When Did Online Gambling Start
What is self-exclusion?
Online Gambling: How Did It All Start? While gambling in land-based casinos preceded online gambling, the success of the latter is attributed to the advent of the internet. The internet is arguably one of the most transformative tech inventions in the history of mankind. The emergence of an online technology known as Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) (Scholz, 2011) has spurred the growth of a new user-generated and content-driven Web community. This new technology is the backbone that competitive online gaming (eSports) is relying on to reach users. It is difficult to say exactly when online gambling began, but it is commonly believed that it was effectively born in 1994. This is when the island nation of Antigua and Barbuda passed its Free Trade and Processing Act. Under the terms of this act, licenses could be granted to companies who wanted to provide gambling services over the internet.
Self-exclusion means asking a gambling provider to exclude you from gambling with them for a length of time, usually between six and twelve months but this can be for up to five years for online gambling. All gambling providers in Britain must provide consumers with this option, allowing any customer who has followed the procedure to request self-exclusion to be refused service and prevented from gambling during this time period.
Please then consider also calling the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 who can offer you free, confidential advice and counselling as our experience is that self-exclusion can be helpful but will be more effective if you also give us a call.
How the schemes work:
- You will be excluded for a minimum six month period (12 months for betting shops)
- You will have to supply proof of identity including a photo
- You will be removed from all marketing databases and you will not be contacted during the period of your self-exclusion
- You cannot leave the scheme before the exclusion period has expired
- If you leave the scheme once the self-exclusion period has expired you will not be automatically added to any marketing databases.
By joining self-exclusion schemes you are agreeing that:
- the information you provide to join a scheme will only be shared with operators within the specific scheme
- you will stay away from the venues from which you have self-excluded.
It is up to you to keep to your self-exclusion agreement but the company and the staff will do all they reasonably can to help you. If you visit a venue from which you have self-excluded you will be asked to leave and the other venues in the scheme will be informed.
How to self-exclude
You can self-exclude from either each separate company you might gamble with, or from multiple companies at the same time.
To self-exclude from a particular venue, ask the staff there for details. Online, look for the 'Responsible Gambling' or “Safer Gambling” section of the website, or the help section.
To self-exclude from more than one venue or website at the same time, use the 'multi-operator' schemes listed below for each of the types of gambling you want help avoiding.
Online gambling
If you would like to self-exclude from online gambling you can visit GAMSTOP which now enables UK and NI residents to exclude themselves from all gambling sites licensed to operate in Great Britain for free, for a period of 6 months, 1 year or 5 years.
All online gambling websites must provide a facility for you to self-exclude from that company. This can usually be found in the 'Responsible Gambling' or “Safer Gambling” section of their website, or through your personal account page. Call the customer services number on the website, or email them if you need help with this.
Arcades and Adult Gaming Centres
You can nominate from a single arcade or select a number of arcades you wish to self-exclude from. Just ask any member of staff for help in doing so. This cannot be done online but for further details, click here.
Betting shops / Bookmakers
You can nominate the betting shops you wish to self-exclude from. These are usually identified by you as those that are close to your home, your work or other activities. To self-exclude from more than one bookmaker in your area, call the self-exclusion helpline on 0800 294 2060. For further details, click here.
Bingo venues
When Did Online Gambling Start
To self-exclude from licensed bingo premises across Great Britain, the quickest way to register is at your local bingo club. You can request the contact details for your local licensed bingo premises from The Bingo Association by clicking here.
Casinos
When Did Online Gambling Start
SENSE allows people to voluntarily enroll in a scheme to exclude themselves nationally from all land-based casinos in the UK. For further information, click here.