When you self-exclude directly with a non-GamStop casino rather than through GAMSTOP, the site is still bound by its own licence, commonly Curaçao under the LOK or Anjouan, both of which require it to honour your request and stop you playing. If it let you carry on anyway, identify which licence applies, then build the dated record of your request and the play that followed.
| Cause | How to tell | What to do | How long it takes |
|---|---|---|---|
| You emailed or messaged the operator asking to self-exclude, and it was never actioned | No closure confirmation arrived, and you could still log in or deposit after sending the request | Resend the request in writing, keep the timestamp, and log every deposit taken after that date | A Curaçao licensee must enable an email or chat request within 24 hours; an Anjouan licensee has 30 calendar days to answer the complaint that follows |
| The account was closed but kept working under a new registration | Same payment method or device, a different email address, and no check stopped a second account opening | Record the new account’s activity dates alongside your original exclusion request | Immediate, a records check; the duplicate-account failure itself has no separate timescale |
| Marketing kept arriving after you self-excluded | Emails, push notifications or bonus offers dated after your request | Move the messages to a dated folder rather than deleting them | Adds evidence to whichever complaint you raise; no separate timescale of its own |
| A deposit went through after your request but before the account closed | Cashier or bank records show a deposit dated later than your self-exclusion request | Put the dates to the operator in writing; under Curaçao rules that wagering should be voided and the funds returned | Operator complaint response: 30 days under Anjouan, 14 days for a dispute over a single game outcome; no Curaçao operator timescale is stated here because the regulator's text could not be read on 7 September 2026 |
| The operator disputes that you ever made the request | It claims no record of your email, chat transcript or account note | Keep your own dated copy of the message you sent, independent of the operator’s own records | No fixed timescale; this is a documentation gap to close before anything else moves |
| You cannot tell which regulator is actually behind the site from its footer | The footer carries no reference number at all, or one that is not on the current register | Pin down the licence and its live status before you decide how to complain | Immediate, using the licence checker below |
Does GAMSTOP cover a self-exclusion request made straight to a casino?
No. GAMSTOP is a national scheme that binds operators that hold a Great Britain licence issued by the Gambling Commission; it has no reach into a site licensed only offshore. Asking such a site directly to self-exclude you is a different mechanism, resting entirely on the duties its own licence attaches, not on the national scheme. That is exactly why the licence type, not the fact that you asked, decides what the operator was required to do next.
What does a Curaçao licence require when you self-exclude?
Curaçao’s regulator, the Curaçao Gaming Authority, publishes a Responsible Gaming Policy that every licensee must follow as a condition of its licence under the LOK. Article 1.4(e) of the LOK itself prohibits an operator from giving a person it can reasonably assume to be a vulnerable person the opportunity to play; the policy defines a vulnerable person to include anyone who “has been banned from playing any game of chance either by force or at his or her own request”, which is precisely the position of someone who has self-excluded. Under LOK clause 5.4(2), the operator must offer a genuine self-exclusion choice of at least one year, running up to a lifetime option, and the restriction must take effect immediately once requested. Where the site allows the request by email or live chat rather than only through an on-site form, the elected option must be enabled within 24 hours. Any wagering that takes place in the gap between the request and it taking effect carries a civil-law consequence: it should be voided and the funds returned. Once excluded, the account must close, the operator must take reasonable steps to stop a new account opening under different details, no direct marketing may be sent, and reactivation can only ever be started by the player in writing, never by the operator getting back in touch first. Adherence to the whole policy is treated as a requirement of the licence itself, and the CGA can act on a failure to comply.
What does an Anjouan licence require?
Anjouan Gaming states plainly that each licensed operator is required to maintain a self-exclusion procedure and to honour valid self-exclusion requests in accordance with its licence conditions, alongside player controls for deposit, wager, loss and session limits. Requests go straight to the operator rather than to the Authority. Where a request is ignored, the complaint route sits with the operator first: it must investigate and respond within 30 calendar days, or 14 days when the dispute is about a single game outcome, and it bears the cost of the approved dispute-resolution process if the complaint is not resolved. The Authority itself does not handle, mediate or adjudicate individual complaints; its role is to hold the licence over the operator, not to rule on your case directly.
What if you cannot tell which licence applies?
Both regimes only bite once you know which one governs the site, so treat that as the first task rather than the last. The route by licence, Curaçao, Anjouan, UK Gambling Commission or something else, is set out further down this page; use it to confirm the licence before deciding how to complain.
What evidence should you keep?
Self-exclusion cases turn on two dated records sitting side by side: proof the request existed, and proof the operator let you play afterwards anyway. Keep the message you sent, whatever form it took, with its date. Keep any closure confirmation you received, or note plainly that none arrived. Keep account statements or cashier records showing deposits and sessions that fall after the request date. Keep any marketing that arrived once you had asked to stop. Screenshots of a working login after your request date are worth more than a description of one, so take them while you still have access.
Register checked 7 September 2026 against the Curaçao Gaming Authority register edition of 3 September 2026 (662 licences: 63 Active, 206 Indefinite, 311 Assessment in progress, 50 Revoked at the operator's request, 32 Expired). Before assuming which licence governs your casino, check both the licence and its present status through the licence checker.
Where a self-exclusion request was ignored and the record supports it, Clinton & Co reviews the sequence of events and builds the file. The Curaçao refunds service investigates the facts behind a case like this and passes a case to a regulated legal partner once the evidence supports one; nothing is too small to be looked at and no promise of an outcome. A free eligibility check tells you honestly where you stand.
Some of the accounts most often reported in connection with ignored self-exclusion requests sit behind these Curaçao licences. Stake is licensed to Medium Rare N.V. under OGL/2024/1451/0918, register status Assessment in progress. BitStarz is licensed to Gareton B.V. under OGL/2024/165/0185, register status Indefinite. Cloudbet is licensed to Halcyon Super Holdings B.V. under OGL/2024/328/0599, register status Assessment in progress. 1xBet is licensed to Caecus N.V. under OGL/2024/1262/0493, register status Indefinite. Every one of those operator pages names who actually holds the licence, gives its live register entry and quotes what that operator’s own terms say about UK players, each drawn from its own dated source.
Where the money left your account by bank transfer instead of a card, a route through your own bank sits apart from whatever the casino decides about your self-exclusion request; our page on recovering casino deposits paid by bank transfer explains that route. To understand your broader position with an operator licensed outside Great Britain, our hub on casinos not on GamStop: your rights lays out what you can and cannot expect. Where the operator holds a Curaçao licence, our Curaçao casino help hub walks through the register and the formal complaint process there. If the same account also has money stuck unpaid rather than just an ignored exclusion request, the casino not paying out guide deals with chasing that separately.
If gambling is causing you harm, free and confidential help is available now. Call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or chat to GamCare (gamcare.org.uk). BetBlocker (betblocker.org) is free and blocks gambling sites across your devices, including offshore sites GAMSTOP does not reach. You can register or check an existing exclusion for Great Britain licensed operators at GAMSTOP (gamstop.co.uk).
Sources
- Curaçao Gaming Authority, Responsible Gaming Policy for Licensed Operators, Version 1.0, 17 April 2025 (gamingcontrol.spin-cdn.com): definition of a vulnerable person, LOK Article 1.4(e), LOK clause 5.4(2) minimum one-year self-exclusion, 24-hour activation for an email or chat request, immediate effect and voiding of wagers made before the exclusion takes effect, the account-closure and duplicate-account duties, the marketing ban and the player-only reactivation rule. Read 7 September 2026.
- Anjouan Gaming, Responsible Gaming (anjouangaming.com/responsible-gaming): the duty to maintain a self-exclusion procedure and honour direct self-exclusion requests, made to the operator rather than the Authority. Read 7 September 2026.
- Anjouan Gaming, Player Complaint Process (anjouangaming.com/file-a-complaint): the 30-day operator response window, the 14-day window for a game-outcome dispute, ADR paid for by the operator, with the Authority itself not ruling on individual complaints. Read 7 September 2026.
- GAMSTOP help centre, which gambling companies GAMSTOP covers: "All online gambling companies licensed in Great Britain must be part of Gamstop Online." Read 7 September 2026.
General information, not legal advice. We are not solicitors or a law firm. We connect clients with regulated legal partners.