding a UK Gambling Commission licence must refuse you for the term you chose, from six months to five years. It works well for what it covers. What it does not cover is companies licensed outside the United Kingdom, which is the entire category this site writes about.
Warning Signs Worth Taking Seriously
- Betting with money set aside for rent, bills or food
- Chasing a loss with a larger stake to get level
- Borrowing to fund a bet, or moving money between cards to cover one
- Hiding the amount or the frequency from people close to you
- Betting to change how you feel rather than because you fancy the price
- Opening a new account because the last one was closed or limited
- Relief rather than enjoyment when a bet lands
One of these is worth noticing. Several together is worth acting on today rather than after the next weekend.
The Tools That Still Work Outside GamStop
Account level controls at an individual bookmaker cover that bookmaker and nothing else, and several offshore books reverse a limit on a single email. The tools that behave the way GamStop behaves work at device level and do not care where an operator is licensed.
- BetBlocker. Free, covers Windows, macOS, Android and iOS, blocks tens of thousands of gambling sites and cannot be removed inside a term you set.
- Gamban. Paid, similar coverage, widely used alongside treatment.
- Bank gambling blocks. Most UK banks now offer a card level block on gambling merchants, several with a cooling off period before it can be lifted. Ask your bank or find it in the app.
- Deposit and loss limits. Useful, but set them on day one, before the first bet, while the decision is still an easy one.
Free Independent Help in the UK
- GamCare, 0808 8020 133, 24 hours a day, free and confidential
- BeGambleAware, begambleaware.org, self assessment and referral to local treatment
- Gordon Moody, residential and online treatment for severe gambling harm
- Gamblers Anonymous, peer support meetings across the South East and online
- GamFam, support for family members affected by somebody else's gambling
- NHS National Problem Gambling Clinic, referral via a GP or self referral
Nobody has to be at the worst point to use any of these. Gambling should be entertainment you can afford to lose, and if it has stopped being that, one phone call is a smaller step than it looks.
You must be 18 or over to gamble in the United Kingdom.