MOSES Self-Exclusion: How to Ban Yourself From Betting Shops, Arcades, Bingo Halls and Casinos

Signing up to GamStop does not keep you out of a betting shop. GamStop's own help centre says that blocking yourself with Gamstop Online only stops you accessing online gambling websites and apps. Gambling on the high street has separate schemes, one for each type of venue, and each is free. One request covers venues of that type in the area you choose, or across Great Britain for casinos and bingo. Here is how each scheme works.

Which scheme covers what?

• Betting shops: Gamstop Betting Shops, the scheme still widely known as MOSES (Multi-Operator Self-Exclusion Scheme). By phone on 0800 294 2060.
• Arcades (adult gaming centres, high street arcades, motorway service areas and family entertainment centres with age-restricted areas): the Bacta scheme, set up in person at the arcade. Some venues use SmartEXCLUSION instead.
• Bingo halls: the Bingo Industry Self-Exclusion Scheme (BISES), run by the Bingo Association, set up through your local club.
• Casinos: SENSE (Self Enrolment National Self Exclusion), set up online or with a manager at any casino.
• Gambling websites and apps: Gamstop Online, a separate sign-up. Joining one scheme does not sign you up to any other.

Gambling Commission rules require betting shops, arcades, bingo halls and casinos to take part in a scheme for their kind of gambling, and to take reasonable steps to stop you gambling while you are excluded. The schemes describe their coverage as Great Britain.

How to self-exclude from betting shops (MOSES)

MOSES now trades as Gamstop Betting Shops. It shares an address with GamStop and calls itself GamStop's sister scheme, but it is a separate sign-up. It is run on a not-for-profit basis and covers multiple land-based bookmakers in Great Britain.

• Call 0800 294 2060. It is free, and the scheme is telephone based: you cannot self-exclude by email. The call can take up to 30 minutes.
• Tell the adviser the areas where you live, work and socialise. They use a mapping tool to pick the betting shops in those areas. There is no set limit on the number of shops, only whether they are relevant to you, and you can add more later. You cannot exclude yourself from the whole of Great Britain.
• Send a copy of photo ID (passport or driving licence) and a clear, recent photograph of your face, by post or email.
• Your exclusion starts once your documents arrive, but it can take up to 10 working days to reach every shop.
• If you have online, telephone or betting shop accounts with the bookmakers taking part, give their details on the call. The scheme's terms say those accounts will be closed for the period of your self-exclusion. That is not the same as GamStop: other gambling websites stay open.

How long does MOSES last?

A betting shop self-exclusion is for a fixed 12 months, and you cannot end it early. You can renew it each year by phone, and stay excluded for as long as you keep renewing. At the end of the 12 months it does not switch off: it enters a six-month review period and stays in place unless you renew or ask to return. If you do nothing for those six months, it lapses. If you ask to return, a 24-hour cooling-off period applies, and it can take up to 10 working days for every bookmaker to be told.

If you walk into a shop you are excluded from, staff will ask you to leave and refuse to serve you. The scheme's terms say that a bet you manage to place still stands, win or lose. Some bookmakers may also use facial recognition, with your consent.

How to self-exclude from arcades (Bacta)

The Bacta scheme covers adult gaming centres, high street arcades, motorway service areas and family entertainment centres with age-restricted areas. You set it up in person at the arcade. If you would rather not go onto the floor, Bacta says the venue manager can arrange for trained staff to do it with you somewhere else.

• Bring proof of identity, such as a driving licence, passport or CitizenCard, and a head-and-shoulders photograph. The arcade manager can also take the photo.
• The exclusion takes effect as soon as you sign the declaration.
• It covers the arcade you visit and other arcades within about 1km. For a wider area, ask the operator. Bacta says its portal can also exclude you nationally.
• The usual minimum is six months, and a single exclusion can last up to 12 months. You can extend it after that.

Some arcades, high street bingo venues and holiday parks use a second system, SmartEXCLUSION, run by Boomerang Digital. You can set it up in person at a participating venue, or by phone on 01482 441 142 (option 1).

How to self-exclude from bingo halls (BISES)

The Bingo Industry Self-Exclusion Scheme covers licensed land-based bingo premises across Great Britain. The quickest way to join is at your local club, though you can also phone the club or contact it through its website. You will have a short conversation with staff, sign a digital form and supply a photo: the Bingo Association says an exclusion cannot be processed without it. When your chosen period ends, the scheme's privacy notice describes a thinking period of up to six months, then a 24-hour cooling-off period before you can play again. BISES does not cover online bingo. For that, the Bingo Association points to GamStop.

How to self-exclude from casinos (SENSE)

SENSE covers every licensed land-based casino in Great Britain in one go. You cannot pick venues.

• Enrol online through the SENSE portal (Tuki), or in person with a manager at any casino. You do not need to go onto the gaming floor. There is no phone option: SENSE does not accept enrolments made verbally, by phone or by email.
• You need government-issued photo ID, such as a driving licence or passport, a head-and-shoulders photo or selfie, and a digital signature.
• It can take up to three working days to reach every casino.
• The minimum is six months, and you can extend to up to one year from enrolment. You can renew as many times as you like. You cannot remove yourself during your chosen period.
• When the period ends, a six-month thinking period follows. If you neither renew nor ask to be removed, it expires and you are removed automatically. Removal itself happens in person with a casino manager, followed by a 24-hour wait.
• If you gamble while excluded, SENSE's terms say any money staked and any winnings from it are forfeited.

One trap: some arcades call themselves a casino on the sign outside. SENSE says those venues are not covered. Use the arcade scheme for them.

What about racecourses and the lottery?

The Gambling Commission lists no multi-operator scheme for on-course bookmakers at racecourses or for lotteries. Each operator must still let you self-exclude, so ask the business directly.

What these schemes do not cover

None of the venue schemes covers gambling websites or apps. Gamstop Online covers online operators licensed in Great Britain, but it has to be set up separately. Neither covers sites that are not licensed in Great Britain: offshore casinos and bookmakers that take UK players without being part of GamStop. Those sites are often the next door people try once the shops and their usual apps are closed.

That gap is what a website blocker is for. 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.

Making it stick

• Sign up to the scheme for every type of venue you actually use, not only the one that feels like the problem today.
• Add Gamstop Online for websites and apps, and a blocker for the sites GamStop cannot reach.
• Turn on your bank's gambling block, so a card payment to a gambling company fails even if a door is still open somewhere.
• Note when each exclusion ends and tell someone you trust. Several schemes lapse after a review period unless you renew, so the end date is worth planning for in advance.
• Talk to someone. The National Gambling Helpline, run by GamCare, is free on 0808 8020 133, 24 hours a day. In England you can also refer yourself to an NHS gambling treatment service.

Sources

• Gambling Commission: Free multi-operator and national self-exclusion schemes (updated 7 September 2026) and Self-exclusion (updated 27 March 2026) (gamblingcommission.gov.uk)
• Gambling Commission: Licence conditions and codes of practice 3.5.1, 3.5.2 and 3.5.6, self-exclusion for land-based gambling (gamblingcommission.gov.uk)
• Gamstop Betting Shops: How the scheme works, FAQ and Terms and conditions (December 2025) (self-exclusion.co.uk)
• Bacta: Safer gambling (bacta.org.uk)
• Boomerang Digital: SmartEXCLUSION (boomerangdigital.co.uk)
• Bingo Association: Self-exclusion and Self-exclusion privacy notice (bingo-association.co.uk)
• SENSE: How to enrol, How to remove, Questions and answers, and Terms and conditions (updated 1 September 2026) (senseselfexclusion.com)
• GamStop help centre: what Gamstop Online covers (updated 19 November 2025) (info.gamstop.co.uk)