Gambling self-exclusion by country: schemes and what they block

Helen Marsden · Published 08/10/2026

Is there one gambling self-exclusion register that blocks every gambling site? No. No international register exists. Gambling self-exclusion works on two levels: a national scheme, where a country has one, blocks you from operators licensed in that country, and operator-level self-exclusion blocks one site or one company. A national scheme does not reach operators licensed somewhere else.

Consider a hypothetical example. A person registers with the national scheme in the country where they live, and the registration is accepted. A few weeks later an advert leads to a site licensed in another jurisdiction, and an account opens there without any check against the register. The register worked as designed, but it never covered that operator.

If gambling is causing harm now

Gambling Therapy is a global online service from Gordon Moody that offers free practical advice and emotional support to anyone affected by gambling, wherever they live (gamblingtherapy.org). It works online rather than by telephone, so for a phone line use a national helpline. National helplines are listed near the end of this guide and in gambling helplines by country.

How gambling self-exclusion works: two levels

A self-exclusion asks gambling operators to refuse you access for a period you choose. The important question is how far the block reaches, and that depends on the level.

The first level is a national self-exclusion scheme. A regulator or government agency keeps one register, and every operator licensed in that country has to check it. If your name is on the register, those operators must refuse to open or keep an account for you. The scheme belongs to one country, so it covers the operators that country licenses and nobody else.

The second level is operator-level self-exclusion. You ask one operator to close your access, and only that operator, or that company, acts on the request. Milder tools such as deposit limits and time-outs sit below both levels and leave the account open.

Licences are national, not global, so the licence decides which scheme applies. Read how gambling licences differ by country before relying on any register. Find the licence first.

National self-exclusion schemes by country

The table lists the national schemes this guide could confirm on the official site of each scheme, checked on 5 October 2026, plus Ontario's BetGuard, which is provincial rather than national but covers all regulated online gambling in the province. The exceptions are the minimum length for Germany and the details for the Netherlands and Italy, which were last confirmed in September 2026. Each link goes to the official page of the scheme or its regulator, never to a gambling site.

Country and scheme	Run by	What it covers	Length	Register
Great Britain: Gamstop	Gamstop, required by Great Britain's Gambling Commission	Websites and apps licensed in Great Britain	6 months, 1 year, 5 years or 5 years with auto-renewal	gamstop.co.uk
Australia: BetStop	Australian Government	Licensed online and phone betting providers	3 months up to a lifetime	betstop.gov.au
Ontario, Canada: BetGuard	iGaming Ontario, with standards set by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO)	All regulated online gambling sites in Ontario	6 months, 1 year, 5 years or a custom period	iGaming Ontario
Germany: OASIS	Regierungspräsidium Darmstadt, the Darmstadt regional council	Nationwide, across game types	At least 3 months on your own request	rp-darmstadt.hessen.de
Spain: RGIAJ	Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ), Spain's gambling regulator	Online gambling and selected land-based gambling	No fixed end; cancellation can be requested after 6 months	ordenacionjuego.es
Sweden: Spelpaus	Spelinspektionen, Sweden's gambling authority	Gambling companies licensed in Sweden	10 days, 1, 3 or 6 months, or until further notice (at least 12 months)	spelpaus.se
Denmark: ROFUS	Spillemyndigheden, the Danish Gambling Authority	Online gambling, land-based casinos and land-based betting	24-hour pause, 1, 3 or 6 months, or permanent	rofus.nu
Netherlands: Cruks (Gokstop)	Kansspelautoriteit, the Netherlands Gambling Authority	Gambling licensed in the Netherlands	6 months up to 99 years	gokstop.nl
Italy: RUA	Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli (ADM), Italy's customs and monopolies agency	Remote gambling only	30, 60 or 90 days, or indefinite	arserviziam.adm.gov.it
Ireland: National Gambling Exclusion Register	Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI)	Not yet launched	Not yet announced	grai.ie

In Great Britain, taking part is a licence condition. Great Britain's Gambling Commission requires remote licence holders, with a few exceptions, to join the national multi-operator self-exclusion scheme (condition 3.5.5 of its licence conditions and codes of practice, in force since 31 March 2020; Gambling Commission). Gamstop says registration is free and that an exclusion stays in place after the chosen period ends unless the person contacts Gamstop to remove it. The detail is in how Gamstop works in Great Britain.

The Australian scheme needs a careful reading. BetStop is a free Australian Government initiative, and the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) says it covers about 150 licensed wagering providers, which means betting services (ACMA). Under BetStop, providers must not let a registered person place a bet, open a new betting account or send marketing messages.

Four entries need a note on how their rules differ. Sweden's Spelpaus cannot be cancelled or ended before the date the person chose, and registration uses BankID or Freja eID+. Spain's RGIAJ accepts registration in person, through the electronic office with a digital certificate, or through an app. Italy's RUA registration uses SPID credentials, and an indefinite exclusion can be revoked only after at least six months. Denmark's ROFUS covers land-based casinos and betting venues as well as online gambling.

What changed recently: Ontario and Ireland

BetGuard is the newest scheme in the table. It launched on 14 May 2026, run by iGaming Ontario, with standards set by the AGCO. It lets people aged 19 and older exclude themselves from regulated online gambling in Ontario for six months, one year, five years or a custom period, and it also covers the online gambling site of the provincial operator, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) (iGaming Ontario; AGCO). Other Canadian provinces run their own programmes.

Ireland has no register yet. The GRAI describes the planned National Gambling Exclusion Register as a central record of people who want to exclude themselves from online gambling websites licensed in Ireland, with obligations starting in phases. As of 5 October 2026 the register has not launched and no start date has been published, so this guide gives none. Check the GRAI page for the current position.

Jurisdictions with no national online register

Many operators that accept players from several countries hold licences from jurisdictions without a national online register. For many readers, that matters more than the table above. The entries below were checked on the regulators' own sites between 3 and 5 October 2026. How to check who licenses a site is covered in how to check who licenses an online casino.

Malta. The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) runs no national online register. What the MGA calls self-barring is an exclusion from one operator's site (MGA).

Curaçao. The Curaçao Gaming Authority (CGA) publishes no national online register either, and it points players outside Curaçao to help in their country of residence (CGA).

Gibraltar. Gibraltar's Gambling Commissioner (the Gambling Division of HM Government of Gibraltar) has no national register. Operators there must offer self-exclusion and the option to set spending, time or loss limits.

Alderney. The Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) site shows no register, and the rules on self-exclusion could not be confirmed. Ask the operator directly.

Isle of Man. The Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission (GSC) has published no island-wide register that could be found. Whether an Isle of Man licence requires an operator to take part in Gamstop could not be confirmed, so this guide makes no assumption.

Kahnawà:ke. The Kahnawà:ke Gaming Commission runs exclusion at commission level, not through a national register. A player sends a self-exclusion request to the commission, and after checking identity the commission has the player permanently excluded from all online gaming sites it licenses (Kahnawà:ke Gaming Commission).

What a national register blocks – and what it does not

A national register blocks accounts and new registrations at operators licensed in that country. In some schemes it also stops marketing, as BetStop does in Australia. It does not block operators licensed elsewhere, and it does not follow a person to another country. It often covers only one kind of gambling: BetStop covers betting, RUA covers remote gambling, and Gamstop covers online gambling.

If you do not know which authority supervises a site, you cannot tell which register applies, if any. A site that names no licensing authority cannot be matched to any register, and warning signs of online casino scams lists what to look for.

Anyone who has joined a national scheme can add other tools for the operators it does not reach. Operator-level self-exclusion can be requested from each site the register does not reach. Blocking software slows down access from a device, although it can be removed, so it works best next to other tools (how gambling blocking software works). Limits and time-outs add friction inside an account. None of these is a guarantee, and each works best when combined with support from another person.

Where no register was found: New Zealand and the United States

New Zealand passed the Online Casino Gambling Act 2026, and the Department of Internal Affairs says the new regime is not expected to be fully operational until 2027 (Department of Internal Affairs). Its online casino page does not mention a self-exclusion register, so as of 5 October 2026 the department lists none for online casinos.

This guide found no federal register in the United States. Any self-exclusion programme is run by individual states, and the details differ.

Where to get support: online help and national helplines

Gambling Therapy offers free practical advice and emotional support online to anyone, anywhere. Where a national helpline exists, it is the nearest option, and the number belongs to one country only:

Great Britain: National Gambling Helpline (GamCare), 0808 8020 133
Australia: National Gambling Helpline, 1800 858 858
Ireland: GamblingCare.ie, 1800 936 725
Ontario, Canada: ConnexOntario, 1-866-531-2600

More countries are listed in gambling helplines by country, and SlothBet's responsible gambling page sets out the site's general principles. This guide gives general information and is not legal or medical advice.

Frequently asked questions

Is there an international gambling self-exclusion register?

No. Self-exclusion works through national schemes and through individual operators. A national scheme blocks operators licensed in that country, and an operator-level self-exclusion blocks one site or company. No single register covers every jurisdiction, so the licence of each operator decides which tool applies.

Does a national self-exclusion scheme block casinos licensed in another country?

No. A national scheme binds only the operators licensed in its own country, for example Gamstop for Great Britain licences or OASIS for German licences. An operator licensed in Malta, Curaçao or Gibraltar answers to a different regulator and is not required by that licence to check these registers.

How long does gambling self-exclusion last?

It depends on the scheme. Gamstop offers six months, one year, five years or five years with auto-renewal. Spelpaus runs from ten days to an open-ended period, and Cruks runs from six months to 99 years. The table above lists the length for each scheme, so check it before registering.

Can you end a self-exclusion early?

Usually not at will, and the rules differ. Spelpaus cannot be ended before the chosen date. Spain's RGIAJ allows a cancellation request only after six months, and Italy's RUA revokes an indefinite exclusion only after at least six months. A Gamstop exclusion cannot be removed before the chosen period ends, and afterwards it stays in place for a further seven years unless the person asks Gamstop to remove it.

What can you do if the country where you live has no national register?

Ask each operator you use for operator-level self-exclusion, and consider blocking software and account limits as extra layers. Check which regulator licenses the operator, because the licence decides which register applies. Free online support is available from Gambling Therapy wherever you live.

Does Ireland have a national gambling exclusion register yet?

Not yet. The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland is setting up the National Gambling Exclusion Register as a central record for online gambling websites licensed in Ireland. As of 5 October 2026 it has not launched and no start date has been published. Check the GRAI website for the current position.

What is the difference between a self-exclusion and a time-out?

A time-out is a short break from an account, usually set by the operator's tools, and the account normally stays in place. A self-exclusion is a longer, deliberate block on access, either through a national scheme or with one operator. Both are separate from deposit limits, which cap spending but allow play to continue.

Sources

All pages were accessed on 5 October 2026 unless a different date is shown.

Licensing and player protection editor

Helen Marsden

Helen Marsden writes SlothBet's guides on gambling licences, scams and player protection. She grew up in Sheffield. For eleven years she handled complaints at a consumer dispute resolution service, often in cases where a business had stopped replying. She then spent eleven years finding cloned and fake websites and having them taken down for brand owners. That work showed her how easily a regulator's seal can be copied onto a site that no regulator has approved. On SlothBet she explains how to check a licence in the regulator's own register, what an offshore licence does and does not cover, and where to complain or find support in different jurisdictions. Her guides give general information and are not legal advice. You can find all articles by Helen Marsden here.

Email: info@slothbet.com