Problem Gambling Seven Times More Common on Illegal Sites, UK Regulator Finds

People using illegal gambling websites in Britain are more than seven times as likely to show signs of problem gambling compared to players on licensed sites, according to new research from the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC). Gambling Commission research suggested that problem gambling is more prevalent among users of unlicensed websites. (Image: UKGC) The regulator found that 45% of players on illegal gambling websites scored eight or higher on the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI). That compared with just 6% of gamblers using licensed websites. A score of eight or above places an individual in the highest risk category of the PGSI, indicating problem gambling behavior. The findings come from a report which examined banking transactions between July 2018 and July 2026. The research also found that 17% of illegal gambling users had PGSI scores between three and seven, compared with 9% of licensed customers. However, the UKGC said that its findings do not establish whether using illegal gambling websites causes greater gambling harm. Illegal Gamblers Continue Using Licensed Operators The study also looked at the extent to which illegal gambling activity overlapped with licensed betting. Among the individuals with repeated transactions involving illegal operators, 91% also gambled with licensed companies. The UKGC said that it had found little evidence that customers stopped using regulated websites after beginning to gamble illegally. “Illegal gambling is embedded within existing gambling behavior rather than triggering a sustained shift away from the licensed market,” the report concluded. Of the 122 individuals in the report with at least two detected illegal gambling transactions, the average number of monthly licensed gambling transactions remained relatively stable following their first identified illegal transaction. They made an average of 24.8 licensed gambling transactions in the preceding month, compared with 23.7 in the following month. The findings suggest that illegal operators were used alongside regulated businesses rather than consistently replacing them. Regulator Identifies More Than 3,400 Illegal Gambling Transactions For the study, the UKGC analyzed 157.2 million banking transactions from approximately 38,000 individuals, using financial data collected by YouGov. It identified 3,426 transactions believed to involve illegal gambling operators, made by 179 individuals. Identifying illegal payments proved difficult. An initial attempt to match known illegal operator names against banking transaction descriptions failed. The UKGC said that this could have been because illegal operators rarely include their business names in payment information. Researchers subsequently used known transaction descriptions and merchant names to identify suspected illegal gambling payments. These difficulties underlined the challenge of detecting illegal activity through banking records, which failed to pick up cryptocurrency transactions. As a result, the UKGC said the findings could not establish the size of Britain’s illegal gambling market. Others have been less hesitant about putting numbers on the problem. In August, the Betting and Gaming Council warned that UK black market Premier League betting will hit £1 billion ($1.36 billion) by the 2027/28 season. The post Problem Gambling Seven Times More Common on Illegal Sites, UK Regulator Finds appeared first on Casino.org.