Facts checked Article
Practical support
Making space for a pause: the routes that exist, what each covers, and how to start
The National Gambling Helpline is 0808 8020 133 in England and Scotland and 0808 2819 265 in Wales, 24 hours a day. A pause can start with one practical change, and the routes are set out below.
Start with the helpline, then one change
Before anything else, the National Gambling Helpline is 0808 8020 133 in England and Scotland, and 0808 2819 265 in Wales. The Gambling Commission's page gives those numbers and says the service runs ‘24 hours a day, 7 days a week’. A pause can start there, or with one practical change made today.
You do not have to finish another session before deciding to step away. Nothing on this page asks you to do more than one thing, and nothing here is saved or sent.
A pause plan is a short record of what you want to do next. It might be closing the session you are in, removing promotional messages, speaking to somebody you trust, or looking for support.
It does not need to include an amount you intend to gamble. Choosing not to gamble is a complete option, and so is reading this and doing nothing yet.
Sources: Gambling Commission: self-exclusion; Gambling Commission: online safer gambling tools.
What each route is, in the regulator's own words
- The helpline, and its hours
- The Commission's self-exclusion page gives 0808 8020 133 in England and Scotland and 0808 2819 265 in Wales, ‘24 hours a day, 7 days a week’.Gambling Commission: self-exclusion · as checked on
- What the helpline offers
- ‘The National Gambling Helpline provides confidential information, advice and support for anyone affected by gambling problems in England, Scotland and Wales.’Gambling Commission: online safer gambling tools · as checked on
- What a site's own controls cover
- ‘Online gambling sites have facilities built into them that allow consumers to set a limit and control the time and money they are spending on that site.’Gambling Commission: online safer gambling tools · as checked on
- What self-exclusion is, and what happens to a balance
- ‘Self-exclusion is a tool used by those who have recognised that their gambling is harmful to them.’ The business ‘must close your account and return any money in your account to you’.Gambling Commission: self-exclusion · as checked on
- What GamStop says it does
- GamStop says you can ‘block yourself from online gambling by blocking your access to accounts on gambling websites and apps’, and that ‘it’s free, quick, and easy’.GamStop home page · as checked on
Quoted from the three pages we read on 22 September 2026. Nothing on this page is saved, sent or shared, and nothing here assesses anyone's level of risk.
Write down one thing you want to do next
A pause plan is one line long if you want it to be. Write what you would like to happen next, in your own words, and stop there.
It can be small. Closing the session you are in counts, and so does deciding to read about the routes before using any of them.
There is no amount on this page. We do not suggest a budget, a safe limit or a number of sessions, because none of those would be a boundary we could stand behind.
You can stop here. Nothing you write is saved on this page or sent anywhere.
Take away one easy route back
Some routes back are easier than others, and the easiest ones are worth closing first. Saved shortcuts, marketing notifications and a stored payment method are the usual three.
Pick one of them today and leave the rest. A single change you actually make is worth more than a list you do not.
If you want the device-level version of this, blocking software covers sites an account-level scheme cannot reach. That is a separate route with its own page, and it is described there rather than here.
The list below is a private worksheet. Ticking it does not change your account, start a self-exclusion or contact any service, and the helpline is still 0808 8020 133.
Sources: Gambling Commission: online safer gambling tools.
Routes back you can close today
Only if you want to. Nobody is told anything by this page.
- You can stop here. Nothing on this page is saved or sent.
Ticks are kept only in this browser and are never sent anywhere.
Set a limit on the site itself
The controls live on the gambling site, not on this page. The Commission states that ‘online gambling sites have facilities built into them that allow consumers to set a limit and control the time and money they are spending on that site’.
A limit is a boundary rather than a promise about what happens next. It applies to the site you set it on, and it does nothing about any other gambling account in your name.
That is the honest limit of the tool, and it is still worth using. A boundary you set while calm is easier to keep than one you try to set mid-session.
After setting one, the helpline is there if you want to talk it through: 0808 8020 133 in England and Scotland, 0808 2819 265 in Wales.
Sources: Gambling Commission: online safer gambling tools.
What the regulator says the site must offer
Online gambling sites have facilities built into them that allow consumers to set a limit and control the time and money they are spending on that site.
Take a longer break with self-exclusion or GamStop
Self-exclusion goes further than a limit. The Commission describes it as ‘a tool used by those who have recognised that their gambling is harmful to them’, and says you ‘enter into a formal agreement not to gamble’.
Two things follow from that agreement. The gambling business ‘must close your account and return any money in your account to you’, and, in the Commission's words, ‘it is up to you to stick to your self-exclusion’.
GamStop covers more than one operator at once. The Commission records it as ‘an online multi-operator self-exclusion scheme, known as GAMSTOP’ that ‘has been available since April 2018’, and GamStop's own page says the service is free.
If you are weighing whether you want a longer break rather than a limit, the comparison page sets the options side by side. The helpline is 0808 8020 133, any time.
Sources: Gambling Commission: self-exclusion; Gambling Commission: online safer gambling tools; GamStop home page.
Compare the routes before choosing one
Each route covers something different, and none of them covers everything. The table below records what we could establish from the pages we read on 22 September 2026, and marks the gaps as gaps.
Site limits reach one site. Self-exclusion with an operator closes one account and returns the money in it. GamStop blocks access to accounts across participating companies, and its betting-shop service is separate.
Talking to someone is not an account control at all. It is the route that covers the part no block reaches, and it is free and confidential.
Where a page did not state how a route is reversed, the table says so rather than guessing. You can stop reading here and call 0808 8020 133 instead.
Sources: Gambling Commission: online safer gambling tools; Gambling Commission: self-exclusion; GamStop home page.
Four routes, what each covers, and what it does not
| Route | What it covers | What it does not cover | How it is reversed | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Limits on the site | Facilities built into online gambling sites that let you set a limit and control the time and money you spend on that site | Any other account you hold | Through that site's own controls | · Gambling Commission: online safer gambling tools |
| Self-exclusion with the operator | A formal agreement not to gamble; the business must close your account and return any money in it to you | Keeping to the agreement is up to you | Not stated on the page we read | · Gambling Commission: self-exclusion |
| GamStop | Blocking your access to accounts on gambling websites and apps, across participating companies, since April 2018 | Betting shops, which GamStop lists as a separate service | Not stated on the page we read | · GamStop home page |
| The National Gambling Helpline | Confidential information, advice and support for anyone affected by gambling problems in England, Scotland and Wales | It is not an account control and blocks nothing | Not applicable | · Gambling Commission: online safer gambling tools |
Make a pause plan in five steps
This is the printed version of everything above. You can do one step and leave the rest, and you can come back to it whenever you want.
None of the steps needs an account open in front of you. Two of them need nothing but a piece of paper.
If a step asks you to do something on a gambling site, the site's own controls are the only place it can be done. This page changes nothing on your behalf.
Sources: Gambling Commission: online safer gambling tools; Gambling Commission: self-exclusion.
The printed plan
You can stop at any step. Nothing here is saved, sent or shared, and nobody is contacted on your behalf.
Write one line about what you want next
It can be as small as closing the session you are in. It does not need an amount you intend to gamble.
Close one route back
Pick a single easy route, such as a saved shortcut or a marketing message, and remove it today.
You can stop here.
Set a limit on the site itself
The Commission states that online gambling sites have facilities built in that let you set a limit and control the time and money you spend on that site.
Decide whether you want a break as well
Self-exclusion is a formal agreement not to gamble, and the business must close your account and return any money in it to you.
You can stop here.
Tell someone, or call the helpline
The National Gambling Helpline is 0808 8020 133 in England and Scotland and 0808 2819 265 in Wales, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Talk to someone: the routes that exist
The helpline covers the part that no block reaches. The Commission states that ‘the National Gambling Helpline provides confidential information, advice and support for anyone affected by gambling problems in England, Scotland and Wales’.
Confidential means what it says, and free means there is no cost to the call. The numbers are 0808 8020 133 in England and Scotland and 0808 2819 265 in Wales, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
You do not have to have a plan before you call. Reading a page like this one and then talking it through is a normal order to do things in.
If calling is not what you want today, telling one person you trust is also a route. It is on the checklist above for that reason.
Sources: Gambling Commission: online safer gambling tools; Gambling Commission: self-exclusion.
Four words used on this page
- Pause plan
- A short written note of what you want to do next. It is this page's own term, not a product or a regulated scheme.
- Self-exclusion
- A formal agreement not to gamble, after which the gambling business must close the account and return any money in it to you.
- GamStop
- An online multi-operator self-exclusion scheme which the Gambling Commission records as available since April 2018.
- The National Gambling Helpline
- A confidential service giving information, advice and support to anyone affected by gambling problems in England, Scotland and Wales.
What these tools do not do
No route here is a cure, and none of them is presented as one. Each covers something specific, and the table above is the honest version of what that is.
This page does not assess anyone's level of risk. It does not say how much anyone should gamble, and it names no safe amount, because a limit is a boundary rather than a guarantee.
We could not open GamCare's own website on 22 September 2026, so nothing on this page is attributed to it. The helpline details here come from the Gambling Commission's pages instead.
Next step: pick one line from the checklist and do it today, or call 0808 8020 133. Was this useful, or did we get something wrong? Tell us and we will correct it.
Sources: Gambling Commission: online safer gambling tools; Gambling Commission: self-exclusion.
Pages read 22 September 2026
Three pages were opened on 22 September 2026: the Gambling Commission's self-exclusion page, its page on how gambling companies keep you safe online, and GamStop's own home page.
Every quotation above belongs to the source beside it. Where a page did not answer a question, the table and the prose say that rather than filling the gap.
We have no account with any gambling business, we contact no service on anyone's behalf, and nothing typed or ticked on this page leaves the browser.
Sources: Gambling Commission: self-exclusion; Gambling Commission: online safer gambling tools; GamStop home page.
Pages read
Each page was opened on 22 September 2026. Support pages change, so the re-check dates are short.
| Source | Publisher | Read on | Re-check due | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gambling Commission: self-exclusion | Gambling Commission | What self-exclusion is, the formal agreement, the return of the account balance, and both helpline numbers with their hours. | ||
| Gambling Commission: online safer gambling tools | Gambling Commission | Site limit facilities, GamStop as a multi-operator scheme available since April 2018, and what the National Gambling Helpline provides. | ||
| GamStop home page | GamStop | Blocking access to accounts on gambling websites and apps, the service being free, and betting shops listed separately. |
Questions answered
What is a pause plan?
A short record of what you want to do next. It might be closing the session you are in, removing promotional messages, speaking to somebody you trust, or looking for support. It does not need to include an amount you intend to gamble.
Does ticking the checklist change my account?
No. It is a private worksheet in this page. Ticking it does not change any gambling account, start a self-exclusion or contact any service, and you must use the relevant provider's own controls to do those things.
What happens to my balance if I self-exclude?
The Gambling Commission states that the gambling business ‘must close your account and return any money in your account to you’. The page we read on 22 September 2026 does not state a minimum duration, so we do not give one.
What does GamStop cover?
GamStop says it blocks your access to accounts on gambling websites and apps, and that the service is free. The Commission records it as a multi-operator self-exclusion scheme available since April 2018. Betting shops are listed as a separate GamStop service.
Who can call the National Gambling Helpline?
The Commission states that it ‘provides confidential information, advice and support for anyone affected by gambling problems in England, Scotland and Wales’. The numbers are 0808 8020 133 and, in Wales, 0808 2819 265, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Is choosing not to gamble a valid outcome?
Yes. Choosing not to gamble is a complete option, and so is reading this page and doing nothing yet. Nothing here suggests an amount, a budget or a number of sessions.
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