Category Archives: Responsible Gambling

Gamstop, the UK global self exclusion database

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Gamstop, the global UK self exclusion databaseIt has been a long time in the making, but it is finally here to be used for those that wish to self exclude from UK licensed casinos: Gamstop, the global UK self exclusion database.

Gamstop is the site to go to if you wish to self exclude from casinos that have their licenses issued by the UK Gambling Commission. For the moment, participation by those casinos is voluntary, but by the end of 2018 it will become a requirement of the conditions of the license.

Effectively that means that Gamstop is the place to self exclude from all casinos if you no longer wish to gamble online. It really is as simple as inputting you personal details into the site and you will be added to the global self exclusion database. The details will be passed on to the participating casinos and after a few hours you will find yourself unable to play at the them. You can select the self exclusion period from a choice of 6 months, 1 year or 5 years.

The action of self excluding can’t be undone under any circumstances so it is important to realise that once you have made the commitment to self exclude, you will no longer be able to gamble online. But that is the beauty of the tool, you no longer have to visit each casino you have an account with to self exclude. It now can be done through one reliable provider.

Gamstop is backed by the UK Gambling Commission so you can be sure your personal data is handled in accordance with the relevant UK legislation concerning data privacy.

I take responsible gambling very serious and have promoted services such as Gamban and charities such as Gambleaware before. Gamstop is a welcome addition to responsible gambling features.

Introducing Gamban – online gambling blocker software

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GambanWe are all aware that playing slots or any form of gambling may lead to financial and other problems if it is not properly controlled.

The following may indicate signs of problem gambling:

  • Spending more time and/or money than that you can afford
  • Finding it difficult to stop gambling
  • Losing interest in other hobbies / having gambling as your exclusive hobby
  • Lying about your gambling to friends and family
  • Chasing losses
  • Borrowing money to fund gambling

The above list is not exhaustive and, of course, because somebody has one or two of the above mentioned behaviours, it doesn’t necessarily indicate that they are indeed a person that is a problem gambler.

Problem gamblers need all the help that they can get. Problem gambling can ruin a persons life. Organisations such as Gamcare are excellent to get such help.

But there is much more that can be done. Having access to online casinos is not going to help the problem gambler. There are tools available that block access to such material and one of these is a piece of software called Gamban. Gamban is a pay-ware solution that aims to block all online casinos.

Of course,watching any gambling material on Youtube, Twitch or any other social media site is not recommended and should be avoided at all times. It doesn’t really matter whether such material is backed by an affiliate or not. At the end of the day, watching people gamble could be the trigger for the problem gambler to make that deposit that they can ill afford to lose.

Gamban is not expensive to purchase at just £10 per computer per year.

If you are not able to afford a license for Gamban, then I am more than happy to purchase one for you. As a responsible streamer I do recognise that problem gambling exists and I do not particularly want to refer these problem gamblers to a casino.

However, I can not stop this; so if this software stops the access to the casino that I am promoting, it is a great step forward. Ideally I would like software such as Gamban to block my streaming channels but at this point in time this is unfortunately not possible.

Of course, I will not “willy nilly” buy licenses so if you genuinely are interested in this piece of software and can not afford it, then please get in touch with me.

Taking a very long break from playing slots

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Well the time finally arrived when slot playing was not fun any longer so it is time to take a very long break from playing online slots.

Viewers of my streams may have  noticed that deposits were disappearing very fast. There were distinct lack of bonuses and game play was terrible. You accept when you make your deposit that it is considered lost, but in return you do expect the deposit to last.

It was the last straw that broke the camels back so to speak. As the slogan goes, if the fun stops, stop! and that is what I did.

I closed all of my casino accounts to stop the temptation to log in and try again.

I will definitely miss the streaming part of playing slots. I have very good memories of the many streams I broadcasted. I appreciate every viewer watching me play slots because you the viewer always have a choice of watching a number of channels. I felt very privileged having so many loyal viewers tuning in each time.

I also thank all of the kind viewers that put their hand in their pockets and made donations.

At the start, I really enjoyed playing slots. I was extremely lucky to hit almost £5,000 of winnings over a 3 weeks period playing Dead or Alive. I had good play time, big hits and a nice trip to Malta to boot courtesy of a competition win at Videoslots Casino.

But it went downhill at the start of this year. Lady luck disappeared and so did the previous mentioned winnings plus some.

Thankfully I recognised that if I continued to play it was going to go downhill very fast. I never exceeded the budget I set and only gambled away money that I could afford to lose. But just thinking about what that money could have bought was the final straw. I am left with good memories that will last a life time which I considered value for money at the point that I stopped donating more money to the casino so to speak. Streaming my slot play helped me gain those memories. I shared the ups and downs of playing slots which I hope my viewers appreciated.

This post also serves as a good reminder of the potential dangers of online gambling. You can easily get carried away. Please take note of the following tips:

• Don’t see gambling as a means to earn a living
• Always gamble with money that you can afford to lose
• Never chase losses
• Set a money limit
• Set a time limit
• Gamble only when you are in the right frame of mind
• Don’t have gambling as an exclusive hobby
• Gambling and alcohol- and drug use don’t mix

and if you want any further professional help, the following two organisations are a very good starting point (please click on the respective logos to go to their website):

Gamcare     Gambleaware

Will I be back to streaming again? Who knows what the future holds. If I am, you will hear it hear first!!!

Take care and be lucky on the slots!