GamStop is a self-exclusion scheme that covers every casino licensed by the UK Gambling Commission. Plenty of offshore casinos sit outside it — and the difference between a well-run one and a badly run one is enormous. We set out the published terms, the licence position and the payout record for each site, in the same format, so you can compare them on facts rather than on advertising.
See the full comparison, with payments, payout times and wagering for every casino →
Rankings follow our published criteria, not commission. We do earn a commission when a reader signs up through one of our links, and we say so plainly — here is how that works. What we will not do is invent test results or claim to have played at a casino we have not. Everything below is drawn from published terms, licence records and the operator’s own documentation.
If you have self-excluded through GamStop, every casino holding a UK Gambling Commission licence has to block you. That is a legal requirement, and the blocking works. What GamStop does not do is cover the thousands of casinos licensed in Curaçao, Anjouan and other offshore jurisdictions, because those operators never signed up to the scheme in the first place.
That single fact creates the entire market this site reviews. It also creates the confusion: "not on GamStop" is a statement about a licence, not a recommendation. A casino can be outside GamStop and still be perfectly reputable — or it can be a shell with a two-week-old domain and no way to contact anyone. Both types exist, they look similar in an advert, and telling them apart is the only thing that really matters.
If you are self-excluding because gambling is causing you harm, this is not the page for you. Using a casino outside GamStop to get around an exclusion you chose deliberately undermines the whole point of it. There are better options — see GamStop alternatives and where to get help.
We do not claim to have opened accounts at every casino below, and we do not pretend to have tested them. What we do is read the published terms properly — all of them, not the headline — and set out what they actually commit the operator to. These are the six things we compare:
Where sources disagree — and they often do, particularly on bonus size and payout speed — we say so rather than picking whichever number looks better. The full breakdown is on the how we rate page.
GoldenBet sits at the top of the table on the strength of the things we weight most heavily — it holds accounts in GBP, EUR and USD, its currency list is published, and it pays a daily cashback the other nine do not. On the headline bonus it is no longer the biggest: several of the casinos below advertise larger numbers, and on payout speed it is now the slower of the two groups. We keep it first because the ranking follows our published criteria, not any single column.
It is also the clearest example of why a licence is not a footnote. It holds a Curacao licence rather than a UK one, which is exactly why it falls outside GamStop, and the company behind it was removed from the Curaçao commercial register in April 2026 while continuing to trade. The full review sets out both sides without dressing either of them up.
Nine of the ten casinos here share a single Curaçao permit, and the tenth — GoldenBet — has a licence question of its own. That is the honest shape of this market, and it is worth holding in mind as you read down the table.
A full review sets out the published terms, the licence position and the operator behind the brand, in one place. We write one for the casinos we follow most closely — the rest are compared on terms alone in the table above.
A non-GamStop casino is one that is not licensed by the UK Gambling Commission, and therefore is not connected to the GamStop self-exclusion scheme. Because GamStop only applies to UKGC-licensed operators, casinos licensed offshore — most commonly in Curaçao or Anjouan — are free to accept players who have self-excluded. That is a fact about their licence, not an endorsement of the site.
It is not illegal for a UK resident to play at an offshore casino. What is restricted is the operator’s side: a casino without a UKGC licence may not advertise to UK consumers, and UK-licensed operators may not transact with unlicensed ones. The practical consequence is that these sites are harder to hold to account if something goes wrong, because the UK regulator has no jurisdiction over them.
Casino deposits appear on your bank statement under the operator’s descriptor, whatever licence they hold. Some players use e-wallets or crypto specifically so that gambling does not appear on a bank statement. Be aware that deliberately disguising gambling spending from a partner or from a lender is a warning sign in itself, and mortgage lenders do look at gambling transactions when assessing affordability.
Most of the larger ones do. We flag the currency options in each review and in the comparison table, because depositing in GBP and being paid in EUR or USD quietly costs you a conversion spread in both directions. Where a casino only settles in another currency, we say so.
All ten state a window, and they split into two groups. The nine casinos in the shared group target instant processing or within one hour, with a maximum 48-hour pending period and bank transfers taking three to ten banking days. GoldenBet states up to 72 hours of pending time plus a further 1–5 days. The practical answer everywhere in this market is that verification is the bottleneck: if you have not sent ID yet, expect the first withdrawal to take considerably longer. See the fast withdrawal comparison.
Gambling winnings are not taxable in the UK for the player, and that is true whether the operator holds a UK licence or an offshore one. This is general information, not tax advice, and it assumes you are UK resident and playing as an individual rather than as a business.
You can, but you should not expect to be paid. Using a VPN to get around a geo-block is a breach of the operator’s terms, and it gives them a straightforward reason to void your winnings and close the account at the point you try to withdraw. If a casino does not accept UK players, treat that as final.