As you know, among the inhabitants of the United Kingdom, and especially among Londoners, there is a large number of active GamStop users. At the same time, according to official data, the percentage of players of this self-excluded program is the largest, but players still continue to play casino games even under Gamstop restriction. This is because the GamStop scheme restricts players from all UK online casinos, but there are non GamStop CasinoGap websites that are regulated outside the United Kingdom and not affected by this self-exclusion program.
Here, we are going to reveal all the peculiarities of the region and the British gamblers themselves, which influence this situation. To make it possible, we carefully explored the statistical data from public sources as well as used personal experience and knowledge about the region.
London Is The Highest Population City
If you look at the statistics of the UK in terms of population by region, then London ranks first. At the time of writing, that number is about 8,961,989 (and has the tendency to grow). It is logical to assume that, only statistically, in such a large city, there is a significant percentage of gamblers compared not only to other regions of the country but also to many other cities all over the world.
All these people give impetus to the further development of the gambling industry. These players are those who spend hours in multiple land-based casinos, register on online gaming platforms available in the United Kingdom, and so on. This, in turn, forms the economic basis for the development of the gambling sphere. So, for example, every year, the London budget is increased by more than 15 billion pounds sterling exclusively thanks to the turnover of funds from the gambling industry.
Londoners Are The Most Gambling Educated Citizens
The popularity of the GamStop program and the number of its users in London suggests that the residents of the city have strong knowledge about gambling itself and the ways how to prevent or cope with gambling addiction. In support of this, there are the results of multiple surveys among active users of both land-based and online casinos, in which the following points were clarified:
- knowledge of where to turn for help in case of suspicion of the development of gambling addiction;
- what resources exist that can help with addiction (offline and online);
- understanding the importance of setting aside a reasonable period of time for games so do not cause a negative impact on the working process;
- knowledge about how to play without harm to your wallet, and so on.
Partially this situation with awareness of gambling can be explained by socio-cultural phenomena. The fact is that gambling in all its manifestations has been accompanying Londoners for many hundreds of years (for example, if we consider the Unlawful Games Act 1541) and has firmly entered into various spheres of their lives.
GamStop is Free
An important component of the high gambling awareness of Londoners is the availability of knowledge about it. Speaking of availability, we mean not only the openness of information that can be checked, for example, on the Internet. In the case of GamStop, Londoners do not need to spend money to participate in the program as this organization is run on a volunteer basis. Any gambler from London can go to the official GamStop website and contact the manager or do it all on their own in a simple registration form.
Thus, it is necessary to provide some information about yourself, including passport details, phone number, and so on. After that, at any casinos operating in the UK and governed by the UKGC, you can select from a selection of self-exclusion choices. At your choice, you can activate the ban for 6 months, 1 year or 5 years. After the self-exclusion period has expired, you can either quit the program and give a request to exclude yourself from the block list or continue participating in it.
Conclusion
We can confidently say that London is not only a city with a special lifestyle where the gambling industry develops at fast rates. It is also the place with one of the highest percentages between the total number of players and those who are deeply aware of the potential danger of gambling addiction.
For the same reason, a large percentage of Londoners use a GamStop. It is a universal tool that helps those who suffer from gambling addiction to minimize the risks or completely get rid of the problem. Unlike other resources, here you can do everything on your own: simply proceed to GamStop’s website, fill in a registration form and select the self-exclusion period. After that, you will be banned from all online casinos and bookmakers that have a UKGC license.