What GAMSTOP is and who can register
This guide covers online gambling. If you bet in a shop, a separate scheme applies [1]: GAMSTOP Betting Shops, also known as MOSES [2]. See self-exclusion from betting shops.
The Gambling Commission describes GAMSTOP as a way to self-exclude from online operators with one request. Once you are registered, you are prevented from using any gambling websites and apps run by gambling businesses licensed in Great Britain [1].
GAMSTOP says its online service is available to anyone living in the United Kingdom, which includes Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The block it sets up covers online gambling companies licensed in Great Britain [3].
Businesses holding most kinds of remote licence have to take part. The Commission's social responsibility code says licensees must participate in the national multi-operator self-exclusion scheme, and it lists some remote licence types the code does not apply to, including remote general betting (remote platform) and remote betting intermediary (trading room only) [4]. GAMSTOP publishes a list of the companies that take part [5].
The four period options
At registration you choose one of four options: six months, one year, five years, or five years with auto renewal [5]. The period you choose is called the Minimum Exclusion Period, and you cannot deactivate your self-exclusion until it ends [5].
| Option | At the end of the period |
|---|---|
| Six months, one year or five years | The exclusion does not end by itself. You can extend it, or contact GAMSTOP to deactivate it. If you do neither, it continues for up to a further seven years. |
| Five years with auto renewal | A new five-year period starts automatically, for four new five-year periods or until you turn auto renewal off. You can turn it off only in the last six months of a five-year period. |
Source: GAMSTOP terms of use, sections on the Minimum Exclusion Period, auto renewal and the end of your self-exclusion.
After you register
- It takes a few minutes to sign up, and up to 24 hours for the block to become effective [3]. GAMSTOP says it generally activates self-exclusions within 24 hours but cannot guarantee that, and that how fast the block works on a business's site or app depends on that business's own systems [5].
- Keep your details up to date. GAMSTOP says it uses reasonable efforts to stop you reaching accounts that match your registration information, and that it may not spot inaccuracies in what you gave it [5].
- Your money is the business's job, not GAMSTOP's. Registering will not automatically return any withdrawable funds, and you can contact the businesses you have accounts with to arrange it [3]. GAMSTOP's terms say returning those funds is the responsibility of the gambling business and not of GAMSTOP [5].
For a customer who has entered a self-exclusion agreement, the Commission's code for remote licences tells licensees to close the customer's accounts and return the funds held in them. It also tells them to take all reasonable steps to stop marketing material being sent, and to remove the person from marketing databases within two days of receiving the completed notification. The code has its own list of licence types it does not apply to [6].
What GAMSTOP does not cover
- Businesses that do not take part. GAMSTOP's terms say it cannot help prevent you accessing gambling services run by organisations that do not participate in it [5].
- A guarantee. GAMSTOP says it is a tool to help you avoid online and other forms of remote gambling, and that it cannot guarantee it will always result in you being denied access [5].
- Gambling in a shop or venue. The Commission lists separate schemes for land-based gambling, including a betting-shop scheme run through a GAMSTOP help line, SENSE for casinos, BISES for bingo, BACTA for arcades, motorway service areas and family entertainment centres, and SmartEXCLUSION for adult gaming centres [1]. Our guide to self-exclusion from betting shops covers how to register for each and how long they last.
Before you use any betting site, check its licence. A site without a Gambling Commission licence is outside the rules described here.
When your exclusion ends, and whether you can cancel it
You cannot cancel a GAMSTOP self-exclusion early, including a renewed five-year period if you chose auto renewal. The terms say that once you have completed your registration, you will not be able to deactivate your self-exclusion until the end of your Minimum Exclusion Period [5].
GAMSTOP's terms say it will not automatically remove your self-exclusion at the end of a Minimum Exclusion Period, and will not contact you to tell you the period has expired [5]. Keep a note of the date.
- To extend it, use your GAMSTOP account or the GAMSTOP Contact Centre to add a further six months, one year or five years [5].
- To end it, contact the GAMSTOP Contact Centre and complete its removal process. There is a minimum 24-hour cooling-off period, counted from the end of your contact, during which the exclusion stays active [5].
- If you do neither, the exclusion continues for up to a further seven years from the expiry date of the first period, and is then deactivated [5].
After you have asked to be removed, GAMSTOP says that for a further seven years it will tell gambling businesses you were previously self-excluded. Businesses do not have to block you in that time, but they may choose to [5].
If gambling is a problem
Self-exclusion is one tool among several. Safer gambling and help lists the National Gambling Helpline and other support, and the code for most remote licensees says they must point you to counselling and support when they administer a self-exclusion [6].
Sources
The numbers in the text point to these pages. Each was opened on the date shown.
- Gambling Commission, Multi-operator and national self-exclusion schemes. Read 30 October 2026.
- Multi-Operator Self-Exclusion Scheme Ltd, GAMSTOP Betting Shops: terms and conditions (December 2025). Read 30 October 2026.
- GAMSTOP, Register. Read 30 October 2026.
- Gambling Commission, LCCP 3.5.5 Remote multi-operator SR code. Read 30 October 2026.
- GAMSTOP, Terms of use. Read 30 October 2026.
- Gambling Commission, LCCP 3.5.3 Self-exclusion, remote SR code. Read 30 October 2026.
About this guide
Published by Avenmark Media. A separate pass re-opened every source above and checked each claim against it, on . A second, independent check compared a sample of the claims with the same sources. How we research and correct our pages.
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