What is GamStop, and how does it work?

What GamStop is

GamStop is the free national online self-exclusion scheme that covers gambling websites and apps licensed by the Gambling Commission to operate in Great Britain. The idea is deliberately simple: rather than contacting dozens of operators one by one, you register once and the scheme applies your exclusion across every licensed site at the same time.

Because every Gambling Commission-licensed online operator is required to participate, a single GamStop registration reaches the whole licensed market in one action. It costs nothing to use, and it's designed as a practical tool for anyone who has decided they want online gambling taken off the table for a while — or for good. It isn't a judgement on you, and choosing to register isn't a failure; it's a control that exists precisely so it can be used.

How it works in practice

The mechanics are straightforward, and we'll describe them as they appear in the scheme's published information rather than inventing specifics. To register, you provide identity details — the kind of information operators use to match you against their records — so that the exclusion can be applied accurately to accounts you hold or try to open. You then choose an exclusion period from the options the scheme offers.

Once you're registered, when you try to log in to a licensed gambling site that you're matched to, the operator's checks are designed to prevent access for the duration you selected. According to the scheme's published information, the exclusion is also intended to apply when you try to open a new account with a licensed operator, because operators run checks against the register at sign-up — so it isn't only about the accounts you already have.

No single tool catches everything perfectly, which is one reason the later sections of this guide cover the protections that work alongside GamStop. But as a single, free action that reaches the entire licensed online market at once, it does a great deal of the work, and for many people it's the most useful first step they take.

What GamStop covers — and what it can't

Being clear about the limits isn't a criticism of the scheme; it's what lets you build the right protection around it.

It covers online gambling operators licensed by the Gambling Commission to serve Great Britain — which is to say, the legitimate, regulated market. One registration, the whole of that market.

What it can't cover:

• Unlicensed offshore sites. Sites operating without a Gambling Commission licence aren't part of the scheme and don't honour it. This is precisely the gap that predatory operators exploit, and it's the subject of the next section.
• Land-based venues. GamStop is an online scheme. Separate self-exclusion arrangements exist for physical premises such as betting shops and casinos; if those matter to you, ask about them directly at the venue or through the relevant scheme.
• The job of support itself. GamStop is a barrier, not a substitute for help. It buys time and removes easy access, which is valuable — but if gambling has become difficult to control, pairing it with genuine support is what makes the difference. We signpost that support below and again at the close of this guide.

The "non-GamStop casino" red flag

You'll see sites and adverts marketing themselves as "non-GamStop casinos". It's worth decoding that phrase plainly, because it isn't a feature — it's a warning. A site advertising that it's outside GamStop is advertising that it operates outside the UK licensing system altogether: no Gambling Commission licence, and therefore none of the protections that come with one.

Worse, the marketing is deliberate. A site promoting itself as "non-GamStop" is, by definition, targeting people who chose to self-exclude — people who decided they needed gambling taken away and are now being courted precisely because of that decision. That is predatory by design. It's one of the clearest red flags there is, and it's exactly the kind of operator documented across our blacklist and dissected in our scam types guides.

We won't describe how to use such sites, because there's no safe way to and that isn't the purpose of this page. The single thing worth knowing is what the phrase signals: no licence, no protection, and a business model built on reaching people at their most vulnerable. If you've excluded yourself, you made a good decision — these sites exist to undo it.

Tools that work alongside GamStop

GamStop is stronger when it isn't working alone. A few practical layers complement it well:

• Bank gambling blocks. Many UK banks now offer a card-level gambling block you can switch on in the app — it declines gambling transactions and often has a built-in cooling-off delay before it can be turned off again. It's free, immediate, and adds a financial barrier that sits independently of any gambling site. Check whether your own bank offers one.
• Blocking software. A category of software exists that can block access to gambling sites on your devices. We're mentioning the category honestly without endorsing any particular brand — if this would help you, it's worth looking into what's available and reputable.
• Deposit limits. Licensed operators let you set deposit limits, and setting them early — before you need them — is one of the simplest controls available.
• Human support. Tools manage access; people help with the underlying difficulty. BeGambleAware (begambleaware.org) offers free, confidential information and support, and the National Gambling Helpline is there to talk things through. Reaching out is a strength, not a last resort.

If gambling has stopped being fun

If you've read this far because gambling has stopped feeling like entertainment — if it's costing more than money, or you've tried to stop and found you couldn't — please know that support is available and that asking for it is an ordinary, sensible thing to do. Plenty of people have been exactly where you are, and many of them found that the first conversation was the hardest part.

You can talk to someone for free and in confidence through BeGambleAware at begambleaware.org, or contact the National Gambling Helpline. Registering with GamStop removes the easy access while you decide what comes next. There's no wrong order to do these in, and there's no threshold you have to reach before you're allowed to reach out. If today's the day, that's enough of a reason.

Related reading

• Stay Safe guides — the full safety hub
• How to check a licence — confirm an operator is actually regulated
• Getting money back — chargebacks, Section 75 and what's realistic
• Complaints and ADR — the route when a licensed casino is the problem
• Non-GamStop sites — why “casinos not on GamStop” are a documented harm pattern
• Scam types — how predatory operators reach people
• The blacklist — documented operators and their behaviour