Crypto Casinos Are Targeting Self-Excluded Gamblers in the UK

The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has cautioned that there is an increasing number of websites – operating illegally and using crypto to dodge detection – that are currently operating in the United Kingdom and targeting vulnerable gamblers.

Illegal Gambling to Get a Further Boost from Tax Hikes

To make things worse, should a proposed tax increase come into force, at least 28% regular gamblers would make the switch to illegal operators themselves, according to a survey. A comment from BGC CEO Grainne Hurst stated:

“Punters are clear, get the balance on tax and regulation wrong and you hand a competitive advantage to the black market where operators pay no tax, contribute nothing to British sport, and offer no safer gambling protections.”

Yet, problems persist even without the expected increase in the gambling tax. According to the BGC survey, 14% of respondents said that they gambled with illegal operators even today, whereas 29% were unsure if they could tell regulated from unregulated operators.

Another reason to worry is a recent survey by Yield Sec, which indicated that about GBP 583 million is wagered illegally in the United Kingdom alone. A lot of the illegal gambling handle also seems to be driven by a large population of self-excluded gamblers, Yield Sec and the BGC argue.

Some affiliate companies are even promoting services such as “websites not on GAMSTOP,” with GAMSTOP being the official self-exclusion program in the United Kingdom. Such consumers are targeted by affiliate companies knowingly, with the BGC arguing that a new tax hike could only compound the issue.

Things are even worse when you hear from the report’s researchers. Yield Sec Founder Ismail Vali argues that illegal gambling revenue in the United Kingdom is fueled exclusively by people who are registered on the self-exclusion program.

According to Yield Sec, the illegal gambling market’s share of the total industry was 0.43% in the United Kingdom in 2020, but has grown to around 9% precisely through the use of the “not on GAMSTOP” keyword targeting that directly seeks to harm vulnerable players.

Offshore and Unauthorized Operators Funded by GAMSTOP Excluded Players

“There is no good reason for mainstream consumers to use illegal gambling operators, so, crime only targets those consumers who have bad reasons for requiring illegal gambling operators: they are under 18 and they are on the GAMSTOP self-exclusion scheme,” Vali explained, adding that crime was not stupid and it understood that going legal was not an option for illegal operators – it’s just too expensive to make business locally.

Campaign for Fairer Gambling Founder Derek Webb echoed this sentiment, arguing that while the government was too focused on ensuring that the regulated market sticks to the rules, the illegal gambling market was competing in a vastly different area – targeting people who have self-excluded and actively sought to play at “casinos not on GAMSTOP.”