How to Self-Exclude From bet365, Sky Bet, William Hill, Paddy Power and Other UK Bookmakers

Every bookmaker licensed in Great Britain has to let you self-exclude, and the Gambling Commission says the minimum period is six months. Once you do, the bookmaker must close your account, return any money in it and take you off its marketing lists. If you bet with more than one bookmaker, GamStop does all of that for every licensed online operator in one step. If there is one bookmaker you want gone today, here is how self-exclusion works at each of the big names.

Self-exclusion or a time-out?

Bookmakers offer two different tools, and they are easy to confuse. A time-out or cool-off is a short break, typically a day to six weeks, and your account reopens on its own when it ends. Self-exclusion lasts at least six months, cannot be reversed while it runs, and at most bookmakers your account only reopens if you ask for it afterwards. If you want to stop rather than pause, choose self-exclusion.

How to self-exclude from bet365

bet365 keeps its account tools under Gambling Controls in the account menu. Account Closure, found there, is not self-exclusion: it closes your account for a period you choose, reopens automatically when that ends, and can be reopened early online. Self-exclusion is the one that holds, so look for it in the same section, or ask the Help Centre's live chat to set it up. bet365 says that during the period your account cannot be reopened for any reason, and that it has measures to detect and close any new accounts you open. You can still log in to withdraw any remaining balance.

How to self-exclude from William Hill

• On the sportsbook website: click the balance icon, choose Safer Gambling, then Self Exclusion, read the terms, pick your period, enter your password and confirm.
• On the gaming sites and app: click the balance icon, choose Gambling Controls, then select Total Self-exclusion at the bottom of the page.
• Your account must be verified first. You can choose between 6 months and 5 years, and William Hill says it cannot be reversed under any circumstances.
• For UK customers, a self-exclusion is extended to related accounts William Hill can identify across its group brands: 888casino, 888poker, 888sport, 777.com, William Hill and Mr Green. It warns this may not take effect immediately.
• When the period ends, your account only reopens if you contact William Hill to ask, and a 24-hour cooling-off period applies.
• It does not cover William Hill shops. Shop staff can exclude you from up to seven shops, or call 0800 169 3352.

How to self-exclude from Sky Bet

• Select My Account, scroll down to Safer Gambling and select Self-Exclusion. You can also use Contact Us.
• You can exclude from all products, from Sky Bet only, from Sky Vegas, Casino, Bingo and Games, or from Sky Poker only.
• Periods run from 6 months to 5 years, or permanently if you exclude from all products. Once set, it cannot be removed.
• When it ends, you have to contact customer services to return, followed by a mandatory 24-hour cooling-off period.
• Sky Bet belongs to the same group as Paddy Power, Betfair, PokerStars and tombola. For all-product exclusions, Sky Bet says it aims to copy the exclusion to accounts with matching details across those brands in the UK, but it still recommends excluding with each brand separately.

Paddy Power and Betfair self-exclusion

Paddy Power and Betfair are both part of Flutter, the same group as Sky Bet. Both put self-exclusion in the safer gambling tools inside My Account, and both let customer services set it up for you. Each can exclude you from a single product or from the whole site, starting at six months, and neither reopens your account while the period is still running. When it ends, you contact their safer gambling team to discuss reopening. Their help pages describe the group-wide coverage differently from page to page, so follow Sky Bet's own advice and self-exclude with each brand you have used. Neither exclusion covers Paddy Power's betting shops.

Ladbrokes and Coral self-exclusion

Ladbrokes and Coral are both owned by Entain, and their safer gambling pages say the same thing: you can self-exclude from that one account, from all Entain brands, or from every UK online gambling site through GamStop. Both say that once activated, self-exclusion is irreversible, with a minimum of six months. If you also hold a Coral reward card, a Club Ladbrokes card or other Entain online accounts, give their details so they are included. Shop exclusion is separate: it is set up in the shop for specific Ladbrokes and Coral shops, lasts 12 months and can be renewed.

Betfred self-exclusion

Betfred's terms offer self-exclusion from a minimum of 6 months up to 60 months, set from your account or through live chat or customer services. It covers Betfred, Oddsking, Totesport, Totepool and Tote, provided you used the same contact details. You cannot reopen your account during the period. Afterwards you have to ask to return, and a 24-hour cooling-off period applies. An online exclusion does not cover Betfred shops, so ask staff in a shop for that.

When GamStop is the better choice

Self-excluding with one bookmaker leaves every other one open, and a new sign-up offer is only a few taps away. GamStop excludes you from every online operator licensed in Great Britain at once, for six months, one year or five years, and it does not end on its own: when the period is over you have to contact GamStop, and a 24-hour cooling-off period applies. Doing both is reasonable. Matching relies on the details you give, and William Hill's terms warn that an account under different details may not be caught, so a direct exclusion with the bookmakers you actually use adds a second check.

What self-exclusion does not cover

• Betting shops. Online self-exclusion does not keep you out of a bookmaker's shops. For those, Gamstop Betting Shops (formerly MOSES) covers several bookmakers' shops in one phone call on 0800 294 2060.
• Bookmakers that are not licensed in Great Britain. Offshore sites do not take part in GamStop and do not see UK self-exclusions. BetClear blocks gambling websites with encrypted DNS on iPhone, Android, Mac and Windows 11, using a list of more than 500,000 gambling sites that updates automatically, including sites outside GamStop. No blocker is perfect, because new sites appear all the time. If one gets through, you can report it.
• Your card. A bank gambling block stops card payments to gambling companies, which covers the moment a deposit would otherwise go through.

If you are self-excluding because betting has got on top of you, you do not have to work out the rest alone. The National Gambling Helpline, run by GamCare, is free on 0808 8020 133, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Sources

• Gambling Commission: Self-exclusion, and licence conditions and codes of practice 3.5.3 and 3.5.4 on remote self-exclusion (gamblingcommission.gov.uk)
• GamStop: Terms of Use, updated 20 May 2026 (gamstop.co.uk)
• bet365 Help Centre: Self-Exclusion, Self-Exclusion return and Account Closure (help.bet365.com)
• William Hill help: Self Exclusion and UK Safer Gambling (edited 29 September 2026), Time Out, Retail rules and UK terms (help.williamhill.com)
• Sky Bet support: Information for self-excluded customers (support.skybet.com)
• Paddy Power help centre: Take a Break and Safer Gambling (helpcenter.paddypower.com); Betfair support: What is self-exclusion? (support.betfair.com)
• Ladbrokes and Coral: Time Out and Self-Exclusion, and Gambling Controls (ladbrokes.com, coral.co.uk)
• Betfred: Terms and conditions (betfred.com)