Gambling Commission emphasises need for ‘joined-up approach’ to fight illegal casinos after suicide verdict
The suicide of Oliver Long (36) has shone a light on the extent of illegal gambling in the UK, including calls for the Gambling Commission to do more to take on the black market and websites deliberalty promoting illegal casinos.
A report by East Sussex Corner Laura Bradford into Long’s death did not name gambling, whether legal or not, as a determining factor of the suicide. However, Long’s sister, Chloe, has argued against this, citing her brother’s repeated use of illegal gambling sites and the mental health impacts of gambling addiction were the principal causes of his tragic death.
Long had been suffering from a gambling addiction problem while using regulated, licensed websites, but eventually opted to self-exclude himself from the legal industry via GamStop, the online national self-exclusion service.
Despite these efforts, Chloe Long shared that her brother was “targeted by these illicit, illegal black market sites”. She also remarked that illegal casinos ‘lured him in’ after he had successfully excluded himself from every licensed operator in the UK in a bid to battle his gambling addiction.
Oliver Long’s suicide and the coverage it has received in the mainstream UK press, covered by the likes of The Guardian and Sky News, has brought the topic of illegal gambling to the forefront ot a time of extensive regulatory and political discussion around betting in the country.
The rise of ‘non-Gamstop’ illegal casinos
The country’s regulated industry has been arguing that an extensive black market has been posing both a risk to consumers and to the legal industry, and the economic contribution it makes, for some time.
In recent years, illegal casinos billing themselves as ‘non-Gamstop casinos’ have risen in prominence. These platforms explicitly target self-excluded gamblers like oiver Long, and often offer large bonuses and sign-up offers, while masquerading as UKGC-licensed businesses.
The Commission has been stepping up its efforts against the black market, according to the regulator. For example, last year it published a four part series explaining the research it was conducting into the black market and the characteristics of consumers who use it.
Gamstop has also taken note. Data published by the service last year revealed that around one-in-10 self-excluded gamblers admitted using illicit websites – lining up with data routinely cited by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) that the black market accounts for around 10% of annual UK gambling volume.
The emergence of these non-Gamstop casinos was noted during the hearing at East Sussex coroner’s court yesterday, as reported by The Guardian and BBC Sport.
UKGC Executive Director, Tim Miller, told the court that non-Gamstop gambling sites are run by ‘criminal networks’ often linked with ‘terrorist and organised crime ‘, and deliberately ‘target people who are already experiencing harm’.
Responding to SBC News, a UKGC spokesperson issued the following statement:
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of Oliver Long and our thoughts are with his family and loved ones.
The targeting of vulnerable people by illegal gambling operators is a criminal act. Unlicensed operators deliberately seek to evade protections such as GamStop and can pose serious risks to consumers. It is a threat that we take seriously.
“Since April 2024, our Illegal Markets team has issued more than 3,100 cease-and-desist and disruption notices, referred nearly 450,000 illegal URLs to search engines, and achieved almost 290,000 removals.
“We are also working with domain registrars, hosting providers, social media platforms and international partners to suspend domains, disrupt payment flows, tackle aggressive marketing and prevent illegal sites from being accessed from Great Britain. Alongside that we have active prosecutions currently going through the criminal justice system.”
Regulated industry not off the hook
Though Oliver Long’s death has shone a light on illegal gambling and the significant harm it can cause, this does not mean that the regulated industry is out of the regulatory woods, as it too finds itself routinely singled out for significant player protection failings.
Suicides linked to addiction have previously shaped the discourse and regulatory outcomes of UK gambling. In 2022, the inquest into the suicide of 24-year-old student Jack Ritchie in 2017 saw Sheffield coroner David Urpeth conclude that “information and treatment gaps had been woefully inadequate” and had failed to meet Ritchie’s needs as a victim of gambling addiction.
In Parliament, former DCMS undersecretary and gambling minister Chris Philp noted that the inquiry had exposed “system-wide failures” across all elements of gambling protection — including treatment, intervention, harm prevention, and regulatory controls.
The inquiry into Jack Ritchie’s death is widely regarded as a turning point in the UK’s Gambling Review, initiated in 2020, and in the government’s subsequent overhaul of gambling addiction as a public health issue.
Jack’s parents, Liz and Charles Ritchie, subsequently founded the charity Gambling with Lives in 2019 to support other bereaved families and campaign for stricter regulations. Their campaign continues to call for a direct intervention on gambling advertising and for tougher regulatory actions on gambling’s highest risk products.
As mentioned above, the regulated gambling industry often cites the black market as a risk associated with over-regulation and over-taxation. Concerns have been raised by the Office for Budgetary Responsibility (OBR) which made an observation about black market encroachment in its assessment of the Autumn Budget, in which gambling taxes were significantly hiked.
Commission points to joint-approach
However, the industry cannot afford to pass the buck of responsibility onto the black market and to regulatory action against it. Regulated bookmakers need to make sure their player protection, behaviour monitoring and harm prevention measures are working to the highest standard to ensure the worst case scenario of gambling harm does not occur.
Also, while the taxes increased in the Autumn Budget – set to come into effect form April 2026 this year – were met with disappointment from the industry, the budget did also include a commitment to provide the UKGC with millions in funding to tackle black market activity.
The UKGC’s spokesperson told SBC News: “Tackling unlicensed gambling requires a joined-up approach – between the Commission, other domestic and international regulators, GamStop, licensed operators, technology platforms, financial sectors and enforcement bodies – and we will continue to strengthen that collaboration to better protect consumers.
“Future changes will also enable us to continue to grow our efforts in tackling the unlicensed market. We welcome the commitment in the recent Budget to support our efforts to tackle illegal gambling.
“The investment of £26 million over the next three years will allow the Commission to build on and strengthen the work that we have already undertaken to disrupt illegal operators to protect consumers.
“In addition, the Government’s Crime and Policing Bill will grant the Commission greater powers to act to block IP addresses and domain names linked to illegal websites.”
The conversations around illegal gambling and the impact of gambling related harm in the UK come amidst a large number of Labour MPs, along with members of other parties, calling for Keir Starmer’s government to take another look at gambling regulations. This includes the potential for new enforcements and tougher restrictions, particularly around retail gaming.