It is difficult to find a British resident who would love online gambling and has never heard of the Gamstop program that helps to overcome addiction to gambling. Although it restricts access to not all resources (European casinos not on Gamstop remain open to the player), still since the launch of the program in April 2018, thousands of gamblers have used it. But did the creators of Gamstop manage to achieve their goal – to offer a really working tool to overcome gambling addiction? To answer this question, let’s look at the strengths and weaknesses of the program.
Overview
Gamstop is a not-for-profit organisation and UK government-approved programme aimed at people who are or believe they may become gamblers. Because it is difficult for people with a gambling addiction to give up online gambling on their own, Gamstop offers them a complete block on all UK gambling portals. Just register on the official Gamstop website with your address, email, mobile number and some other personal information and you will no longer be able to use the casino sites to play for money. Players can determine the duration of the blockage themselves: they are offered a choice of 6 months, 1 year and 5 years.
Advantages
1. The program is completely free. You will not have to pay either for registration or for unlocking after completing your chosen self-restriction period. The creators of Gamstop emphasize the non-commercial nature of their brainchild and assure you that they will never ask for a bank account number or a debit card number.
2. information regarding your membership on the Gamstop site will remain confidential and cannot be used to pressure or blackmail you. Neither your boss, friends or even family members will ever know that you have had such a serious gambling problem, unless you tell them yourself. The data you give when you register is not available to anyone except the administrators of the site. They are kept for 7 years after the blockage is lifted and then destroyed.
3. Gamstop is easy and simple to use. Registration takes only a few minutes, and blocking on the casino sites occurs within 24 hours after receiving an email confirming your registration. You can register at any time, no matter where you are – at home, with friends or on the road, without delaying your decision to break away from gambling.
4. No need to install an app or download a special programme, just open the Gamstop web page. You can connect to Gamstop from any device – computer, tablet, smartphone, etc.
Disadvantages
1. The program restricts access to online resources only to those companies that have a UK license. Thus, bypassing the blocking is more than easy: just find any casino licensed in Malta or Curacao on the web and you can play as much as you like. It is no accident social networks are full of headlines like “How to bypass Gamstop in 1 minute”: those who want, very quickly find workarounds.
2. Gamstop is not responsible for any refund in the slightest. If you have a huge amount accumulated in your deposits, you have to withdraw it before you block yourself from accessing the casino sites, otherwise you’ll have to go through a whole quest to get it back.
3. You won’t be able to unblock yourself. If you have rushed and chosen too long a self-restriction period, you will not be able to do anything until it has completely expired. But even when the self-restriction period is over, you will not be unblocked automatically: you will have to call and ask to have the blocking removed.
4. It is not possible to disable advertisements. In the process of combating gaming addiction, it is very important to exclude from the information space everything that can induce a game, and above all the advertising of the relevant sites. However, Gamstop has no effect on advertising and you will be tempted again and again by the familiar banners. The only thing that is stopped is the receiving of bulk email from those gaming portals where the player has been registered. If, however, you want to limit online gambling advertisements, you should look for another program.
Thus, Gamstop is not aimed at the cause of gambling addiction but at its consequences. Limiting access to casino websites won’t help to solve the main problem – pathological craving for gambling. This is not a reproach to the creators of the program: technically they did their best. But in the modern world a gambler, blocked on one site, will find another site; and if the Internet gadgets are forcibly taken away from him, he will go to the land-based gambling sites. Until a person decides to give up gambling, no tools can help. At the same time, Gamstop can be an important first step for people who are psychologically mature enough to live without gambling and are ready to overcome their addiction to online gambling.