The National Gambling Helpline is free on 0808 8020 133. It is run by GamCare, it is open 24 hours a day every day of the year, it is confidential, and you do not need to have decided anything before you ring. There is a live chat at gamcare.org.uk if talking is harder than typing.
If you are in crisis and thinking about harming yourself, call 999 or contact Samaritans free on 116 123 at any hour.
This site compares operators that are not connected to GamStop. That has to come with a plain statement rather than a disclaimer in small type, so here it is.
GamStop is a free self-exclusion scheme. Registering once blocks you from every online operator holding a UK Gambling Commission licence for the period you choose. The operators compared on this site do not hold a UK licence and therefore have no technical means of seeing that you registered.
If you signed up to GamStop, you did it because you wanted the decision taken away from you on a bad day. An operator that cannot see the register cannot give that protection back to you, and there is no welcome offer anywhere on this site worth what a broken self-exclusion costs. Please use the services on this page instead. That advice sits awkwardly next to a commercial comparison page and it is still the correct advice.
Registering with GamStop at gamstop.co.uk is free and covers every UK-licensed site at once, for six months, one year or five years. It cannot be reversed before the period ends, which is the point of it.
Blocking software reaches what the register cannot. Gamban and similar tools block gambling sites at the device level, including offshore ones, and are the missing piece if the sites you are drawn to are not UK-licensed.
Bank-level gambling blocks are the third layer. Most UK banks and app-based providers will now decline gambling transactions if you switch the block on in their app, and many apply a cooling-off delay before it can be switched off again.
Used together these three are considerably more effective than any one alone. Alongside them, deposit limits and time reminders offered by an individual operator are useful but only ever apply to that operator.
Gambling with money meant for rent, food or bills. Chasing a loss with a bigger stake to get back to level. Borrowing to gamble or selling things to fund it. Lying to people close to you about how much has gone. Gambling to escape stress, low mood or boredom rather than for entertainment. Trying to stop and finding you cannot. Feeling irritable or restless when you are not playing.
One of these is worth paying attention to. Several together is worth ringing the helpline about today rather than at some later point when it has got worse.
GamCare runs the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 and provides free treatment and structured support across Britain. GambleAware publishes independent advice and a directory of local NHS and charity treatment services at begambleaware.org. Gamblers Anonymous runs free peer support meetings in person and online across the UK.
Gordon Moody provides residential and intensive treatment for severe gambling problems. NHS gambling clinics take referrals across England for people who need clinical care. GamFam and Gam-Anon support family members and friends, whose situation is often overlooked and who can get help in their own right.
Anyone under 18 must not gamble. If you are worried about somebody under 18, the helpline will advise you as readily as it advises a gambler.
