Do All Golf Bookmakers Support Gamstop?
Golf is one the most followed sports in the UK, thus generating considerable revenue for various industries, including the gambling industry. Today, the gambling and sports industry seem to have merged due to different deals made between the two sectors.
The gambling industry is worth thousands of millions of dollars. It thus affords heavy sponsorship and partnership deals along with promotions and advertisements in sports such as golf. In sports betting alone, the yield of the year crossed the millions. It is evident that the partnership between golf and gambling is profitable for both industries.
Supporting GamStop would mean restrictions in each aspect of non GamStop sports betting, including max bet amount, rewards, and even advertisements. GamStop is not against gambling but excessive gambling is favourable to bookmakers. The more people bet, the more money they make. Due to this conflict of interest, all gold bookmakers cannot support GamStop as it costs their wide profit margin.
About GamStop
The United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) developed and maintained a non-profit organization called GamStop. GamStop primarily provides support to punters who are suffering from compulsive gambling habits. UKGC has made it mandatory for all license owners to use GamStop in their online casinos and other gambling sites, including bookies and betting sites. In short, GamStop is a flag bearer of responsible and safe gambling.
GamStop works by exclusion scheme that could help problem gamblers forcefully suppress their continuous urge to gamble. When a player gets addicted to gambling, stimuli such as an advertisement or a conversation about gambling could trigger in them the desire of gambling. GamStop provides self-exclusion programs that effectively block all gambling sites from the device of the punter. So, even if he feels the need to gamble, he could not as he does not get access to any casinos. The exclusion period may range from 6 months to 5 years. Punters should choose the exclusion period wisely, keeping in mind their state of addiction and their improvement goals. GamStop is not the only blocker that exists today. Other blockers such as NetNanny, BetBlocker, and GamBan are a few other blockers that ban all the gambling sites in their database from the user’s profile.
GamStop can block only the sites that are registered under UKGC regulation. it cannot secure sites that do not own a UKGC license as they are beyond their rules. While the database of UKGC is quite comprehensive, there are plenty of sites that punters can play on to get out of the GamStop block.
What Are Bookies On GamStop?
When an operator wants to run a gambling site, he needs licenses from the state’s gambling commission. If he wants to give access to his site to gamblers of the Uk, he needs a UKGC license. The commission has a set of rules and guidelines that the site must meet to receive a permit. Licenses such as Malta, Curacao, and UkGc have requirements that a site operator must meet to maintain their license. Without a license from the state’s commission, the operator cannot run a gambling site or bookmaker legally in the state.
On 14th January 2020, UKGC announced that by 31st March 2020, all gambling site operators under their regulation must take part in the self-exclusion scheme provider, GamStop. All gambling sites that own the license of UKGC need to abide by this rule. Otherwise, UKGC would have cancelled their license. The commission cleared that most of the sites with bets on golf competitions were already using GamStop but making the use of GamStop mandatory made the database used by Gamstop more comprehensive.
So, to answer the question, bookies registered in UKGC and own a UKGC license are on GamStop. The user base of UKGC is vast, and most of the top bookmarkers like Bet365, Casumo, Vbet, and others are on GamStop.
What Are Sportsbooks Not On GamStop?
As mentioned earlier, only the sites under UKGC regulations need to be on GamStop. Almost no bookmakers are not registered to UKGC but used GamStop. If the gambling site operates in the UK, it requires a UKGC license to work legally in the state. But if a bookmaker is registered outside the UK, it need not use GamStop. For example, powbet.com is a bookmaker registered outside the Uk in Curacao. The bookmakers own the Curacao Gaming License, and it does not require the operator to participate in the self-exclusion scheme of GamStop. Similarly, Interwetten is another bookmaker that is registered outside the UK. It owns the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) License and is not on GamStop.
It is usual for a gambling site like unibet.com to have multiple gaming licenses, making it more reliable for the players, and it could operate in broader areas. But in this case, as it owns a UKGC license, it needs to participate in GamStop.
Conclusion
GamStop is not against gambling, instead, it prevents uncontrolled gambling. But it limits the opportunities of making a significant profit for both the players and the bookmaker operators. Thus, all golf bookmakers do not support GamStop.
