GamStop

GamStop is operated by GAMSTOP Ltd and was launched in 2018, becoming mandatory for all UKGC-licensed remote operators from March 2020. When a customer registers with GamStop, their personal details are added to a central register that all UKGC-licensed operators are required to check against at the point of account registration and login.

The exclusion is propagated to all participating operators within 24 hours of registration. Once active, an operator must prevent the excluded customer from accessing gambling services — this includes blocking logins, disabling new account creation, removing the customer from marketing lists, and paying out any existing account balance.

GamStop currently has over 7 million registered users in Great Britain, making it one of the largest self-exclusion schemes in the world. All 700+ UKGC-licensed remote operators are required to participate; non-participation is a breach of licence conditions.

GamStop registration is completed online at gamstop.co.uk and requires your name, date of birth, email address, and mobile number. An optional postal address is used to catch operators that might otherwise match on address alone. The process typically takes under five minutes and activates within 24 hours of submission — some operators disable access within hours. There is no charge for registration; GamStop is a free public-interest service.

Exclusion periods are permanent for the chosen duration: six months, one year, or five years. These periods cannot be shortened once confirmed. After the exclusion period expires, GamStop sends a reminder and requires an active opt-out before access is restored — there is no automatic reinstatement. This cooling-off design is intentional: it prevents impulsive decisions to gamble immediately after an exclusion period ends.

If you encounter a UKGC-licensed site that allows you to register or log in while GamStop is active, this is a breach of that operator's licence conditions. You should report the incident to the Gambling Commission at gamblingcommission.gov.uk — the Commission takes enforcement action against operators that fail to implement GamStop checks correctly. You can also contact GamStop directly at [email protected] for assistance with specific incidents.

For coverage of offline gambling, land-based betting shops, and casinos — which are outside GamStop's scope — individual venue self-exclusion schemes apply. Some operators run cross-brand exclusion for their retail estate alongside GamStop for their online products. Gamban, a device-level software block, can be used alongside GamStop to cover offshore sites and apps that fall outside UKGC jurisdiction entirely.