Is Gamstop The Only Way To Stop You From Gambling Too Much?

Gamstop is a fantastic program. It was created under the guidance and assistance of the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC). And its aim is to help those who have formed unhealthy gambling habits.

It does a great job to achieve its goal. But nothing is perfect, and it does have its drawbacks.

Gamstop is free for players to use. And can be an effective tool in their arsenal for getting a gambling habit under control. But many players are still unaware that it exists. Or even what exactly it is.

Also, it isn’t the only assistance available. And today we are going to have a look at how it works. And also if there are any alternatives that might suit you better.

How Gamstop works?

Gamstop is a self-exclusion program. And it aims to make the process simple for a player to deny themselves access to online gambling games in the UK.

Prior to the creation of this program, it was up to the player to seek out an exclusion from every site; one by one. So, as you can imagine, this was a slightly less than a practical way to help those who needed assistance.

After all, they could ask one site to exclude them. But it did not stop them from looking elsewhere for the excitement that their gambling habit brings them.

What Gamstop does is to create a united front against this problem. It brings together all of the gambling operators in the UK. And makes it a legal commitment for them to not allow any players registered with Gamstop to access their games and products.

So, when a player registered with the program attempts to open a casino account with their details, they will be refused entry and sent on their way.

The main issue with Gamstop is that it is not foolproof. And it is possible for somebody registered with the scheme to find alternative ways to play casino games.

But this isn’t always a negative thing, as some people may first assume. There are those who are simply looking to continue their gambling habit. And who are not yet ready to play responsibly.

However, on the other hand, there are players who have selected a long exclusion period and they are ready to play again before that time is up. Everybody is different and so the limitations of this product are obvious.

What are casinos not on Gamstop?

One of the easiest ways for a person to find alternative casino action is to look for gambling sites, not on Gamstop.

Lots of non Gamstop casino brands are licensed in other areas outside of the United Kingdom. And players who have signed up to Gamstop will still be able to play at non UK casinos that are not part of the program.

The UK laws surrounding casino operators in the UK are clear. Those who wish to attract customers from the UK must have a UKGC license.

But, the problem is that many of these brands are not actively seeking to attract these customers. It is the players themselves that are doing their research and finding casinos, not on Gamstop.

And as we said before, many of these players are ready to continue gambling. But they have selected an overly-zealous exclusion. And with the Gamstop product being impossible to cancel, a customer will have no other option than to seek out these casinos, not on Gamstop.

Alternatives to the Gamstop program

There are other ways to assist people in their quest to stop gambling. Quite often, counseling and other personal forms of guidance can prove to be just as effective as self-exclusion programs.

Plus, there are many charities set up in the UK to assist players and their families who require the help of this nature. Gamblers Anonymous and Gamcare, for example, are two extremely popular names that have proved to be effective over the years.

To summarise, the Gamstop program simply stops the ability to create a new account or access an old casino account. But players can still easily seek out a casino not on Gamstop if they choose to.

But there are other products that stop casino sites from physically appearing on a customer’s device. Gamban is a good example of this. Because, if a player can’t even see a casino’s page appear when they search it, the temptation to gamble is reduced. Plus, they’re less likely to seek out non Gamstop casinos as well.