GAMSTOP is the most widely known self-exclusion tool in Great Britain, but it is one of several. Each tool blocks a different route into gambling, and none of them is complete alone. This page covers the main options beyond GAMSTOP: land-based schemes, bank gambling blocks, blocking software, and the exclusion and time-out tools inside a single operator's account. For the online scheme itself, see the GAMSTOP page.
Why more than one tool
Gambling reaches a person through places, payments and devices. An online register blocks accounts. It does not stop a card payment to a site outside the scheme, and it does not stop a person walking into a shop. GAMSTOP itself says its online service is especially effective when combined with other services, and it lists bank blocks, blocking software and its betting shop service as the next steps.
Thinking in layers is useful. One layer covers accounts, one covers money, one covers devices, one covers places. A gap in one is then covered by another.
Land-based exclusion
Casinos, bingo halls, adult gaming centres and betting shops in Great Britain are licensed premises, and each has to provide a way for a customer to exclude themselves. The arrangements are run venue by venue or by group, so the process, the length and the records are not the same everywhere. Staff can explain what applies at a particular place.
GAMSTOP provides a separate service for high street bookmakers, called Gamstop Betting Shops. It allows a person to block themselves from using betting shops, and it is distinct from the online scheme.
The rule is enforced. The Gambling Commission has announced that an Adult Gaming Centre operator, Holland Park Leisure Limited, was fined £150,000 for failing to comply with a self-exclusion requirement designed to reduce gambling harm. The announcement is on the Commission's news list, and it shows the Commission treats a missed exclusion as a serious failure.
Bank gambling blocks
Many banks let a customer switch off card payments to gambling businesses. GAMSTOP describes these bank blocks as stopping card payments into online gambling accounts or in-person betting shops. The block sits with the bank, so it applies whichever site or shop is taking the payment, and that includes sites that hold no UKGC licence.
What a bank provides, and how to set it up, differs from bank to bank. The bank's app or help pages are the primary source. If a payment is taken that should have been blocked, the bank is the first place to complain. For problems that stay unresolved, the Financial Ombudsman Service deals with complaints about financial firms, and the Financial Conduct Authority regulates them.
Blocking software
Blocking software is a category of tool that runs on a device and stops gambling websites and apps from opening. GAMSTOP says it can be installed on all of your devices. It is aimed at the routes an online register cannot control, such as a site that holds no UKGC licence.
Some practical points apply to any tool of this kind:
- It protects only the devices where it is installed, so phones, tablets and shared computers each need it.
- It is stronger when someone else holds the password or settings, because a decision made in a calm moment is then harder to undo in a weak one.
- It does not remove the money side. A bank block pairs well with it.
GamCare and BeGambleAware can explain what is available. See help lines.
Operator-level exclusion and time-outs
Every licensed online operator provides tools inside the account. A time-out is a short break that you set yourself. A longer self-exclusion with that operator closes the account for an agreed period. Deposit limits and reality checks sit alongside these tools.
These work for one company only. If you exclude yourself from one brand, other brands owned by the same holder may or may not follow, and brands under other holders will not. The register of licence holders on this site shows which brands share a holder: see operators. A GAMSTOP registration is the way to tell every licensed operator at once.
What none of these tools can do
No block can reach a site that holds no UKGC licence and ignores GAMSTOP. Searches for casinos not on GAMSTOP describe that gap. Playing there is not an offence for the player, but the operator has no duty to check any register, and a UK player loses the self-exclusion check, the UKGC complaint route and ADR, stake limits and affordability checks. Our page on casinos not on GAMSTOP explains this as information only.
That is why the non-account layers matter. A bank block and blocking software are the two tools that still work when an operator is outside the scheme. Anyone who has excluded themselves and feels drawn to look elsewhere should say so to a helpline adviser, who has heard it before.
How to combine them
Common combinations include:
- GAMSTOP for online accounts, plus a bank block for payments.
- GAMSTOP, a bank block and blocking software on every device in the home.
- All of the above, plus the venue scheme where a person lives near a casino, and Gamstop Betting Shops for the high street.
A helpline adviser can talk through which combination fits, and the affordability checks page explains a further safeguard that licensed operators apply.
Gambling help
Gambling is for adults aged 18 and over, and help is available at any hour. Call the GamCare National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 (free, 24 hours) or use GamCare. GAMSTOP lists its tools and the next steps, and BeGambleAware provides free advice and a service finder.