The government’s newly published “Men’s Health Strategy” calls for a deeper focus on how problem gambling impacts the male population of the UK, with an ongoing understanding towards policy treating gambling harms and consequences as a public health issue.

Announced by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), led by Secretary Wes Streeting, the strategy recognises that gambling-related harms are ‘disproportionately experienced by men’ and that young men in particular are more likely to gamble online, particularly with casinos.

Its publication comes seven months after the Select Committee on Health and Social Care, tasked with scrutinising departmental policy in this area, called for an urgent review of the 2005 Gambling Act to ensure that public health is factored into legislation.

National approach to gambling harm
Though the government has heeded the Select Committee’s calls to some extent – there is no commitment to yet another review of the Gambling Act, as White Paper recommendations were published in April 2023, and are yet to be fully implemented.

Responding to the strategy, Greg Fell, President of the Association of Directors of Public Health, said: “We are pleased to see this new strategy emphasises preventing the many avoidable illnesses and diseases – including a number of cancers and respiratory and mental health conditions – that are driven by smoking, drinking and gambling.”

A key pledge is the development of a ‘coordinated approach’ on gambling harm prevention, set at the national, regional and local level. Campaign groups and gambling treatment organisations, like GambleAware, had previously highlighted the need to gambling treatment policy to be tailored for different local considerations.

The government envisions a national-regional strategy including support for local authorities and the voluntary sector, development of digital tools, and building of evidence of best policy and practice.

The voluntary sector can expect to receive a grant from April 2026 to fund prevention programmes with a focus on young men aged 25 to 34, and both white British men and those from ethnic minority backgrounds.

This grant is going to be separate to the statutory levy on research, education and treatment – the RET levy – which came into effect in April this year as a key recommendation of the 2020-2023 review of the 2005 Gambling Act. Levy payment collections began on 1 September, at a rate of 0.1% and 1% depending on gambling activity type.

The strategy has praised the levy as being independent from the sector, a reference to the often repeated criticisms of GambleAware, the chief commissioning body for gambling harm prevention and treatment programmes, that the organisation was too dependent on industry funds.

Other pledges include greater data collection and evaluation, and delivering the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) research programme to address gaps in evidence and research into gambling harm.

James Grimes, Director of Chapter One, a prevention programme run by the gambling reform advocacy group Gambling with Lives, said: “The release of this strategy is very welcome, especially in its recognition of the health harms caused by gambling – harms felt by countless men across the country.”

Another score for gambling law reform
The government’s new strategy has seen gambling written into the NHS’ 10 Year Health Plan, alongside alcohol, drugs, tobacco and vaping – a clear endorsement that the government is increasingly viewing gambling as a public health issue as possible.

Outcomes will be indicative of the NHS taking a prominent role in gambling harm prevention and treatment, previously dominated by the charity sector. The NHS’ role had already been considerably expanded when NHS England was given the job of commissioning projects via RET levy funds.

The health body takes over this task from GambleAware, which is subsequently going to shut down in March – although the government is also in the process of scrapping NHS England itself as a part of a wider cost cutting and efficiency push.

As mentioned above, various stakeholders have been calling for such an approach over the past few years, including GambleAware, the Social Market Foundation (SMF), NHS professionals and other treatment specialists, and politicians.

Throughout 2025, various politicians have been calling for the government to take another look at gambling regulation. Layla Moran, Chair of the aforementioned health and social care Select Committee, is one such voice.

“The Men’s Health Strategy should be a golden opportunity for the government to get serious about reducing harms caused by gambling addiction,” Moran told PoliticsHome yesterday.

“The committee has already called on ministers to consider regulations on gambling ads, particularly to limit the frequency and kinds of promotions and incentives that can be sent to encourage individuals to gamble.

“And as many local authorities often struggle to prevent gambling venues from clustering on high streets in deprived areas, due to a lack of resources in the face of legal challenges, we say that public health officials should be given a greater say in the planning system.”

The strategy suggests that Moran and others have achieved at least some of their goals. In its assessment of local approaches to preventing gambling harm, the strategy notes that ‘several local authorities are introducing advertising and sponsorship policies that restrict exposure to gambling marketing’.

Today’s Men’s Health Strategy, coupled with the debate around taxation which has seen over 100 Labour MPs voice support for higher gambling tax rates, all seems to indicate a government policy in favour of tighter regulation and monitoring of this industry. This could perhaps see a two pronged political approach to gambling, treating it as both a business issue and a health issue, depending on the topic.

“The first ever Men’s Health strategy is an important milestone, and the fact that it correctly identifies gambling as a significant risk is particularly welcome,” said Lord Foster of Bath, Chair of Action on Gambling, summarising an opinion likely held by many other British politicians right now.

“Under the leadership of the Department of Health, progress in tackling preventable health issues that disproportionately impact men, such as problem gambling, will at last be possible.”

Significant risks associated with the use of pre-paid digital vouchers have been laid bare in the UK Gambling Commission’s latest action.

The UK regulator has ordered Videoslots Limited, the operator of videoslots.co.uk, mrvegas.com and megariches.com, to pay £650,000 after an investigation revealed anti-money laundering and social responsibility failures.

The case cited a customer who was able to fund their account in excess of £75,000 using digital pre-payment vouchers, before transferring the proceeds of their gambling activity to four different bank accounts.

Despite the presence of these high-risk factors, the customer’s automated AML risk score did not trigger the threshold for the operator to request source of funds information promptly, ‘leading to unacceptable delays in an account review taking place’.

John Pierce, Commission Director of Enforcement, explained: “Open-loop payment systems are high risk in nature because they could enable anonymous deposits and make it harder to trace funds.

“In this case, the licensee failed to implement timely customer interactions and did not conduct enhanced customer due diligence until the customer had reached significant spend thresholds – such failings are unacceptable.”

UKGC guidance classifies all pre-paid payment methods as high-risk due to the ability for these methods to be pre-loaded using cash or, in some cases, cryptoassets.

The commission requires such payment methods to be factored into a customer’s risk profile and appropriate risk-based due diligence to be undertaken.

“Operators must review how open-loop payment systems such as prepaid digital vouchers are managed in a gambling environment because they are high risk and present operational challenges in terms of effective monitoring,” added Pierce.

Commission calls for crypto review

The need to address the rising popularity of crypto payments has been a particular focus for the UKGC’s CEO, Andrew Rhodes, who earlier this month emphasised the “pressure building within the system”.

“The reality is, in some years to come, there will probably be a significant cohort of consumers who use cryptocurrencies because that is what they’re accustomed to. It is a demographic shift that will find they have no place in the legitimate industry because of the currency they use,” stated Rhodes during his CEO briefing.

He added that any changes must be led by government-level discussions, as ‘once you open that door, you cannot close it’.

“The reality is, and this growth in those demographics means, I don’t think governments can ignore that pattern,” said Rhodes.

Not the first infraction

Other failures highlighted by the UKGC investigation included Videoslots’ deposit limit mechanism. Although the operator’s monitoring systems automatically set a monthly deposit, that limit ran across a calendar month and did not include the customer’s initial deposit.

As a result, a customer was able to lose £5,000 in a month despite having a £3,000 monthly deposit limit. Another also lost £7,500 over 18 days despite having a £2,000 monthly deposit limit.

The UKGC also noted that the monitoring systems deployed by Videoslots also did not effectively identify customers who were potentially at risk of gambling harm, citing one customer who did not receive any interaction from the operator despite losing £6,550 over the course of three active days of gambling across a two-month period.

Alongside the financial penalty, Videoslots has received a warning and is also required to undergo a third-party audit to ensure it is implementing its AML and safer gambling policies and procedures.

This is not the first time that Videoslots has been in hot water with the UKGC. In June 2023, the company paid £2m as part of a settlement with the regulator due to similar AML and social responsibility failures.

iGaming Expert has reached out to Videoslots Limited for comment.

Gaming Compliance International has moved to significantly elevate the war against the black market through the acquisition of Yield Sec for an undisclosed sum.

As a result of the deal, Yield Sec’s platform, processes and team will be integrated into GCI’s operations. Ismail Vali, Founder and CEO of the black market monitoring platform, will also assume the role of President of GCI.

Matt Holt, CEO of GCI, commented: “We are proud to welcome Ismail Vali and the entire Yield Sec team to GCI. This acquisition accelerates our mission to deliver transparency, integrity, player protection and certainty for regulated jurisdictions worldwide.

“Yield Sec’s innovative platform for effective and efficient disruption will become a cornerstone of our offering, enabling regulators and operators to gain unprecedented awareness and actionable awareness across the total online gaming marketplace.”

According to GCI, Yield Sec’s machine-led monitoring technology, which it says was adapted from military anti-terrorism and counterinsurgency, will become a core pillar of the company’s offering as it seeks to deliver advanced regulatory technology and marketplace transparency to the global gaming industry.

Vali described joining forces with GCI as the “next stage in our mission to defeat black market crime and protect the integrity of regulated gaming”.

“Yield Sec was founded to help regulators and operators see the entire online marketplace – legal and illegal – and act with certainty,” he added.

“GCI strengthens that foundation, expanding our ability to serve clients across commerce, community, and consumers. The purpose remains the same: to secure a sustainable, compliant, and fair marketplace that benefits everyone.”

Yield Sec was founded in 2020 through a collaboration between the marketing agency A Game Above and the player protection company Beanstalk to provide a tool for the industry to monitor and counter black market gambling activity.

Black market trepidation

The deal comes at a time when the global black market is becoming an increasingly prevalent and distressing issue for the regulated iGaming sector.

The Betting and Gaming Council recently estimated that £2.7bn is staked annually on the online black market in the UK, equivalent to 2.1% of the amount staked with regulated operators.

Meanwhile, Andrew Rhodes, the UK Gambling Commission CEO, stated: “We are determined to protect consumers and maintain confidence in the regulated sector by taking robust, evidence-led action.

“Since April 2024, we’ve seen a tenfold increase in our disruption activity, and we intend to continue to work with a wide range of partners to build on this success.”

He added: “The illegal online market is unsafe, unfair and criminal – that is why the Commission has invested heavily in this area in recent years.

“To be even more effective in combating the illegal market,it’s vital that we have both a deep and broad understanding of how it operates, and this insight is a crucial step in building that understanding in a very complex area to research.”