Gambling Commission Launches Industry-wide Review to Toughen Safeguards, Target Black Market

17 September 2026

The UK Gambling Commission has kicked off an extensive sector review as the nation's betting market faces calls to strengthen consumer protections and crack down on the "black market." With the industry's stakes at a staggering £17.5 billion, the regulator has vowed to fortify operator requirements, roll out new safety measures, and bolster its ability to identify risks and ensure compliance.

The review marks a major escalation in the Commission's response to growing concerns about the prevalence of unlicensed gambling. In its major regulatory agenda, the Commission has flagged that operators not subject to its oversight may lack consumer safeguards, permit underage gambling, and even be linked to organised crime, echoing warnings from Parliament itself.

"Assessing loose regulatory control of these black-market players, and in particular the extent of any underage play in this sector, will be a key priority as we review the commission's approach," said a spokesman.

The Commission has made clear that strengthening consumer safety is at the centre of its agenda as it evaluates how it keeps pace with the betting sector. Its April 2023 recommendations following the government's Gambling Act Review called for new restrictions on product design principles underpinning slot machine-style online games and "frictionless checks" for customers at risk of financial harm.

The Commission has said it plans to strengthen its research on gambling participation and gambling-related harm, and consult on additional safety measures to focus on particularly vulnerable demographics and maintain a firm grip on the market as it evolves. According to the Commission, the Gambling Act Review was intended to rebalance regulation for the digital age, and the new measures will equip the regulator to hold operators to the highest possible standards.

The initiative signals the regulator widening its approach to prevent harm, rather than mitigating its consequences after the fact. The Commission has also flagged that it is reviewing its oversight of social gambling around football matches, though it was unclear what types of bets this would encompass or whether this work is linked to the broader review.

Stakeholders will be keenly aware that the Commission's recommendations will come on the heels of a notable surge in account closures in the industry. Beginning around 2021, closures spiked as land-based bookmakers and online outlets alike ramped up their scrutiny of customers' gaming habits - sometimes targeting individuals who may not have been underage, but who were particularly vulnerable to financial risk. Some have speculated that the Commission's focus on black markets may be linked to its aim to prevent the 2021 uptick in account closures from occurring again.

In the run-up to its final decisions, the Commission planned to carry out thousands of undercover checks of gambling businesses, including bookies, arcades, bingo halls and casinos - though anyone in the industry will say that the vast majority of those entities operate under the Commission's purview.

"Our investigation picks up on reports of children betting on machines in betting shops, in bingo halls and online,"

headlines the Commission's program. But while it may appear to be part of a broader regulatory move, the Commission said the research is a "quick, preventative measure before a reform," and that shifts in policy, not the one-off research, will be its main focus in keeping children away from high-intensity gambling.

The Commission has not provided a timeline for the conclusions of the review.