The tools every licensed site must give you
These are licence conditions, not goodwill gestures. If a site does not have them, it does not hold a Gambling Commission licence, and that on its own tells you where you are.
- Deposit limits — daily, weekly or monthly. A reduction applies immediately; an increase has to survive a cooling-off period and an active confirmation from you.
- Time-outs — a break from 24 hours up to six weeks. The account is closed to play and cannot be reopened early.
- Self-exclusion — six months minimum at that operator, and it extends to its sister brands.
- Reality checks — a pop-up at an interval you choose, telling you how long you have been playing and what you are up or down.
- Account closure — immediate, with any balance returned.
GAMSTOP: one form, every licensed site
GAMSTOP is the national online self-exclusion scheme, and since 2020 every operator licensed by the Gambling Commission has had to be signed up to it. You register once, at gamstop.co.uk, choosing six months, one year or five years, and your details are matched against every licensed site’s sign-up and login. It is free, it takes a few minutes, and it cannot be undone early — that is the point of it.
What it does not do is cover sites without a UK licence, which is precisely why a whole advertising category exists around that gap. That subject is dealt with plainly on the page about casinos not on GamStop.
Every person I have spoken to who registered with GAMSTOP said the same thing about the first week: the relief was much larger than the loss. Not one of them described it as giving something up.
Nell Ashworth
A short self-assessment
The nine questions below follow the structure of the Problem Gambling Severity Index, the instrument used in the Health Survey for England. The wording is ours. Nothing is sent anywhere and nothing is stored: the arithmetic happens in your browser and disappears when you close the tab.
The self-assessment needs JavaScript. With it switched off you can still score it by hand: never 0, sometimes 1, most of the time 2, almost always 3 — then read the bands below.
Where to get help, free of charge
| Service | What it is | How to reach it |
|---|---|---|
| National Gambling Helpline | Confidential advice 24/7, run by GamCare | 0808 8020 133, and live chat at gamcare.org.uk |
| GamCare | Free treatment and structured support, in person and online | gamcare.org.uk |
| NHS gambling clinics | Specialist NHS services across England and Wales | Self-referral, no GP letter needed |
| Gordon Moody | Residential and intensive treatment programmes | gordonmoody.org.uk |
| GamFam / Gam-Anon | Support for family members rather than the player | Local and online meetings |
| StepChange | Free debt advice where money is the urgent part | stepchange.org |
Nothing on that list costs money and none of it needs a referral. If you are reading this on behalf of somebody else, the family services are the ones to start with — they exist because pushing the player to phone rarely works and is not your job.
Three habits worth more than any setting
The settings do the heavy lifting, but a few ordinary habits close the remaining gap.
- Look at the bank statement, not the memory. Twelve months of deposits is a real number and the estimate in your head is always lower.
- Never chase on the same day. The urge to win it back is the single strongest predictor in the whole questionnaire above.
- Keep gambling money separate from money with a job. If rent and roulette share an account, the arithmetic gets blurry exactly when it should be sharp.
Does registering with GAMSTOP affect my credit file?
No. GAMSTOP is not a credit reference agency and nothing about it appears on a credit report. It only matches your details against licensed gambling sites.
Can I cancel a self-exclusion if I change my mind?
Not during the period you chose. After it ends the exclusion stays in place until you actively ask for it to be lifted, and then a further 24-hour cooling-off period applies.
Is the score from the test a diagnosis?
No. It shows a level of risk against a recognised scale and nothing more. A high score is a reason to talk to someone qualified, not a label.
What if a site let me play after I self-excluded?
That is a licence breach. Complain to the operator, report it to the Gambling Commission, and take any dispute about money to the operator’s ADR body.
