Written by Jon Bryan | Expected reading time 5 minutes
Last Updated: August 29, 2026
Written by Jon Bryan
Jon Bryan, writing for SlotsHawk, asks whether there is too much regulation of the gambling industry, and what the impact of overregulation might be.
ADDRESSING THE BURDEN
At the start of the summer, the Gambling Commission (GC) invited the gambling industry ‘to submit proposals to address the burdens associated with gambling regulation.’ For a sector that has had to put up with considerable change over the last two years, this announcement will have received a cautious welcome. The market regulator asking the industry for ways to avoid some bureaucracy? It sounds like there is a possibility of a ‘win-win’ situation.
Some of you reading this might be thinking this is all a wheeze between the Commission and the industry to change laws and regulations without proper process and scrutiny; the GC clarified the purpose of the request:
“The Commission is calling for proposals from the gambling industry to identify opportunities to reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens while maintaining strong consumer protections and upholding the licensing objectives of the Gambling Act 2005.”
It follows, therefore, that there is some recognition of the considerable costs (both in people and products) that gambling companies must cover to be compliant and remain part of the legal and regulated sector. Those costs bite even harder into the profits of the sector when the government keep coming back to the industry for more, in the form of increased taxation.
‘We want to hear from the industry about where regulation can be improved or streamlined without compromising the protections that consumers rightly expect’, said Tim Miller, Executive Director for Research and Policy.
Miller continued: ‘This is an opportunity to identify tangible changes that support innovation while ensuring regulation remains effective, proportionate and focused on keeping gambling fair and safe.’
All submissions must be received no later than Friday 25th September 2026, and everyone with a stake in the gambling sector can contribute.
OVERREGULATION?
It’s not clear whether this is an explicit admission that there is currently overregulation in the industry, but some will surely interpret it like that. And with good reason. The increasing regulations, restrictions and legislative hurdles that are either being introduced by the government, or talked about, is leading to an increase in black market activity. This is becoming increasingly obvious and blatant. Let’s have a look at some of the evidence.
THE BLACK MARKET
As the 2026/7 Premier League kicked off, the Betting and Gaming Council said ‘the illegal gambling black market is expected to take up to £800m in bets’ over the coming season. City Am carried the story, noting that fans might be driven to black market sites through promotions, and that tax increases on gambling have helped the drift to the black market.
Meanwhile, according to research undertaken by H2 Gambling Capital, and reported on by the BGC, ‘The Chancellor’s decision to hike Remote Gaming Duty to 40% from April this year is set to accelerate the shift towards illegal operators, according to new independent analysis.’ That analysis says that the illegal gambling market had 10% of online betting in 2025 but concludes that this will rise to a market share of 22% by 2031 – more than doubling what there is now.
Evidence from the Gambling Commission website shows what is being done to tackle the illegal gambling market, although this is largely in-person betting. In July 2026, two people were arrested in Bristol, which the GC reported on here, and local police gave more details on, with a clear hint that they were thankful to the local community for assisting them with this work. ‘Community intelligence plays a vital role in tackling criminal activity’, the police said.
In August 2026, in South Yorkshire, the Commission and the police worked together to target illegal gambling activity. Alongside other enforcement bodies who were involved, the police described the coordinated approach as ‘a true example of partnership working at its best’. Over 100k in cash was seized, along with sixteen illegal betting terminals, gold, counterfeit tobacco and cannabis. At least seven people were arrested in connection with this.
Last year, Haydon Simcock was convicted and sentenced for running an illegal gambling business via WhatsApp and ordered to pay monies owed to a customer amounting to £230,000.
Looking at the Commission’s website, the enforcement section has a lot of fines because of regulatory failures by gambling companies, rather than activity by the GC which is tackling the growing online black market. It isn’t clear how much the Commission is doing to tackle that part of the underground economy. Or, at least, how much success that they are having. In January 2026, the government announced that an additional £26 million was being provided over three years to ‘strengthen enforcement and tackle illegal gambling’.
THE NEXT STEPS
I would encourage all those with a stake in the gambling industry to respond to the request from the Gambling Commission. Let them know your thoughts. Anything which might reduce the burden in an increasingly overregulated market would be a good thing. As Jake Weston has pointed out in a recent article about the high street, the regulations impacting on gambling companies already has a negative overall impact: ‘bookmakers were already so heavily taxed and regulated that consumers were increasingly being pushed away from the legal, regulated market and towards the black market’.
We have a regulated gambling industry, and that is not about to change, and nor should it. There is nothing wrong with regulation per se. But when the amount of regulation that an industry must comply with becomes too burdensome for it to continue, you ask yourself what the purpose of that overregulation really is. With anti-gambling and prohibitionist sentiment now being held in high offices, including in number 10 Downing Street, we need to continually question the burdens that are faced by both companies and punters in the gambling sector. Overregulation does no-one any favours, apart from those who want to ban gambling altogether.
Jon Bryan is a Gambling Writer and recreational Poker Player who writes regularly on his Substack, as well as for SlotsHawk News, which you can find here: Jon’s articles for SlotsHawk.
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