The Best Casinos Not On GamStop in 2020

The Best Casinos Not On GamStop in 2020

If you have registered with GamStop in a moment of impulsivity or after a bad beat, you may now be regretting a hasty decision. Gamstop excludes players from all gambling sites in the UK and a decision made in moments can prevent you from accessing online gaming sites permanently. However, all is not lost! There are plenty of high-quality gaming sites and online casinos which are not signed up with Gamstop. We are going to go through your options and tell you how to get playing again.

What is Gamstop?

Gamstop – as the name suggests – is a way for problem gamblers to stop gambling by self-excluding themselves. This is the most popular self-exclusion site in the UK and most online casinos are signed up to this programme. In fact, sites holding a UK license are required to offer Gamstop’s services. Of course, Gamstop provides a valuable service as it can prevent people who have a serious issue with gambling from getting into serious financial difficulties. If you believe that you have a gambling problem then we recommend that you sign up with this platform and stay away from online casinos. However, this article is aimed at those people who self-excluded using Gamstop in a moment of annoyance and came to regret the decision afterwards, or those who did not fully realise what registering with this service entailed.

Gamstop allows players to exclude themselves from all online casinos holding a UK license for a period of 6 months, 1 year or 5 years. During the period of time selected, UK-licensed casinos will not allow you to register with them. In some cases, casinos will refuse registrations even after the exclusion period has finished. This is another example of a situation where searching for a casino not on Gamstop is the best alternative.

For those people who wish to continue gambling online, we have identified a selection of the best online casinos not on Gamstop for 2020. You can sign up with one of our recommended casinos and carry on playing, without having to worry about being self-excluded.

Features of Online Casinos Not On Gamstop

There are certain characteristics of casinos which are not signed up with Gamstop in the UK that are worth looking out for. We will get into the pros and cons of registering with a non-Gamstop casino later in this article, but for now here are some defining features of these online casinos:

1. Non-UK license: Since any online casino or gambling site with a UK license is required to offer the services of Gamstop, casinos not under Gamstop will be registered and licensed overseas. Non-Gamstop casinos will have licenses from territories such as Malta, Cyprus or Curacao. While not every online casino with an overseas license will accept UK-based players, we have identified the casinos not operating under Gamstop which will do so.

2. Large Bonus Offers: In general, UK-licensed casinos tend to offer quite moderate bonuses. These are often between £50 and £300 and are based on initial player deposits. Casinos licensed in overseas territories will regularly offer much larger new player bonuses, often in excess of £1,000.

3. Different Currencies: Casinos which are licensed in Britain will offer pound sterling as the default currency to UK-based players. Those online casinos licensed in different jurisdictions will instead have USD or Euro as their default currency in the majority of cases. This is not a real issue though, as players can still use their regular payment methods and the currency will automatically be converted from GBP.

4. No Geo-Restrictions: Those online casinos which are not signed up to the Gamstop initiative are generally willing to accept customers from all over the world. While some casinos will have lengthy lists of countries from which it is not possible to register, those sites which are not on Gamstop in 2020 will accept players from everywhere.

5. Alternative Bet Restriction Tools: Just because a site is not under Gamstop does not mean that they do not have a commitment to aiding players who may have a gambling problem. No casino wants to profit from addictive behaviours, and so reputable sites will install their own tools so that players can limit the time or money they spend on the site as well as having the option to self-exclude if they wish to do so.

Is Playing on a Non-Gamstop Affiliated Casino Legal?

The simple answer to this question is: Yes, it is legal for UK residents to play on a casino which is not signed up to Gamstop. Gamstop was an initiative created by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) as a way to ensure that UK-licensed casinos all signed up to give players the opportunity to self-exclude. Every casino with a British license will have signed up to this programme, since not to do so would risk losing their precious license.

However, just because a casino is not listed on gamstop does not mean it is against the law to play there. As a player you have the right to choose any casino on the internet to play at, as long as they will accept your registration. This means that UK-based players can choose to play at a site which is registered elsewhere. The UKGC only allows casinos with a UK license to market to the UK audience. But if you locate a casino based outside of the UK which accepts British residents you are free to sign up with them. This means that it is perfectly legal for UK players to join casinos which are not on Gamstop.

Advantages of Playing on a Non-Gamstop Casino

1. Bigger Bonus Offers: As we mentioned in our section covering features of non-Gamstop casinos, you are more likely to see larger bonus offers from this type of casinos. If you plan to make a large first deposit then you will want to maximise the bonus you can get from this. Choosing non-UK licensed casinos can often mean you receive larger deposit bonuses, which is always a good thing.

2. Easier to Withdraw: UK casinos tend to have quite demanding processes with regard to KYC (Know Your Customer) procedures. This means that making a withdrawal from these casinos can take time as you may need to provide additional documents. Usually the non-Gamstop casinos will not have such restrictive practices which means that withdrawing your cash will take less time.

3. Not Blocked from Registering: The main reason UK players will actively seek out a non-Gamstop online casino is because they are restricted from joining a UK-licensed site. Even after the Gamstop self-exclusion period is completed, some Gamstop casinos will still not accept a player who has finished self-exclusion. UK casinos can be over-cautious in this kind of situation, fearing a future issue regarding their license. A casino which is not under Gamstop rules will have no problems accepting players who were excluded elsewhere.

Disadvantages of Playing on a Non-Gamstop Casino

1. Security of UK License: The UKGC gaming license is one of the most secure in the world today. Players who sign up with casinos covered by this license can expect the highest standards when it comes to safety of data protection and customer identification. Also, should there be any problems with a casino, players are able to contact the UKGC and expect to have the casino investigated. These types of protections are not always available at non-Gamstop casinos, depending on which license they are covered by.

2. No Local UK Payment Methods: UK-licensed casinos will often offer specific payment methods focused on the local market. For example, PayPal is often offered to UK customers of online casinos, as are mobile payment options. When you play at a non-Gamstop online casino you can expect to see international payment options, not all of which will be available in the UK. The good news is that nearly every online casino will accept debit and credit cards like Mastercard and Visa, as well as bank transfers plus electronic wallets such as Neteller and Skrill.

3. Bad for Problem Gamblers: We always encourage anybody who believes that they have a gambling problem to avoid playing at online casinos. We recommend non-Gamstop sites only to those players who self-excluded in the past and are now blocked from joining Gamstop casinos, or else those who did not fully understand the exclusion process. However, using non-Gamstop casinos does allow some problem gamblers who previously self-excluded to keep playing online for real money.

Alternatives to Gamstop

As we mentioned before, Gamstop is not the only way to limit your gambling or to self-exclude. Gamstop is organised by the UKGC, but there are other similar platforms available. Gamcare is a UK-based organisation that offers support to British gamblers who may have a problem, with counselling programmes and a free helpline. Gamblers Anonymous and Count Me Out are other examples of services which will assist those in need of support. Gamblock is a type of software that can be used to block online gambling sites, so that problem gamblers will not be tempted to log on. Gamban is another type of software which offers the same function and can be easily installed to stop users from accessing gambling sites.

As you can see, there are plenty of alternatives to Gamstop casinos out there, and you can access these without compromising the quality of gaming on offer. Many highly-reputable sites which operate outside the UK are not part of Gamstop and still offer safe and secure online gaming. On these pages you will find some of the best non-Gamstop casinos where you can enjoy fantastic real money gambling on the latest and greatest slot and casino games. Always make sure to play safe, and if you do feel that gambling is becoming a problem then take the appropriate preventative action.

Online casino gaming is supposed to be a fun leisure activity, and we hope that you will continue to enjoy playing online at one of our recommended casinos.