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

[Floxynice]

This is surprising because its quite big, and we are talking about €12 billion in 2025. That was already in 2025 so probably it has already increased now.. but lets just look at that 25% number and try to analyze what could be the reason.

Heres what I think.

People still trust illegal casinos, not literally illegal but casinos licensed somewhere else, because their withdrawal process is usually easier, not too many KYC requirements just like some popular casinos here in the forum.

So imagine how much the government is also losing from that 25%, because if those players are using regulated casinos then probably they could collect millions or even billions in taxes, though im not sure how much their tax rate is.

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/

This is a sign for the government to relax some of its strict gambling regulations. Definitely there is something attracting gamblers more to illegal casinos. What are those things that makes those casinos illegal, the government can look at them again and make some adjustments where neccessary so casinos having challenges with getting licensed can do so with ease. The government is losing money, that's the truth.

However, if all adjustments have been made and the casinos still fail to comply with regulations, punishments can follow for noncompliance.

[DPHOR]

On my own what I felt the government should do is to reduce their taxation fee or also reduce the cost of acquiring an operational license from them. At least this could be another steps to attract most of the casinos or gambling site that are operating illegal. Most of these casinos are operating illegal due to all these charges and they wouldn't want to understand through all these charges.
Of course, most of these casinos are being operated illegally because they wouldn't want to incur more loses, and some of them are going on the easier license providers.

[swogerino]

Europe is one juridistiction that has very strict laws about almost anything and especially regulations. They have this common framework in all countries of the block that they require any incoming business from outside the block to strictly follow the block rules which is normal to ask such thing because when someone of us visit another country during our stay we follow that country rules. Now the casinos who have found "shortcuts" by having licenses in other countries and operating online in Eu the Eu block can ask them extremely big tax pay for refusing to hold license in the block.

[danherbias07]

But there will probably be fewer gamblers if those gambling sites are regulated. The money that was mentioned won't match anymore.

It's not that I am against regulated gambling sites but there's lesser trust with them especially if it's made locally. They will only provide services to the certain place and it cannot be accessed by anyone outside the region or the country.
These gambling sites are mostly manipulated because they are paying higher taxes and probably also paying corrupt officials to keep the business running. It's a gambling site. There will always be greedy government officials who will take advantage of them. Which is probably why there are more illegal gambling sites.

[casinosfyi]

It was quite clear that things would reach this point. The reasons are varied and include, among other things, the laws and restrictions governing legal casinos - specifically, extremely rigid taxation and regulatory policies, as well as exhausting KYC checks that drive players away.

[leea-1334]

==
People still trust illegal casinos, not literally illegal but casinos licensed somewhere else, because their withdrawal process is usually easier, not too many KYC requirements just like some popular casinos here in the forum.

For people like me,,, and I know I am far from being the only one, it is not so much a matter of trust. It is simply where we are allowed. Gambling itself not available to most of us, and online, if not for crypto, access would almost be zero.

Now of course it does not mean we gamble wherever says it is a crypto casino, which is where this forum comes in handy. True members, people we trust, and if they start using a casino, and report good withdrawals and so on, we together find a 'trusted web' of casinos that take our crypto and never ask us for our identity.

Pure basis of trust we can build and I for sure built up a lot over these years with one or two brands, but even then, never to the point I will ever trust them with my KYC. Ask any of the serious gamblers here, it is the same.

Privacy for sure. But also fear of our governments. Life is scary enough to be paranoid.

[Smartprofit]

When the European Union was founded, it was expected to be a fundamentally new state, a bastion of civilization, and an example for other countries. But, frankly, the decisions of its leaders greatly disappoint me.🙋

The European Union does indeed have democracy and fair elections. However, real power in the European Union rests not with the leaders elected by the people, but with bureaucrats. And bureaucrats love to impose various bans and restrictions. They pretend to care about the people, but in reality, they don't care about the people. They simply pretend to work and operate effectively.

We all know about the bans and restrictions on cryptocurrencies. There are also many bans on gambling. Therefore, the information that 25% of the European gambling market is illegal doesn't surprise me at all.

People will gamble regardless of any bans. Therefore, it makes much more sense to give them this opportunity than to try to combat gambling through regulation.  However, officials and bureaucrats are not interested in filling the budget or ensuring the prosperity of the European Union. Their interests are much more mundane and limited to their personal careers.🤷

[sompitonov]

But there will probably be fewer gamblers if those gambling sites are regulated. The money that was mentioned won't match anymore.

It's not that I am against regulated gambling sites but there's lesser trust with them especially if it's made locally. They will only provide services to the certain place and it cannot be accessed by anyone outside the region or the country.
These gambling sites are mostly manipulated because they are paying higher taxes and probably also paying corrupt officials to keep the business running. It's a gambling site. There will always be greedy government officials who will take advantage of them. Which is probably why there are more illegal gambling sites.

Of course, the European gambling market is subject to high taxes, though there are likely countries offering more favorable conditions an option many operators take advantage of. Faced with the struggle to survive, these companies will naturally resort to any means necessary to stay afloat. I wouldn't be surprised if many of them attempt to evade taxes, publish misleading information, or engage in other similar practices. After all, they must compete with online casinos that are accessible from anywhere in the world and operate under more favorable business conditions.

[Maslate]

It was quite clear that things would reach this point. The reasons are varied and include, among other things, the laws and restrictions governing legal casinos - specifically, extremely rigid taxation and regulatory policies, as well as exhausting KYC checks that drive players away.

Now here comes the real value of overseas casinos, those that are offering "no KYC" gambling although in their terms there's really KYC since they are regulated. so its just a matter of how strict its regulated when its strict casinos will have to comply with the rules and users will be affected, this is correct it drives players away. and that 25% is billions its a lot of money that is expected to go out since regulators cannot ease their policy just to cater that money when it will sacrifice their purpose to fight money laundering.

never to the point I will ever trust them with my KYC. Ask any of the serious gamblers here, it is the same.

You are saying you will never comply with kyc requirement?
What happened if you are playing in a casino that allow you even without kyc, and then you hit a big win and then they suddenly require you to do kyc, What your action?

Privacy for sure. But also fear of our governments. Life is scary enough to be paranoid.

In short you don't trust the government.. But how about other institutions like banks, don't you have a bank deposit, pretty sure if you have one you do basic KYC before you can open an account, so if you have then you trust the government.

[Italian Panic]

People still trust illegal casinos, not literally illegal but casinos licensed somewhere else, because their withdrawal process is usually easier, not too many KYC requirements just like some popular casinos here in the forum.

So imagine how much the government is also losing from that 25%, because if those players are using regulated casinos then probably they could collect millions or even billions in taxes, though im not sure how much their tax rate is.

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 can confirm that Europe has some really very strict KYC rules, and sometimes they don’t make sense; however, European bureaucrats like to know where the money is going and where every single euro is at all times. They admit they don’t, but that’s a lie, the fear that the money will disappear onto the black market and that they won’t be able to profit from it terrifies them. People who want to gamble want to do so without any hassle, and in Europe it’s becoming increasingly difficult first of all, to access cryptocurrencies, and then to actually use them for gambling or betting.

[Odohu]

I don't think this is a major issue because their definition of illegal casino is simply any casino that do not have registration in the country. I don't see this as something that defines the authenticity of the casino because many things matter than simple registration in the country of residence. I trust some online casinos that do not have registration in my country more than some local casinos here because I'm confident I will get my winning paid and there will be no need to court processes.

[Hatchy]

What are your thoughts on this?

When a casino operates in a jurisdiction without a proper license, then it should be considered illegal. I honestly don't understand why many gamblers still choose to bet on such sites when the risks can be much higher.We know that regulated casinos come with certain requirements and rules that can sometimes be annoying for gamblers, but I don't think that is enough reason to take the extra risk of using an illegal site.

I don't know much about the tax side of things, but if the government is really concerned about unpaid taxes, then they should do more to identify and stop casinos that operate illegally. This is why I've always said that the government's fight against casinos is not always about the harm they may cause to people, but also about the revenue they can collect through taxes and other regulations.

[Y3shot]

People still trust illegal casinos, not literally illegal but casinos licensed somewhere else, because their withdrawal process is usually easier, not too many KYC requirements just like some popular casinos here in the forum.

This is why illegal casinos will continue to increase. Most gamblers are aware of the casinos they make use of; they only like the convenience and comfort. As far as they can withdraw and make deposits, they are cool with it.

What they are interested in with casinos like this is just the win. Even if the government tries to restrict illegal casinos, they will still try to operate because there are gamblers who are even more interested in using them.

[Cryptomultiplier]

People still trust illegal casinos, not literally illegal but casinos licensed somewhere else, because their withdrawal process is usually easier, not too many KYC requirements just like some popular casinos here in the forum.

This is why illegal casinos will continue to increase. Most gamblers are aware of the casinos they make use of; they only like the convenience and comfort. As far as they can withdraw and make deposits, they are cool with it.

What they are interested in with casinos like this is just the win. Even if the government tries to restrict illegal casinos, they will still try to operate because there are gamblers who are even more interested in using them.

Gambling is a very old business and no matter how much government tries to meddle in its affairs to either restrict or enforce heavy taxes just to discourage gamblers and the gambling business, it will only do more to create other underground, illegal or offshore platforms that will aim to satisfy the ever growing demand of gamblers.

So by over regulations from government, they only do so much to push gamblers and gambling businesses into unprotected markets with zero safety controls.

[el che]

...

What are your thoughts on this?

...

Chasing the unregulated market is a loss of time and counterproductive. When governments are restrictive to legal operators they inadvertently build a highway straight to the black market. Players aren't moving to unlicenced sites because they love breaking rules, they do it because strict local regulations make legal platforms frustrating to use. If European regulators want to get back that €12 billion, they need to stop over taxing and over regulating legal markets, otherwise players will always choose the better experience elsewhere.

[M47AK16]

This is surprising because its quite big, and we are talking about €12 billion in 2025. That was already in 2025 so probably it has already increased now.. but lets just look at that 25% number and try to analyze what could be the reason.

Heres what I think.

People still trust illegal casinos, not literally illegal but casinos licensed somewhere else, because their withdrawal process is usually easier, not too many KYC requirements just like some popular casinos here in the forum.

So imagine how much the government is also losing from that 25%, because if those players are using regulated casinos then probably they could collect millions or even billions in taxes, though im not sure how much their tax rate is.

What are your thoughts on this?

Not that surprising to me, to be honest, because this isn't just happening in Europe, it happens all over the world. Illegal casino platforms exist everywhere, some of them aren't regulated within the regions they are operating in, and some of them aren't regulated at all, or have licenses from other jurisdictions. This is mostly happening through mobile gambling platforms, and I have seen a bunch of them. People love them because they are easy to use, and most of them don't even need KYC verification, at least for normal deposits and withdrawals, might ask for major ones, but I've never heard anyone saying that these mobile gambling platforms are for it.

Such platforms are operating even in countries where gambling itself is illegal or banned, because their licenses come from other places, such as Curacao, and they operate freely without any problems. Generally, social media platforms don't allow promoting casinos and gambling, but I have seen people promoting these illegal platforms on Facebook and other platforms owned by them, nowadays even Google adsense is being used for promoting such services. And, they have recently started sending SMS messages to people to promote their platforms, I have received a bunch of such messages with promotions and stuff.

[Free Market Capitalist]

I think the problem is not that they are gambling on illegal gambling sites but rather that those sites are considered illegal by most of the EU in the first place.

Basically, these are websites that are legal in other countries, but in order to offer services in the EU, they would need to obtain a specific license from each country—licenses that are expensive and come with stringent regulatory requirements.

People want to gamble and if they want to, they will find a way to do it. .

That's the issue: while regulated sites offer advantages, such as consumer protection, they also have disadvantages, such as:

Take Germany for instance, under OASIS system, there are numerous restriction, including monthly deposit cap of €1000, speed limit of 5 second per spin, mandatory auto blocking etc.

When any player faces such extensive regulation and scrutiny regarding their own money, offshore and no KYC platform can become comparatively more appealing to them.

Ultimately, other casinos—such as cryptocurrency casinos—are more appealing to many players.

[Mr. Magkaisa]

People will always choose the casino that give the best performance in Withdrawal and deposit, also the smoothness of their platform.
As long as they pay fast and makes you entertain. But yeah, Taxes money can build and develop something for a country . Why not the governemnt look for that  platform and talk to the ownder not to get them banned but make them legal?
is that possible?

[bitbollo]

In most of european countries there are legal monopoles that controls all of these "crypto" gambling platform.
You can't buy a license unless you have an impressive budget - from crypto I have seen e.g. Stake buying a AAMS license in Italy.
Once they get caught for offering these services illegally they can receive heavy fines/or they get caught because linked with other crimes.

Despite all of these new licensed casion would not list "exactly" any country - they can weaponize this part of the TOS to close your account in a second time (likewise you win ) or if they are opening a local branch with local domain like .de .it .fr etc...

[rbynxx]

People still trust illegal casinos, not literally illegal but casinos licensed somewhere else, because their withdrawal process is usually easier, not too many KYC requirements just like some popular casinos here in the forum.

So imagine how much the government is also losing from that 25%, because if those players are using regulated casinos then probably they could collect millions or even billions in taxes, though im not sure how much their tax rate is.

What are your thoughts on this?

Probably the regulated casinos in Europe are having huge tax compare to casinos license somewhere else or these crypto gambling sites. It's a no-brainer for users to pick a casino that isn't a hassle for withdrawals and deposit or usually withdrawal side considering a lot are complaining about this for not being instant. I think it's government fault as well that they didn't check if a casino is worthy for users because if you look at international standards it has far more features compare to locals and users always select novel to their eyes. I think it would benefit government if they'll grant license if it checks standards first for a casino to operate rather than just because these casinos can comply what the requirements are.