GAMSTOP explained

You register once with your personal details, choose an exclusion period of six months, one year or five years, and every UKGC-licensed online operator is required to prevent you from opening or using an account, including any operator you had never signed up with before you self-excluded.

Registration takes a few minutes and asks for your name, date of birth, postcode and email address, which GAMSTOP uses to match your details against operator customer databases across the industry. Matching is not always instant, so the scheme states that exclusion should be fully in force across all connected operators within 24 hours of registering, and any account you already hold should be closed or suspended within that window with any pending bets void and remaining balance returned.

GAMSTOP does not block land-based venues such as bookmakers, arcades or casinos, does not stop unlicensed offshore sites operating outside the Gambling Commission's remit, and does not stop gambling advertising reaching you directly, although UK-licensed operators must suppress marketing to anyone registered with the scheme. Pair it with dedicated gambling-blocking software on your phone or browser and a bank-level gambling transaction block for a more complete barrier, since each of the three covers a gap the others leave open.

Exclusion does not end automatically at the end of the period you chose. You must actively contact GAMSTOP once the minimum period has passed to request that access resumes, and a further cooling-off period applies after that request before any operator can let you reopen or use an account. That extra delay is deliberate: it exists so that a decision made in a low moment cannot be undone in the same low moment.

If you are supporting someone else through self-exclusion, note that GAMSTOP registration can only be completed by the individual themselves, using their own details, since it is a personal protective measure rather than something that can be applied to another person's account on their behalf.