The UK is one of the largest gambling marketplaces in the world and generates billions of pounds in revenue each year. All of the world’s top providers of gambling games provide services to residents of the United Kingdom via remote services and the internet is packed with endless amounts of online casinos for players to choose from. Due to the ease in which gamblers are now able to access new casino sites it is has increased gambling-related problems. One of the solutions to help ease this issue is Gamstop which I will talk about in detail below.
Why Is GamStop Important
In the UK recent reports estimate that over 2 million people are at risk due to gambling activities and are growing each year. These alarming figures have led to the UK Government to act and bring in a number of new policies along with even tighter regulations. Gamstop has been introduced to help those players who are at risk by enabling gamblers to limit online gambling activities.
Who Is Gamstop
In 2008 Gamstop was created to enable the banning of players who have online gambling addiction problems. It is free along with completely independent non-profit organization with the aim of helping addiction by enabling the prevention of gambling via apps or websites to be accessed by gamblers who have problems.
The users of Gamstop are able to set time periods for restrictions to take place and are in complete control over their decisions. All of the top UK licensed online casinos and gambling companies have to become a member of Gamstop as part of new regulations.
How Does Gamstop Work
Once a user has signed up to the site they will be able to choose how long they wish to be prohibited from gambling online which can be as short as 6 months or as long as 5 years. Once this is done the user will not be able to access any UK licensed betting application or platform for the total period they chose.
Problems With Gamstop
Gamstop works perfectly to ban licensed UK casinos but it does not for the ones not registered on the program, so gamblers are still able to access these. Addicts with serious problems will look for ways to get around the self-imposed ban by using overseas or unlicensed online casinos which put them in even greater danger.
Final Thoughts
Gamstop is a great service that is a step in the right direction but does not go far enough to help eliminate the problem. The rise of decentralized betting using blockchain technology allows for addicted gamblers to get around the ban so a long way is still needed to go to help gamblers stop themselves from accessing sites to place bets. A complete bad on gambling in the UK would never work due to it being one of the favorite past-times of men and is especially popular with football fans. Most are able to gamble responsibly and control their habits but for those that are not Gamstop is a service they should consider using.
