Gamban: What the Gambling Blocking App Covers and Which Devices It Works On

What the blocking app covers: casinos, betting and other gambling sites

Gamban is a piece of software you install on your own devices. Once it is running, it blocks access to thousands of gambling websites and apps worldwide². That is the whole job. It is not a counseling service, not a helpline and not a self-exclusion register. It is a wall between your device and the gambling sites you would otherwise open.

The coverage is broad by design. It is not limited to one country's licensed operators or one type of gambling. Casino sites, sports betting sites, poker rooms and lottery pages all fall under the same block. Because it works at the level of the device rather than the account, it also catches sites you have never used before, which matters if you tend to sign up somewhere new when you are chasing a loss.

If you want to understand why that pattern is worth interrupting, our page on chasing losses explains how a single bad session turns into a much bigger one.

Gamban is one of a small group of tools that do this. BetBlocker is the other name that comes up most often, and it blocks online gambling websites and apps in the same way⁵. The practical difference for most people is cost: BetBlocker is free to the public, while Gamban is a paid subscription after the trial⁴. Both are legitimate. Neither is a complete solution on its own.

That last point is worth sitting with. Installing blocking software on your device is not a full answer to a gambling problem, but it can be a useful part of a good strategy for quitting⁶. Think of it as one layer. It raises the effort required to gamble, which buys you time to make a different decision.

There are lighter options too. You can add gambling sites to your browser's restricted or dangerous site list, and both Chrome and Firefox offer extensions that block sites⁷. These are free and quick to set up, but they are easy to switch off and they only cover the browser on one device. A dedicated app like Gamban is harder to work around, which is the point.

Which devices it works on

Gamban runs on the devices most people actually gamble on. That means iPhone and Android phones, plus computers and tablets. You install it on each device you want covered, and a single subscription covers more than one device, so your phone, laptop and tablet can all be protected at once³.

This matters more than it sounds. Most people who gamble online do it on a phone, often late at night, often in bed. If you only block your laptop, you have blocked the device you use least. Install it on the phone first.

A short checklist of devices to think about:

• Your main phone
• Any older phone still in a drawer that connects to wifi
• Your laptop or desktop computer
• A work laptop, if you use it for personal browsing
• A tablet
• A shared family computer, if others in the house gamble too

If you are setting this up for someone else, our guide to helping a family member walks through how to raise it without a fight.

One practical note on phones: gambling apps already installed are covered by the block, not just websites you type into a browser⁵. That is important because a lot of casual gambling now happens inside apps that sit on the home screen. If you have three betting apps installed, Gamban is designed to stop them opening.

Cost, subscription length and how to cancel

Gamban is not free, but it is not expensive either. The structure is simple: a seven-day free trial, then a monthly or yearly paid subscription². You pick the billing period when you sign up. The yearly option works out cheaper per month, which is worth knowing if you intend to keep it running for a while.

The trial is genuinely useful. Seven days is long enough to see whether the app interferes with anything you actually need, and short enough that you are not locked in before you have tested it. If it does not suit you, cancel before the trial ends.

Canceling is a normal subscription cancellation. You cancel through the app store or payment method you used to sign up, the same way you would cancel any other subscription. There is no penalty and no exit interview.

A word on why the paid model exists at all. A free tool that is trivial to remove is easy to abandon in a weak moment. Paying for something, even a small amount, adds a step. You have to go and cancel it, which takes longer than deleting a free app. That friction is part of how these tools work.

If cost is the barrier, BetBlocker is free to the public and blocks gambling websites and apps⁴. There is no reason to go without a blocker because of money.

Gamban alongside other self-exclusion tools

Gamban blocks sites on your device. Self-exclusion blocks you at the operator. They cover different gaps, and using both is stronger than using either alone.

Self-exclusion is an effective tool to support your commitment to stay away from gambling⁸. The idea is that you ask gambling operators to bar you, so that even if you open a site, you cannot bet. In Great Britain, registering with GamStop prevents you setting up gambling accounts with businesses licensed there⁷. You can register for 6 months, 1 year or 5 years⁷.

In Asia, the schemes differ by jurisdiction.

The gap Gamban fills is the one self-exclusion leaves open. Self-exclusion works on licensed operators who check the register. It does not stop you opening an offshore site that ignores it. A device-level block does, because it stops the page loading in the first place.

A sensible order of operations:

1. Install a blocker on every device you gamble on.
2. Register for self-exclusion with the schemes that cover your local operators.
3. Add a payment-level block with your bank if you want another layer.
4. Tell one person what you have done, so someone knows.

On that third step: many banks let you block gambling payments on your debit or credit card. It does not close your bank account or affect your credit score, and some banks include a cooling-off period before the block can be removed². That cooling-off period is the useful part. It means a decision made at 2am cannot be undone at 2:05am.

What a blocker cannot do is stop you opening a new bank account or using a different payment method. Gamban does not touch your banking at all². If you want that layer, you have to set it up with your bank directly.

It is also worth knowing that some operators tie payments to a single registered account. In the Philippines, funding, withdrawals and transfers to or from a payment account other than the player's registered accounts are strictly prohibited and penalized¹⁴. In Singapore, Singapore Pools account holders nominate a personal DBS, POSB, OCBC or UOB account that is not linked to any overdraft facility¹⁵. These rules make it harder to route money around a block, but they are operator rules, not something Gamban controls.

Finally, if you are not sure whether you need any of this, a short self-assessment can help. Free and confidential support is available for concerns about your own gambling or someone close to you¹⁶, and a gambling harms self-assessment tool can give you advice and content tailored to you¹⁷. Our page on self-assessment tests explains what the questionnaires measure.

If you would rather talk to a person, the National Gambling Helpline is a free, confidential and tailored service¹⁸, and counseling through GambleAware is free, with no cost to speak with a counselor¹⁹. For a wider list of numbers by country, see our gambling helplines page.