There have been many measures taken over the years to make sure that the gambling industry does not target those who may have a problem with gambling. One of the more recent is known as Gamstop, which is an online, multi-operator scheme to help players self-exclude from gambling under certain circumstances. Currently, by law, all operators are required to participate in the scheme.
But there are, of course, some betting sites which fly under the radar—today, we’re going to look at why you should steer clear of such sites. Let’s look into this.
- Licensing
First and foremost is the issue of licenses. As I mentioned, any gambling operator running services in the UK must legally participate in the Gamstop program. There are no exceptions. Thus, the UK Gambling Commission will not issue licenses to non Gamstop sites.
So, any betting site that is not participating in Gamstop is operating illegally, and without a license. This has many implications for you and your betting. For one thing, there’s no guarantee of fairness. Every bet you make could be astronomically skewed against you.
Currently, the UKGC has issued licenses to around 2,600 operators, with more new bookmakers added almost every day, for more than 3,000 games and services they offer. You are not limited in your choice by choosing to go only with Gamstop sites. There is really no advantage to going after these non-Gamstop sites.
- Targeting
Of course, there’s a reason that operators might try to sneak under the radar in terms of regulation around problem gambling. It’s because they very often target those problem gamblers in one way or another. This, naturally, is a huge issue. Problem gambling is quite an issue in the U.K. On average, problem gamblers are around £10,000 in debt before they seek help.
Non-Gamstop sites, since they are operating illegally, are perfectly happy to target these problem gamblers with incentives and high-stakes games. When you combine this with a lack of any guaranteed fairness, you can see how these sites could cause major problems for problem gamblers.
Don’t support these shady operators—go with licensed, Gamstop sites.
- Slower payouts
Beyond the myriad of legal issues, though, we also have a lot of technical problems associated with these sites. There is going to be very little to say in terms of standards when it comes to the actual sites themselves. The main issue will be that pay outs are much slower.
All the major operators will offer a variety of payment methods to deposit and withdraw money and winnings. Depending on your circumstances, you can always find a fast method to make use of.
With non-Gamstop sites, they won’t be able to secure the use of platforms like PayPal or VISA. This will mean all payouts—and indeed deposits—are slower. This will get really frustrating if you are trying to bet live, or you want to make a lot of small bets.
If nothing else could encourage you to stay away from these sites, know that your money will take a lot longer to reach you!
- Poor functionality
Following on from that, in general, non-Gamstop sites just will not be up to the same standards of functionality. The site will be slapdash, thrown together, infrequently updated, and buggy. You’ll experience crashing, freezing, slow loading of new pages. The whole experience of using the site will be, at best, sub-par.
Again, the biggest operators are held to an extremely high standard if only because of competition. if they want to compete, they need to have a smooth and well-functioning site. Non-licensed, non-Gamstop sites will adhere to none of these rules.
- Fewer games
Finally, the simple fact is that you’ll be much more limited in what you can play with non-Gamstop sites. Some of the biggest online betting sites like Novibet offer more than 200 different services, from casino games to sports betting, and everything in between.
Non-GameStop sites will most likely only run a handful of games, because they are, again, not really interested in competing on a bigger stage. They just want to get some users. It’s one of the best judges of the quality of a site, and how many games it runs. You can always find something you like and want to play, as well as have a greater chance of winning. If you want to find good and reliable non-Gamstop sites for UK players, you can do it on this site NonGamstopCasinos.net
So, whether it’s a simple fact that the sites are poorly run and maintained, offer a shoddy selection of games, and may take a longer time to pay out when you do win, or the fact of their outright illegality, clearly it is best to avoid non Gamstop betting sites. You have no guarantees of fairness or that you will even get any money you do win. They may offer enticing incentives, but there is much more benefit to be had in licensed betting sites.