Gambling self-exclusion app BetBlocker has recently been approved as a charity in the UK. Following that milestone, the project is now looking for other parties within the gambling industry to help it grow further and reach more people with problem gambling behavior.
BetBlocker is a free responsible gambling app that was developed and has been funded by alternative dispute mediation service ThePOGG. The tool went live this past summer to assist gamblers who show signs of gambling addiction.
BetBlocker enables users to control their access to more than 6,700 websites that are run by UK-licensed online gambling operators. Gamblers can self-exclude from websites by activating the BetBlocker app and selecting the length of exclusion they want. Once activated on a certain device, BetBlocker restricts it from accessing gambling sites and the exclusion cannot be lifted until the conclusion of the period pointed by users.
The app also allows users to self-restrict their access to black market operations that oftentimes ignore instances of excessive gambling.
Since its launch this summer, BetBlocker has been downloaded more than 40,000 times across all platforms. Its mobile user base alone includes several thousand active users.
Growing BetBlocker
After being approved as a charity, the BetBlocker project can now move onto the next stage of cementing itself as an important responsible gambling tool that can significantly help the industry and its customers in tackling problem gambling and gambling addiction.
Commenting on what they have achieved so far, BetBlocker manager and ThePOGG founder Duncan Garvie said that “the project has proved to be far more popular that we ever expected and has expanded far beyond the original userbase it was intended to help.”
As BetBlocker is clearly poised to grow further, Mr. Garvie pointed out that “this is a project that needs to be recognised in its own right, outside of ThePOGG, if it is to reach its full potential and maximise the number of people it can help.”
With the rapid expansion of BetBlocker’s user base, sustaining the project has become a challenging task to be met by ThePOGG alone. The popular player advocate website had the choice to charge users a fee in order to fund the responsible gambling tool, but decided against it because that would have been “fundamentally contrary to the objective of helping gambling addicts who are very likely to be cash poor.”
Instead, BetBlocker’s founders have moved to seek out other parties within the industry “that are committed to helping protect vulnerable players” to cooperate with them and to ensure that the responsible gambling project “has a bright future and reaches as many people as possible.”
BetBlocker will still accept donations from players who can afford to give. Anyone interested to make a donation can email [email protected] for more information.
Players and BetBlocker users can also help the project via the Amazon Smile program. The program allows Amazon users to make a small donation to BetBlocker at no extra cost to themselves every time they purchase something through the major online retailer. You can click here to support the BetBlocker project via Amazon Smile.
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