What happens when you self-exclude from gambling?

The gambling businesses your self-exclusion covers must close or suspend your accounts, block you from opening new ones, stop sending you marketing and refuse you service in person. Through a national scheme, this applies across a whole sector at once, like every online operator licensed in Great Britain.

What is the self-exclusion process in gambling?

You decide where you want to be blocked, provide your details plus a photo for land-based schemes, choose how long the exclusion lasts, then confirm it. Online self-exclusion through GAMSTOP covers every licensed operator with one registration. Land-based schemes cover betting shops, casinos, bingo premises and arcades.

Is it good to self-exclude from gambling?

Yes. Self-exclusion is a positive, protective step, not a punishment. It takes the easy access to gambling out of reach, which gives you space to deal with the reasons behind it. It works best alongside other support, from bank and device blocks to treatment where gambling has become a serious problem.

What does self-exclusion mean in gambling?

Self-exclusion in gambling means asking a gambling business, or a group of them through a national scheme, to stop you gambling for a set period. It is free and voluntary, and once active it blocks your access and stops gambling marketing reaching you. If gambling has become more than a block can hold back, support is here. You can speak to our team in confidence to talk through the options.

Gambling Self-Exclusion: How It Works

In this article on ‘gambling self-exclusion’ we cover:

Gambling self-exclusion is a free, voluntary way to ask gambling businesses to stop you from gambling for a set period. Once it is in place, your accounts are closed, you are blocked from opening new ones and you don’t receive any of their marketing. It covers online betting and physical venues through national schemes and you choose how long it lasts, from six months to five years. Gambling self-exclusion is a practical first step for anyone who wants to put real distance between themselves and gambling. This guide explains how it works, how to set it up and how to make it stick.

What Does Gambling Self-Exclusion Mean?

Self-exclusion is a formal agreement between you and a gambling business, or a group of them, to stop you gambling for a chosen length of time. You ask to be blocked and the business has to act on it.

It is used when a person feels gambling has become a problem and wants help to stop. The decision is yours, and there is no charge. Self-exclusion does not fix the reasons behind gambling, but it removes the easy access that keeps it going, which gives you room to deal with the rest.

What Happens When You Self-Exclude

Once your self-exclusion is active, the businesses it covers have to take clear steps. They will:

Close or suspend your existing accounts
Block you from opening new accounts with the same details
Stop sending you marketing and promotions
Refuse you service in person, at venues where staff can identify you

Gambling self-exclusion takes away the option to gamble in a moment of weakness and removing the adverts and offers takes away that reminder of gambling that can so often pull people back.

Types of Self-Exclusion Schemes

You can exclude yourself from a single business or from a whole sector at once through a national scheme. The main schemes in Great Britain are:

GAMSTOP, for self-exclusion from online gambling. One free registration blocks every betting site and app licensed in Great Britain
MOSES (stands for Multi Operator Self Exclusion Scheme) which is a betting shop scheme that lets you exclude yourself from high-street bookmakers in your area
SENSE, for land-based casinos across Great Britain
BISES, the scheme for land-based bingo premises
The Bacta scheme, which covers adult gaming centres and arcades

If you sign up for more than one scheme, you can take the option of gambling away from different providers.

How to Self-Exclude: The Process

The process of signing up for gambling self-exclusion has different steps depending on the scheme, but the process usually follows the same path:

First, decide where you want to be blocked. That could be one gambling site, several local venues, or all online operators licensed in Great Britain through GAMSTOP.

Next, provide your details. This covers your name, date of birth, address and contact details. Land-based schemes commonly ask for a photo so staff can recognise you and turn you away.

Then choose how long the self-exclusion lasts. Online, the options are six months, one year or five years. Land-based schemes run for a set period from six months upwards.

Finally, confirm and activate it. You should receive confirmation that the self-exclusion is live, after which the businesses it covers must block you.

For self-exclusion from online gambling, one registration covers every licensed operator at once, which makes it the quickest way to shut off online access.

What Happens After Your Self-Exclusion Ends

Self-exclusion does not switch off on its own when the period is up. To gamble again, you have to take active steps to remove the self-exclusion and there is a cooling-off period before that takes effect. This is built in on purpose, so the choice to return is a considered one rather than a quick decision.

If you do nothing, the block stays in place. For many people, letting it run on is part of staying in control.

Making Self-Exclusion Work

Self-exclusion is an aid, not a cure. It works by blocking access and it works best when you add other barriers and support around it.

Steps that strengthen it:

Turn on the gambling block that most banks now offer, which stops your card being used with gambling businesses
Install blocking software on your phone and other devices
Tell someone you trust, so you have support and accountability
Fill the time gambling used to take with activities that give you something back

Putting several barriers in place makes it much harder for a single difficult moment to undo your progress. Sharing the decision also lifts some of the secrecy that gambling thrives on.

When You Need More Than a Block

Self-exclusion removes access, but it does not deal with why the gambling started. For some people, a block is enough to break the pattern. For others, the pull is strong enough that they need to understand and treat what sits underneath it.

This is where treatment helps. The Retreat by Gordon Moody is a private residential service for people experiencing gambling harm. It is private treatment founded by Gordon Moody, the gambling-support charity founded in 1971.

Gambling treatment at the Retreat runs through a structured treatment programme that uses recognised therapies to work on the thoughts, feelings and triggers that drive gambling, all delivered in a residential setting away from everyday pressures. Self-exclusion and treatment do different jobs, and they work best together. One closes the door. The other helps make sure you no longer want to open it. Read more our gambling treatment.

For the full rules on self-exclusion, the Gambling Commission sets out how the schemes work and the NHS lists free treatment and support.

Why Choose Retreat by Gordon Moody

With the Retreat by Gordon Moody you get the support of an experience team that provides:

A residential setting that removes daily triggers and gives space to focus on recovery
Evidence-led therapy delivered by Specialist Gambling Therapists, Lived Experience Practitioners and Recovery Workers
Recovery planning that looks at the whole person, covering mental health, relationships and finances
The backing of a charity with more than fifty years of experience in gambling support

You can read more about why people choose the Retreat by Gordon Moody and what makes the treatment different.