GamStop is the free self-exclusion register for online gambling in Great Britain. A not-for-profit company runs it, and connecting to it is a licence requirement for every operator that holds a UK Gambling Commission licence.
A lot of the material online about GamStop is out of date or simply wrong, so here are the rules as they actually work, starting with the questions people ask most.
Quick answers
- Can you cancel GamStop? Not once the term has begun. Neither you nor GamStop can end it early.
- Can you reverse it? No. A registration stands for the full period you picked.
- Are all casinos on GamStop? Every UKGC-licensed one is. Sites licensed elsewhere are not connected.
- What happens when it ends? Nothing, until you ask for it to be lifted. Then a 24-hour wait applies.
What a registration blocks
Once registered, you are shut out of every gambling website and app with a UKGC licence: casinos, sportsbooks, bingo and lotteries alike. You cannot simply open a fresh account with a new email, because the register checks several personal details together.
Some things fall outside it entirely: high-street bookmakers and other land-based premises, National Lottery tickets bought in shops, and operators with no British licence.
Picking a length
- Six months is the minimum.
- One year and five years are the other choices.
- The term begins the moment the registration is complete, not the next time you try to play.
Why the scheme has no early exit
This is the question asked more than any other, and there is no hidden exception. When a self-exclusion has started, it cannot be shortened or cancelled by anyone. That is the design: a barrier you could lift during a rough evening would offer no protection during that evening.
When your term runs out
The exclusion does not end by itself. When the period finishes it carries on until you get in touch with GamStop and request removal, and even then a 24-hour cooling-off period applies before UK sites will let you back in.
If you never get in touch, the block simply continues. Plenty of people leave it that way, and that is a perfectly sensible choice.
How the register recognises you
Matching uses a set of details checked together: full name, email address, date of birth, mobile number and postcode. A single field would be easy to change. Several fields compared at once mean an operator's check will usually still flag you if one or two have been altered.
Licensed operators run that check when you sign up and repeat it on existing customers. That is why a registration made today can shut accounts you opened years ago, at sites you had long forgotten about, typically within a day.
GamStop keeps identity details and the date your exclusion ends. It does not hold your deposit history, your balances or your card details.
Money left in UK accounts
Operators have to give back any balance you have left. That is part of their licence conditions, and it applies whether you closed the account or the exclusion closed it for you.
Most pay it out automatically within a few days. If one does not, write to them and point to the requirement. If that fails, the complaint goes to the operator's alternative dispute resolution provider, which must be named on its website.
Bonus credit and unused free spins are a different matter. They count as promotional funds rather than your money and are removed. Your own deposits and real winnings are what must come back.
Where GamStop's reach stops
- Land-based gambling. Shops, casinos, bingo halls and arcades have their own schemes. For betting shops and casinos there is a multi-operator self-exclusion run through the Betting and Gaming Council, which you join separately.
- The National Lottery. Retail tickets are outside GamStop, and the online National Lottery has its own exclusion option.
- Offshore casinos. Operators with no UKGC licence do not consult the register. This gap is the whole reason the non-GamStop category exists.
- Trading products. Spread betting and leveraged trading are regulated as financial services, so GamStop has no effect on them.
Is there a way around GamStop?
Not within the scheme. Nothing shortens or suspends a live registration, and any UK site that let you play through one would be breaching its licence. What does exist is a set of operators GamStop never reached in the first place: casinos licensed in places like Anjouan, Curaçao or Costa Rica. That is a fact about licensing, and this site describes it because it is where our comparisons sit.
If you joined GamStop because gambling had stopped being fun and started causing harm, keep the exclusion running. GamCare offers free, confidential support on 0808 8020 133. Exclusion only works if the other routes are closed too, which is what the next section covers.
Stacking extra barriers
GamStop's limit is plain: it covers UK-licensed sites and stops there. People who want a stronger block usually combine it with the tools below, and each layer you add makes a lapse slower and harder to act on.
Blocking software
Programs such as Gamban and GamBlock run on your phone and computer and block gambling sites wherever they are licensed, offshore ones included. They are built so that removing them takes effort and time, which is exactly what makes them useful.
Bank gambling blocks
Most UK banks and app-based accounts now let you switch on a gambling block, among them Monzo, Starling, Barclays, Lloyds, NatWest and HSBC. It declines payments to merchants coded as gambling.
The detail that matters is the delay on turning it off, usually somewhere between one and three days depending on the bank. That pause separates an urge from the ability to act on it, and urges tend to pass.
Crypto and exchange purchases
A bank block stops card payments to gambling merchants. It may not stop a purchase on a crypto exchange, because exchanges are not coded as gambling. If you rely on a bank block, ask your bank whether it can also block payments to exchanges. Many will on request.
If you are reading this because you want it to end
Wanting the exclusion over is common and nothing to be ashamed of. It is also completely predictable, and the rules on minimum terms and the day-long wait before reopening were written with this exact feeling in mind.
Exclusions tend to work better the longer they run, which is why the five-year option exists. If you would rather talk it over with someone before deciding anything, these are good places to start:
- GamCare and the National Gambling Helpline, by phone or live chat through the GamCare website.
- Gordon Moody, which offers residential and intensive treatment for serious gambling harm.
- GamFam, which supports family members, who often need help most and ask for it least.
- Our responsible gambling page, which lists further tools and contacts.
Play with money you can afford to lose. Casino games are built to return less than is staked over time. Set a budget and use your account's deposit limits. Free, confidential support is available from GamCare on 0808 8020 133. More on staying in control.