The Self-Exclusion Gap: Kalshi and Roobet

The StoryA man who did the hardest thing, and it wasn't enough

Thomas, who asked NPR to use only his middle name, filed for bankruptcy in late 2023. Then he did what every counselor asks people to do: he put himself on the self-exclusion lists at DraftKings and FanDuel, the two apps that had taken his money. In industry language that is "self exclusion." In human language it is signing a paper that says I cannot be trusted with this, lock me out.

An ad found him anyway. Kalshi, on Instagram, offering a $20 bonus for the first $10 spent.

"Betting $10 became a couple hundred, and that became a couple hundred more, then thousands more."

Treatment providers quoted in the same report said they are seeing the pattern repeat: clients who self-excluded from sportsbooks and then fell into prediction markets. Abdullah Mahmood, a problem gambling counselor at Maryhaven in Columbus, Ohio, described the short-duration contracts this way: "The ones that expire in a matter of minutes or hours are no different than a slot machine in your pocket."

Why the List Didn't Reach HimTwo kinds of door

A state self-exclusion program is a contract between you and your state's gambling regulator. Every operator the state licenses has to check that list and refuse you. That covers the sportsbook apps, the casino apps, and the physical casinos in your state. If you want the mechanics, how self-exclusion works walks through enrollment, durations and what happens if you slip.

The list stops at the edge of the state's authority. Two kinds of operator sit outside it.

Federally supervised exchanges. Kalshi is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a Designated Contract Market. It does not hold a state gambling license, so it is not bound by state self-exclusion programs, and NPR confirmed it "does not participate in 'self exclusion' databases maintained by states." Kalshi says it offers its own tools: a trading break, a voluntary opt-out, and a personalized funding cap. Those are Kalshi's rules on Kalshi's platform. Nothing you signed with your state carries over.

Offshore casinos. Roobet is operated by Raw Entertainment B.V., licensed by the Government of Curaçao under license OGL/2024/687/0427. It is not licensed in any U.S. state. Your state registry has no more reach over it than over a casino in another country, because that is what it is.

The result is a fence with two gaps that most people do not know are there until they walk through one.

The RegulatorsWhat the states are doing about it

States have noticed. Kentucky's attorney general, Russell Coleman, sued Kalshi, Polymarket and VGW on June 17, 2026, alleging they operate illegal gambling platforms. The Kalshi complaint says nearly 89% of its trading activity was tied to sports, more than $23 billion in contract volume in 2025, and that the platform offers "few or no resources" for people showing signs of gambling addiction, which Kentucky law requires of licensed operators. Missouri's attorney general took action against prediction markets in September after a gambling addiction expert warned they put young Missourians at risk.

The question of who gets to regulate these products at all is in front of the Supreme Court. We covered the split between the federal appeals courts in The Kalshi Case Reaches the Supreme Court. Until it is settled, the practical reality for someone trying to quit is the one above: the state list does not reach these platforms, whatever a court eventually decides.

On September 22, the National Council on Problem Gambling moved its own position. In May it had taken Kalshi on as a Platinum member, which cost it Nevada's affiliate and Michigan's regulator (that story is here). Its new statement said prediction markets are "functionally gambling" regardless of how they are "currently legally defined," and named the features that make them so: continuous access, rapid feedback, repeated wagering opportunities, gamified interfaces, and incentives designed to sustain engagement. Board president Derek Longmeier said people are experiencing "real financial, emotional, and relationship consequences as a result of prediction markets." The council still calls itself neutral on whether the products should be legal.

The Second GapWhy leaving Roobet takes two days

Roobet is a crypto casino, heavily promoted on streaming platforms, and the second gap works differently. It is not that Roobet has no self-exclusion. It is that the process is built so that a decision made at 2 a.m. has to be made again at 2 a.m. the next day.

Here is the process as Roobet's own help center describes it, last updated July 23, 2026.

Step one is a 24-hour cooldown. You open the Responsible Gaming tab and choose casino, sportsbook, or both. During those 24 hours, in Roobet's words, "you will not be able to wager; however, you will still be able to access your account to claim any eligible rewards." You are locked out of betting and invited to keep logging in.

Step two is the actual exclusion, and you have to come back for it. "Once the 24-hour cooldown has passed, the self-exclusion option will become available." Roobet's responsible gambling policy adds that you are "once again prompted for password verification before the Self-Exclusion pop-up is displayed." Then you pick a duration. The help center lists 1 day, 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, 1 year, or permanent. Once set, the exclusion "is irreversible and cannot be modified/undone by our team."

Read that sequence from the point of view of someone in crisis. The moment they reach for the exit is the moment they are most ready to leave. The platform gives them a one-day timeout and asks them to return tomorrow, with the Vault still open, to make the decision a second time. Nothing in Roobet's published documentation says support will apply the exclusion immediately if you ask. An earlier version of our own Roobet quit guide said they would. We have corrected it.

Deleting the account is longer still. Per the help center: email [email protected] with the subject "Account Deletion" from the address on the account. Support replies within 24 to 48 hours and starts a 48-hour cooldown. A follow-up email arrives within the next 24 hours, and you have 24 hours to answer it to confirm. That is four touchpoints across roughly three days, each one a chance to not follow through.

There are also documented complaints, including one resolved on AskGamblers in which a player who asked for deletion was offered a bonus instead. We cannot verify how common that is. We can say the published process makes it possible.

What To DoClosing the gaps yourself

The state list is still worth signing. It covers the apps most people start on, and it is the only layer backed by a regulator. Then close the two gaps it leaves.

1. Exclude from each platform directly. On Kalshi, use the voluntary opt-out, not the trading break, and ask support to confirm it in writing. On Roobet, start the 24-hour cooldown, set a calendar reminder for the moment it ends, and come back and pick 1 year or permanent. A 1-day or 3-day "self-exclusion" is a timeout with a different label. The Kalshi quit guide and Roobet quit guide have the exact steps and addresses.
2. Withdraw first. Roobet returns nothing automatically. Move any crypto balance out before you start the cooldown, so the account has nothing in it to come back for.
3. Put a block outside the platform. An exclusion the operator controls is only as good as the operator. Block the domains at your router or DNS so every device on your network is covered, and hand the password for that tool to someone you trust. For Kalshi, that includes the Instagram ads: unfollow, hide, and report them as gambling ads so the feed stops serving them.
4. Tell one person, tonight. Thomas's story has one more detail worth sitting with: nobody in his life knew about Kalshi until the balance was five figures. Self-exclusion is a fence. A person who knows is a floor.

Sources

• He was banned by betting sites, and filed for bankruptcy. Then he relapsed on Kalshi, NPR, October 2, 2026
• Self-Exclusion, Roobet Help Center, updated July 23, 2026
• Time Out, Self-Exclusion, and Account Deletion, Roobet Help Center
• Responsible Gambling Policy, Roobet (Raw Entertainment B.V., Curaçao license OGL/2024/687/0427)
• Kentucky files lawsuits targeting prediction markets and sweepstakes casinos, Spectrum News 1, June 17, 2026
• Kentucky AG Sues Prediction Markets Over Allegedly 'Illegal' Sports Betting, June 2026
• National gambling group takes firmer stance on prediction markets, Axios, September 22, 2026
• NCPG Calls Prediction Markets 'Functionally Gambling' Amid Member Exits, Legal Sports Report, September 2026
• Gambling addiction expert says prediction markets put young Missourians at risk; Missouri attorney general takes action, September 21, 2026
• RooBet Casino: Offered me a bonus after I asked for account deletion, AskGamblers complaint, resolved