If you are a gamer who is a gambler as well, you already know about the self-exclusion platforms that exist online. But, the situation is a bit more complicated than you may believe. Here we will reveal all the basics you need to know and present you with the only option games can use.
Gamers Can’t Use GamStop
GamStop is one of the biggest platforms of this kind in the United Kingdom. But it is reserved for gamblers only. This platform covers online casinos and betting sites. All other sites are not part of the exclusion and as such a user can’t use GamStop to block video games or anything similar.
We must add that GamStop cooperates with UKGC. According to the rules, all UKGC sites for gambling must have GamStop active if they want this license to have. Other casinos that don’t have the license don’t have to promote GamStop. Therefore, players from the United Kingdom just choose casinos not on GamStop via NonGamStopSlots and continue playing their favourite games. Gambling sites share the same fact and there is no way around it. This also means that some casinos don’t have to promote responsible gambling in general. But, these sites are rare and almost all big online casinos promote responsible gambling and help players when they need help the most.
Self-Exclusion: Basics
Self-exclusion is precise as the name suggests. A player would activate an account at the platform and immediately after he is done the casinos will become available. This is called self-exclusion due to the fact a player will activate the ban by himself. Keep in mind that a player is not able to remove the self-exclusion before the specific time frame expires. The best example here is GamStop and the longest ban is 5 years. You can prolong the self-exclusion if you like.
GamStop is used in the United Kingdom only. In 2021 the platform recorded a massive increase of 21%. Around 300 new users create an account here daily. In total, we can see more than 200.000 users here. GamStop is impressive when it comes to efficiency. Almost 90% are satisfied users who don’t have problems with gambling anymore.
You may have heard for blockers. These work in a similar way. The best example is Gamban. You will install the software and it will block all gambling websites. It will even block crypto trading websites due to the fact some believe that this is the same as gambling. In reality, it isn’t, but there is no way around it. Gamban cannot be used by gamers. It is designed for gamblers with addiction who will want to stay away from gambling for a certain period of time.
The Only Option For Gamers
So, if you are a gamer and you would like to distance yourself or your child from video games, how you can do it? The only options are parental controls or blocking software. This is basically software. You can install it on any device. There are countless popular mobile blocker options out there. Once installed, you will block all the websites you don’t want access to. As you can see here this option is reserved for parents who want to help their children. However, due to efficiency and the positive results we can see the same option being available for gamers.
The process is like GamStop. You will activate the exclusion or better-said ban in this case. If you are a parent, you will have a code and only when you enter the code you will be able to visit that site or play the game. If you are an adult, some person can do this instead of you. The goal is the same and it can help.
Many of you believe that this is available for computers only. Some even believe that this option can be used on Windows computers. In reality, you can use it on any device you like. See, all modern devices are “smart” so you can install apps and configure them. In simple words, you can use parental controls on Android, iOS, Mac, Windows, and even Linux. Be free to find the software that has all the options you will need and is easy to use.
There are similar options here that are part of parental control. For instance, you can use features that will give you limited time to do something on your device. Other features allow you to ban specific websites while the third can help you record the screen of the device. All of these should be used in combination in order to get the best results. The software here is powerful, easy to use, and comes with many perks you will definitely want to use in this case scenario.
The Final Word
More and more people suffer from gaming addiction and it is vital to promote responsible gaming in all kinds of games. This is when you must play a game but you don’t feel any better when you play. It is a huge issue and a huge problem that you must work on. Using parental control is an interesting way that is very effective, simple to use, affordable, or can be even free. The best thing here is that you can use it on any device you own.
