How to Support a Loved One Who Gambles Through Gamstop Online

Gamstop Online is a self-exclusion service that blocks a person's access to gambling accounts on websites and apps, and it also has a section for people worried about someone close to them. The site's guidance is aimed at those affected by another person's gambling, and one practical step it highlights is registering yourself so the person cannot use your details to gamble online. The service is described on the site as free, quick, and easy, and registration is done online.

What Gamstop Online offers to families and partners

The site frames support in two ways:

• Guidance for people affected by someone else's gambling. Its "Support a loved one who gambles" section is for anyone worried about someone close to them or affected by their gambling, and points to how Gamstop Online can help.
• A way to protect your own details. In the story of Hannah, her partner registered with Gamstop to get his gambling under control, and she registered too so he couldn't use her details to gamble online. She describes this as giving her a sense of security.

The site also notes that Gamstop Online is "just the start." It points to other options: Gamstop Betting Shops to block betting shops, gambling blocking software installed on devices, and advice and support from specialist organisations that help people struggling with gambling.

Steps you can take

1. Read the "Support a loved one who gambles" guidance on gamstop.co.uk to see how the service describes its role for family members and partners.
2. Consider registering yourself. Based on Hannah's story, registering means your own details can't be used to open or access gambling accounts. The site describes registration as free, quick, and easy, done through the "Register now" option.
3. Keep your registration details up to date. The site's account section says existing registrants should keep details current so the block keeps protecting them, and that registration can be extended via the account.
4. Look beyond Gamstop Online. Use the site's "Get more support" route to find blocking software and specialist organisations, and consider Gamstop Betting Shops if betting shops are also part of the picture.

What to expect and where it stops

Gamstop Online blocks access to accounts on gambling websites and apps for the person who registers. It is not a monitoring tool for someone else's behaviour: the site does not describe a way to register on another adult's behalf or to see their activity. Your leverage is your own registration and the wider support routes the site lists.

The site also makes the case that a break can be worthwhile even for someone who feels in control, to save money or focus on other things. That framing can help start a conversation, but the decision to register is the individual's own.

Common sticking points

• The person isn't ready to register. The site's own stories show people registering for their own reasons — Jack describes cutting himself off and life improving, and Dylan registered after a friend said "I'm Gamstopping." Use the "Real people, real stories" section as a low-pressure way to raise the idea.
• You're worried about your details being misused. Registering yourself, as Hannah did, is the step the site describes for this concern.
• Online gambling isn't the only route. Pair an online block with betting shop exclusion and device-level blocking software, which the site lists as complementary measures.

For the mechanics of signing up, see how to register with Gamstop Online; if someone has already registered, see how to manage or extend an existing block.