GAMSTOP

Joining Gamstop has been by a long way the biggest help to me stopping gambling

.

I signed up for gamstop in January. Always hesitant because it would mean I couldn't play poker - casino is where I lose everything for years. On being paid this month something urged me to try and create an account. Weak willed I am, a pure idiot. It let me make an account, even though gamstop self excluded me from one of the company's sister sites which I had registered to last year. Used the same information. The casino said that it is because I did not enter my middle name as per the format shown on my gamstop details when registering, however I never use my middle name when registering casino accounts and earlier sister casino did not have my middle name but was still excluded from on registration with gamstop. Maybe I got unfortunate, a deserved consequence from trying to make an account to see if it in fact worked. I'm not sure why I wasn't blocked from registering but yeah I've lost it all again.

Not sure if that makes sense but yeah, I feel it failed me this time. Back to misery and having nothing

I have decided to join Gamstop this evening as a part of my process for removal.

I opted for a 5 year exclusion as I felt that 6 months and 1 year I’d have a relapse.

Sektor93 wrote: I signed up for gamstop in January. Always hesitant because it would mean I couldn't play poker - casino is where I lose everything for years. On being paid this month something urged me to try and create an account. Weak willed I am, a pure idiot. It let me make an account, even though gamstop self excluded me from one of the company's sister sites which I had registered to last year. Used the same information. The casino said that it is because I did not enter my middle name as per the format shown on my gamstop details when registering, however I never use my middle name when registering casino accounts and earlier sister casino did not have my middle name but was still excluded from on registration with gamstop. Maybe I got unfortunate, a deserved consequence from trying to make an account to see if it in fact worked. I'm not sure why I wasn't blocked from registering but yeah I've lost it all again. Not sure if that makes sense but yeah, I feel it failed me this time. Back to misery and having nothing

I often wonder just how behind Gamstop, these gambling operators are. Anything that hampers their profits can’t be apositive for them. Like any other business. Naturally, they want to make as much money as possible.

So in this case, somebody entering a middle name, is this really enough to bypass the online betting site? Are you telling me that their system was so perplexed by the non use of a middle name (despite possibly every other detail matching) that they failed to notice this or that it didn’t set alarm bells ringing?

I think if there’s an excuse to be made, then some gambling companies will take full advantage of it and play dumb.

Use gamstop myself, but am aware of how fallable it can be. I just make sure i use a range of other blockers too. I'd be a fool if i was to depend on Gamstop alone.

I believe that registering with Gamstop prevents you from joining any online casino that is licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission.

If you scroll down to the bottom of an online casino site you will be able to see who the site is regulated by, if regulated at all.

As you probably know not all online casinos are licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission.

However do you want to risk handing over sensitive information such as your passport / bank details to a site that isn't ? I personally wouldn't risk it.

Whenever I have been tempted to do so, I visualise a bunch of rogues operating from a grotty bed-sit, saying 'here comes another sucker" and that usually stops me in my tracks!

Charley, that’s exactly how I look at it as well.

After decades of gambling, I am now having a serious go at giving up for good and GAMSTOP is probably the one single biggest factor for me.

There has been a couple of occasions when my guard was down and I did the whole try and create a new account thing, but it was a no go. One or two allowed me to register, but I wasn’t able to actually deposit. And just like you say, I’m sure if I looked deep enough there would be plenty of people unlicensed providers out there all ready to take my money. I have always been lucid enough never to go down that route. Mainly because I don’t believe they would pay up when required anyway.

Another thing that stops me is this. Even if I did, say, swap my middle name and manage to get a new account set up. You could bet your bottom dollar that if I got the big win and it was time to pay out, suddenly it would be a different story. They’d pay back my deposit and it would be goodbye to the profit. Had exactly that happen to me years ago, after self-excluding from a very well known gambling company and managing to register another account with them whilst excluded.

There is a very good litmus test anyone can do with GAMSTOP. They give you several time periods that you can blanket ban yourself for. If it is for anything less than the maximum term of 5 years, then they are not serious about giving up for good. It MUST be for 5 years. That was always my single biggest problem. Once I realised and addressed it, giving up definitely became easier.

I have just registered with Gamstop and they didn't even ask for my middle name, just first and last, doesn't surprise me tho. It is a good analogy picturing crooks abroad living the high life on your money, dodgy software taking all your money online, you sit and think surely you can't be this unlucky while they sit in the jacuzzi watching their account balance going up! Hopefully we all come to realise this and divert our attention elsewhere. I'm going to make a point of walking past the bookies too and when I see someone homeless give them £10. Will do a good deed and make e feel better that I would of just spent that and a lot more in the shop on the devil's wheel. Good luck people

I have just registered with Gamstop and they didn't even ask for my middle name, just first and last, doesn't surprise me tho. It is a good analogy picturing crooks abroad living the high life on your money, dodgy software taking all your money online, you sit and think surely you can't be this unlucky while they sit in the jacuzzi watching their account balance going up! Hopefully we all come to realise this and divert our attention elsewhere. I'm going to make a point of walking past the bookies too and when I see someone homeless give them £10. Will do a good deed and make e feel better that I would of just spent that and a lot more in the shop on the devil's wheel. Good luck people