What is Gamstop and How Does it Work?

If you’re a seasoned gambler who lives in the United Kingdom, you might have run into the term Gamstop a couple of times in your career. There are numerous misconceptions when it comes to Gamstop, from the application to its severity. If you want to make sure you’re protected, you really should give this article a thorough and attentive read.

As I like to say, knowing is half the battle, and Gamstop can play a big role in any gambler’s life.

To show you exactly what Gamstop is and how you can dance around it, I’ll cover all the ins and outs in this article, to get into every nook and cranny of this organization. Depending on what you want, different sections of this article will fit your needs, so feel free to skip ahead if you need to.

What is Gamstop?

Now, before you and I get into the technicality and terminology, I want to start off this process by establishing what Gamstop is. It’s a community that has gained a whole lot of traction in the past couple of years, and it’s an independent provider of gambling limits.

Gamstop is a self-exclusion scheme for gamblers in the UK. Customers can apply on their own free will. After applying and getting approved by Gamstop, they are inhibited from visiting all online gambling casinos that are registered in Great Britain. This does not only include England but Scotland and Wales as well.

Now, self-exclusion is a pretty strong word to describe Gamstop itself. Perhaps you were forced to register yourself on this online gambling prevention index. The effects of Gamstop are not forever, as when you’re signing up to the program, you can pick the amount of time you are inhibited from gambling.

Maybe your employer has forced you to register for this program, or even worse, your wife. But don’t be afraid! There are ways around Gamstop, to which I’ll get into a little bit later in this text. Before I get into that though, I want to make sure you complete understand Gamstop itself.

If you’re looking to limit yourself from gambling if you suffer from financial issues or lack of self-control, Gamstop might be the right thing for you.

How Does Gamstop Work?

Gamstop operates on a pretty simple level, to be quite frank. You apply for the program, and after you have been approved, you can pick the duration of your “self” inhibited ban on gambling.

It offers you with different durations, depending on how long you want to lay off the dice and cards. The shortest amount of time Gamstop lets you lay off the bad habit is six months, while the longest period it can operate is five years.

Now, five years is a pretty long time, ask anyone. A lot of things can change, including your self-discipline and your attitude towards gambling. Nevertheless, even if your decision and relationship with gambling can change, Gamstop’s prohibition can’t.

When you have applied to the Gamstop program, you have given away your personal information. This information includes your birth name, your unique postcode, and numerous other details that are indexed and categorized in Gamstop’s vast archive.

When you attempt to log on to any of your existing accounts or register one anew, the website (if it is partnered with Gamstop) scans the Gamstop registry in order to see if you pass their security check. If you have self-excluded yourself from gambling and the website notices you in the Gamstop archive (if it exists, it will) you will automatically be denied login and registration privileges.

If you are already logged into your gambling website through your personal account, and you’ve just found yourself registered in Gamstop’s gambling-ban index, you have a 24 hour grace period. After that, you will automatically be logged out and banned from the website for the duration of your Gamstop gambling ban.

Gamstop is an independent service provider that only targets your online gambling habits. Even if you are registered with Gamstop, nothing can stop you from putting your shoes on and going out to a real-life casino.

How to Apply for Gamstop?

Applying to Gamstop is a pretty straightforward process within itself. You need to start the process by going to their website. You should read through all the provided information on the front page of the website. You will find some useful information about Gamstop on their homepage, including an important message that reminds you that you should put your gambling habit in check before it’s too late.

After you have visited the website itself, you need to click on the register button in the header of the website. After that, you will be brought to a page that informs you further of what Gamstop actually is, and what it does.

The registration page on the website is very vast and provides a lot of information about Gamstop and the registration process. If you are sure that you want to apply to the program and you agree with all of the requirements on the registration page, click the “Start” button on the bottom of the registration page.

After you have clicked the start button, your registration process can begin. You will be asked a couple of questions and required to give out some of your personal information. After you have finished filling out all of the questions, you will have to confirm your e-mail, and that’s it. You’ve officially prohibited your online gambling activities. Kudos to you.

How to Avoid Gamstop?

If you’ve registered to Gamstop in your own free will and you want to inhibit your online gambling activities, hats off to you. But, I strongly recommend skipping this section of the text.

Let’s say you have been forced into signing up to Gamstop, and you really want to avoid it. Maybe you got yourself into the program when you’ve had one too many drinks. Perhaps it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Worry not, as getting around Gamstop is surprisingly easy. Gamstop is an independent UK based self-exclusion scheme, which means it only affects websites that are registered with the program-scheme itself.

It is currently not mandatory for online casino service providers to register with Gamstop, but that can be subject to change. If it ever becomes mandatory, this will serve as an important lesson.

So, if a casino is not registered with Gamstop, your archived information will be worthless to it. It scans nothing, and it won’t inhibit you from online gambling. Most UK based online casinos are registered to the Gamstop program, so you might need to look outside of the UK.

The places with the most liberal laws and regulations when it comes to online gambling are Malta and Gibraltar. All you need to do is find an online casino that has its headquarters registered in one of these two places, and you’re almost certainly not going to have a problem making your account.

The Pros and Cons of Gamstop

Gamstop really isn’t that bad of a thing, if you think about it. It is a voluntary based self-exclusion scheme; it’s just that it is not too effective at this current moment. But, combined with a strong will, it can be a powerful tool that can be used to curb your gambling habit.

How To Get Yourself Out of Gamstop

If you’ve changed your mind or your situation has changed, you can get out of Gamstop’s program, at least in theory. If you want to attempt to get out of this program, the first thing you need to do is contact Gamstop themselves and arrange a meeting or a discussion about lifting your ban.

If you are approved to be un self-excluded, which is not a thing Gamstop is too known for, your Gamstop registry will be deleted and your ban will be lifted. This only applies to Gamstop, and if online casinos themselves have blacklisted you because of Gamstop, this ban will remain.

You can solve this ban too by contacting the casinos themselves and explaining your situation. Casinos are more likely to lift their ban than Gamstop, so if you’ve gotten to this point, it should all be smooth sailing from here on out.