Gamstop, the national self-exclusion scheme for the UK, has reported a 9.5% year-on-year increase in new registrations for 2023. More than 92,000 players registered with Gamstop in the 12 months of 2023. This is a new record for the scheme, up from the previous record of 84,000 set in 2022. Of the individuals who registered, 55% opted for a five-year gambling exclusion, which is the longest term available through Gamstop. Other exclusion periods include six months and one year. In addition to the record annual figures, registrations reached a new monthly high in May.  A total of 8,591 people registered during the month.

More and more young people are registering with Gamstop

The annual figures come after Gamstop published an update for the first half of the year in August. Some of the trends seen in the first half of the year have continued into the second half. Among them is an increase in the number of young people signing up compared to the previous year. In the second half of the year, there was a 31% increase in registrations among 16-24 year olds. This age group accounted for 21% of new registrations in the six months to December, up from 17% in the previous year. A total of 433,357 consumers have registered with Gamstop since the scheme launched in April 2018.

Spreading the word about Gamstop

Gamstop CEO Fiona Palmer also noted an increase in the number of young people signing up to Gamstop. She said work will continue to be done to make more people aged 16-24 aware of the service. “The predominance of young people amongst those registered on Gamstop shows the importance of education and we will continue to reach out to this age group in 2024, working with like-minded organizations and benefiting from the support of our partner soccer clubs,” Palmer said.

Difficulties with illegal operators

Despite the fact that more and more people are using Gamstop, the service faces certain problems related to illegal operators. Some unlicensed sites specifically advertise their services as not integrated with Gamstop, allowing those registered to continue gambling. Yield Sec found thousands of Google searches aimed at helping to avoid self-exclusion. By January 2024, Yield Sec discovered millions of “not on Gamstop” and other similar Google search results. As a result, Yield Sec said, at-risk punters are falling into the “trap” of seeking betting opportunities from illegal and potentially dangerous operators that are not monitored by tools such as Yield Sec and Gamstop.

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