25% of Europe's online gambling market is already illegal?

[DrBeer]

Hmm, wouldn't it be better to just legalize all of it and switch to a registration system instead?

It’s a great idea, but there are some caveats
On the positive side: additional revenue streams and, likely, jobs.
But then there’s the downside. Once you’re licensed,
- your users must undergo KYC.
- you must fully comply with the country’s laws and MEET the requirements of government agencies. ALL legal requirements.

And both of these points are synonymous with a sharp decline in the customer base... The question is: is that the casino’s goal?
 

[Betwrong]

Hmm, wouldn't it be better to just legalize all of it and switch to a registration system instead?

It’s a great idea, but there are some caveats
On the positive side: additional revenue streams and, likely, jobs.
But then there’s the downside. Once you’re licensed,
- your users must undergo KYC.
- you must fully comply with the country’s laws and MEET the requirements of government agencies. ALL legal requirements.
~

I see no problems here. If you’re not a criminal, you shouldn’t be afraid of going through the KYC procedure. The same goes for meeting the requirements of government agencies: if you want to be a law-abiding citizen, you can meet all the requirements easily. Legalising something like gambling benefits the people of the country overall.

[Makus]

I see no problems here. If you’re not a criminal, you shouldn’t be afraid of going through the KYC procedure. The same goes for meeting the requirements of government agencies: if you want to be a law-abiding citizen, you can meet all the requirements easily. Legalising something like gambling benefits the people of the country overall.

Sometimes it is not about whether they are criminals, some players just feel uncomfortable with sharing their personal informations because they don't fully trust the casino but this is the reason why it is important to use casinos that are reputable and paying attention to rhis board can put you in the right track so you don't end up making a decision that affects you. When talking about legalising gambling there are some downsides to it and this what the government of some countries look at, that's the reason why they kick against gambling. it could lead to gambling addiction, stealing and other crimes and some scam casinos might end up defrauding people.

[TheUltraElite]

There will be some unlicensed and unlawfully running casinos in every neighborhood and they usually get off by paying some regular bribes to the local police and never get caught red handed. Government is unable to tax them because they are not reported to taxation and instead they stay safe with the bribes which is I guess lesser than the total tax accumulated.

Ultimately the player's choice matters. These casinos will be honest with their local public because the owners are often known among gamblers and it would be bad thing for the owners to hoodwink the customers.

On the other hand legally running casinos are safe from any government crackdown till the latter tries to twist the former's arm again.

[pawanjain]

Does it mean Europe is not doing a good job in regularizing casinos due to which unlicensed casinos are finding it easy to operate there ?
I don't think that should be case, in fact Europe is strict in such scenarios and so may be the root cause is something different.
The thing is, even if the casino site is unlicensed it might still do good if it is providing good services to it's users and vice versa.
Regulatory bodies do not really have much to do here except for approving the gambling operations for a site.

[Sobz]

I see no problems here. If you’re not a criminal, you shouldn’t be afraid of going through the KYC procedure. The same goes for meeting the requirements of government agencies: if you want to be a law-abiding citizen, you can meet all the requirements easily. Legalising something like gambling benefits the people of the country overall.

Sometimes it is not about whether they are criminals, some players just feel uncomfortable with sharing their personal informations because they don't fully trust the casino but this is the reason why it is important to use casinos that are reputable and paying attention to rhis board can put you in the right track so you don't end up making a decision that affects you. When talking about legalising gambling there are some downsides to it and this what the government of some countries look at, that's the reason why they kick against gambling. it could lead to gambling addiction, stealing and other crimes and some scam casinos might end up defrauding people.

The reason why gamblers are not confortble in giving out their information is because of in the past how platform was hacked and this hackers succeeded in getting customers information and this is always a danger to customers . I understand why customers prefer no kyc and it is not about one being a criminal. Customers are just trying to secure their details to prevent lose of fund in the future.  I think this is a right for every gambler who values security.

[Hispo]

...

What are your thoughts on this?


source https://europeangaming.eu/portal/latest-news/2026/09/16/214175/europe-illegal-online-gambling-market-12bn-euromat-study/

I believe this is the biggest and also the clearest example that some popular casinos in some parts of Europe do not actually need to hold a license and be regulated in order to be considered to be trust-worthy by many gamblers in that continent. Plus, they are not so strict when it comes to KYC/AML, so they also appeal to that niche.

Though, eventually the operators of those irregular casinos are going to get captured and be heavily fined by the government of the European Union, for pretty much breaking their laws, specially if they manage a very high incoming volume of money in their deposits.

The bigger the casino is, it is more likely to be closed down when it is not regulated.