BetBlocker: Helping You Stay In Control Of Your Play 

We speak to Duncan Garvie, Founder of BetBlocker, the free to use responsible gambling tool that all online casino players should be using.

For many, online casino is a form of entertainment. Nothing beats the thrill of firing up the reels on a blockbuster slot, timing your crash game cash out to perfection, or hitting that winning hand in blackjack. 

The anticipation that builds with each game round is hard to find anywhere else and if that spin does turn into a win, well, you can’t get better than that. 

For the vast majority of people, staying in control of their play is straightforward. Some will use the safe gaming tools provided by the online casinos they play at – I’m talking deposit, loss and session limits – while others will simply give themselves a budget and stick to it. 

But for some, online gambling is compelling and in rare cases, their play becomes out of control. Online casinos deploy cutting-edge technologies to monitor these players and intervene when required, and they also have extensive support available should players need it. 

In some cases, this can mean self-excluding from online casino sites. For these players, there also also other tools they can use to block access to sites and apps, and one of the best out there is BetBlocker.

This is a free-to-use app that, once installed (it literally takes a couple of minutes), immediately blocks access to more than 85,000 gambling sites and apps. It can also be used to limit access to sites and help all players manage their gambling activity. 

To learn more about BetBlocker, we spoke to founder Duncan Garvie. 

BetBlocker. Can you tell our readers what it is and why they might want to use it? 

BetBlocker is what’s known as “blocking software”. As the name suggests, this is an app that will restrict your device from accessing certain types of content. In the case of BetBlocker, it helps users limit or control their access to online gambling services.

BetBlocker is a UK-registered charity that provides free blocking software to support all players manage their gambling, restricting where necessary and helping all players control where and when they can play.

BetBlocker is available on more platforms than any other blocking software (Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, Linux and Fire OS) and in more languages than any other blocking software (English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Romanian and another dozen languages soon to be launched). What’s more, it is completely free to use and requires no registration, meaning that the service can be accessed anonymously.

Where did the idea for BetBlocker come from? 

My professional role (my role within BetBlocker is voluntary) is the Head of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Services for a company that manages disputes between players and online gambling operators. We’re approved to manage disputes on behalf of the regulator for both UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) and Malta Gaming Authority licensees (online casinos).

In 2017, we were seeing a sharp rise in the volume of complaints we were receiving related to gambling harm. The UKGC license had come into place a couple of years before and consumers were becoming more aware of their rights.

Some of the cases that were coming over my desk were harrowing. Anyone who has worked managing responsible gambling-related complaints will know exactly the types of situations I’m talking about. So I started to look around to see what other support services I could signpost to help these users. 

My first thought was blocking software – putting a physical barrier between the user and further harm buys the time to seek wider-reaching support. I started looking at the blocking software on the market and was shocked to realise that they were all subscription-based.

After an evening with a few beers ranting at a close friend about this, he challenged me. He said, “If you feel so strongly about this, why don’t you set up your own blocking software and give it away for free?” So that’s exactly what I did.

Why did you decide to make it free to use?

In my opinion, it’s critical to deliver blocking software free of charge to users for two reasons:

1) One of the primary markers of harm associated with gambling disorder is financial distress. By requiring users to pay to get help you are exacerbating this financial distress. It’s like telling an alcoholic that if they want support they have to give up part of their liver.

2) When we charge for help with gambling addiction the people who are most severely impacted, and are in the greatest financial distress, are naturally going to be the least able to access the support. Paywalls prevent the people who most need help from accessing it.

So I feel it’s critical that blocking software is free.

Can players support BetBlocker in any way? 

Players can support BetBlocker. We do have a donation option on the BetBlocker website. But honestly, I don’t want our users to support the service this way. 

Generally, our users are recovering from significant financial setbacks. The best thing they can do with their money is fold it and put it back in their purse/wallet. Blocking software is an inexpensive support option to provide. And it’s a net gain for the industry. Before BetBlocker existed, gambling operators where having to buy licenses to give to players from commercial alternatives via fixed arbitrary license fees. This meant that big operators were the only ones who could afford to offer free blocking software to their users. The charitable model means that operators can choose a donation level that is manageable for their budget/size and everyone can access free blocking software.

We have some amazing supporters in the sector who share our commitment to delivering free blocking software and more names join the list of donors every month. It’s been amazingly rewarding to see the project take off the way it has and we hope that we can continue to run the project via industry support. So our users don’t have to help us keep the lights on.

Is BetBlocker just a tool for blocking access to gambling sites or can it be used as part of responsible play?

BetBlocker certainly offers a continuous blocking feature for users who feel they need to stop or take a break from gambling.

But we also offer what we call our Scheduling feature. This is intended to support every player in managing their access to gambling to ensure that they stay within safe limits and it remains fun. 

For example:

1) If you want to make sure your bills are paid before you play, you could look up your payday and set the block to switch on for a week after pay day each month.

2) If you feel you’re sitting up too late playing, you could set the block so you can’t play after 10pm each night.

3) If you’re bad for gambling too much when you have a drink, you could set the block to switch on during the weekends.

4) If you want to make sure you’re not distracted whilst spending time with your kids, you could set the block to switch on when they get home from school and switch off at bedtime.

I firmly believe that the best approach to addressing gambling harms is to empower players to engage safely, to help them manage their play in a way that is affordable for them and stops problems from escalating. Doing that is about giving them the tools and control that encourage healthy activity if they are going to gamble. BetBlocker is constantly working to develop features that encourage this.

What else can players do to ensure they stay in control of their play at online casinos?

Firstly – play with licensed gambling operators if they’re available – note, all casinos listed on Comparasino hold an active licence from the Gambling Commission. When you play with unlicensed or weakly licensed gambling operators the operator is not required to do anything to protect you and you lose any comeback if things go wrong, even if it’s not related to gambling harm.

After that, familiarise yourself with the gambling management tools in your account! Set deposit limits, loss limits and time limits. All well-regulated operators provide these types of tools now and they’re a great way to ensure you stay within your limits.

And use BetBlocker!! Personalise when you want to be able to access online casinos in just seconds!

Remember that “responsible gambling” isn’t for people with a problem. If you have a problem, not gambling is what you should do. Responsible gambling is what every player should do any time they gamble. It’s the seat belt that you click clunk before you start the car. It’s taking 30 seconds before you play to think about what you can afford to play and putting in place restrictions to keep you within that limit.

Can you share any exciting BetBlocker updates due in the coming months?

I can’t share too much of what we’re doing before we launch it. The announcements are a lot of how we generate buzz around the brand and help us bring in donations. But I can tell you we have around a dozen new languages being worked on at the moment, we’re upgrading various features on the tool and we want to build out an analytics platform to give everyone more insight into how users engage with BetBlocker.

Any final thoughts? 

Only to say thank you to Comparasino for taking the time to talk to me and cover BetBlocker. The biggest challenge we face is making players aware of the service that we provide so every comparison site that promotes us to their audience is helping us reach people.