Gambling Commission 'alive' to the dangers posed by black market gambling

The Gambling Commission is "alive" to the dangers of black market gambling but may need a wider range of tools to tackle the issue.

That was the view of the industry regulator's executive director Tim Miller in a keynote speech at Know Now's 2021 conference on Social Responsibility for Gambling Operators.

Last month the Racing Post investigated the threat of the black market and found dozens of websites were brazenly advertising directly to customers who had signed up for the industry's self-exclusion scheme GamStop.

It was claimed unregulated operators were approaching former VIP managers for regulated bookmakers to access their customer lists, including problem gamblers, as they felt they were "commercially lucrative".

In February the Betting and Gaming Council cited a report by PwC which found that money staked by British punters with unlicensed operators had doubled to £2.8 billion. However the then GC chief executive Neil McArthur told the Gambling Related Harm APP Group that warnings from operators of the impact of the illegal market "may be being exaggerated".

Talking about the commission's work around illegal gambling, Miller told this week's conference: "The Gambling Commission is alive to this danger and regularly takes action to cut off or shut down these sites. With rapid changes in technology we know we need to be increasingly fleet of foot and may need a broader range of tools to tackle emerging risks.

"We're pleased the review of the Gambling Act includes a focus on the powers and resources of the commission. Industry and others are right to flag the risks that can come from the black market.

"But the solution to tackling that black market is not to cease taking action to make regulated gambling safer."

The Gambling Commission: the industry's gambling regulator

Miller warned the commission was still seeing examples of people being allowed to gamble amounts "that clearly place customers at risk of harm with very limited or no customer interaction until a very late stage".

Earlier this year the commission ran a consultation on customer interaction, which included controversial proposals for affordability checks that meant a monthly net gambling loss of as little as £100 would mean punters would have to prove their income in order to bet.

Miller told the conference that having assessed the 13,000 responses to the consultation, the commission would be publishing revised requirements for operators in the coming weeks.

Read more:

'The black market sees vulnerability as commercially lucrative (Members' Club)

Revealed: how black market betting sites are preying on gambling addicts (Members' Club)

Affordability checks could see some gamblers turn to black market operators

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