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

[Natalim]

Some casinos block them access, while some just allow free access irrespective of which country the player is accessing it from.

Some compliant casinos really don't allow access but since they did not require KYC upon creation of an account it can easily be bypassed by some because they will just use a VPN to access and create an account and there they go they can gamble already. So regulators cannot blame it all on overseas casinos as gamblers sometimes bypass the system just to play, unless all users who sign up will require KYC, then that changes things a lot.

[Awaklara]

Some casinos block them access, while some just allow free access irrespective of which country the player is accessing it from.

I think there are more casinos that also regulate certain excluded countries, and all of that is listed in their terms and conditions.
Casinos declared illegal in a region may still continue to grow, especially for slot game sites that are growing very rapidly. Blocked sites will create other slot game sites. You can see such situations in countries that are actually fighting gambling addiction.

[stadus]

I think there are more casinos that also regulate certain excluded countries, and all of that is listed in their terms and conditions.
Casinos declared illegal in a region may still continue to grow, especially for slot game sites that are growing very rapidly. Blocked sites will create other slot game sites. You can see such situations in countries that are actually fighting gambling addiction.

I believe you are talking about overseas casinos here (that is outside Europe-regulated casinos).
So if they really block access, then why is illegal gambling still increasing as per the report, because we assume if they don't allow it then players cannot access them.

The numbers speak for themselves, 25% in billions translated, thats a lot.
our speculation is probably wrong here, some may follow the law but others do not, that's why that 25% is still there and probably will increase in the future.

[Dogedegen]

That's right, every country has their rule and policies, just because a casino is licensed in another country doesn't mean that it can be accepted in every country and this brings me to a question I keep asking myself. If a country clearly states that any casino operation is illegal in their country, why do most of these casinos still try to go to such countries to establish their business? What's the point when they have already been licensed in other countries, to me I see this as greed.

Those casinos don’t directly come to the country to operate; they don’t have an office in those countries. What they do is have their service and allow others from the country to patronize them. They are considered offshore casinos; the players are the ones who go after the casinos and not the other way round. Some casinos block them access, while some just allow free access irrespective of which country the player is accessing it from.

The issue is not the presence or absence of casinos. There are going to be casinos that operate in the grey area or completely illegally regardless of what the regulations are. This happens in cases where regulations are low and when they are strict too. The issue is why are players choosing to play over there? The country or a union of countries in this case can go against these casinos with technical means and with legal means. For technical means it can try everything they can do block access to these casinos from the internet, and from legal they can even go after the place where they registered their domains or host their servers and they should if they are breaking the law. But this is always going to be a game where they win one fight, and lose another.

It comes back to that question, why are players deciding to play there to begin with? It would be good to run a deep survey directly in the player base and try to find that out. If they make up the reasons on their own they will miss the mark and make measures that are not related at all to the real problem..

[SuperBitMan]

Some casinos block them access, while some just allow free access irrespective of which country the player is accessing it from.

I think there are more casinos that also regulate certain excluded countries, and all of that is listed in their terms and conditions.
Casinos declared illegal in a region may still continue to grow, especially for slot game sites that are growing very rapidly. Blocked sites will create other slot game sites. You can see such situations in countries that are actually fighting gambling addiction.

Yeah there are some casinos that restrict some countries, even with the restriction that the casino gave some countries, People in those countries still find their way to use those casinos, in some cases when the casino find out they usually block their account.

Yes, of course even if a casino is declared illegal in a particular country that does not mean that those who are desperate to use the casino will not find their way, there are so many ways to always use a casino that has been restricted from your country one of those ways is by using VPN.

[OgNasty]

This is surprising to read. I thought that Europe was much more gambling friendly than the United States, but I’ve never actually gambled in Europe before so I’m not sure why I thought that. I’ll have to educate myself a little bit about online gambling practices around the world. Would hate to get arrested on a vacation somewhere because I wanted to play Plinko.

[Coyster]

As long as there is demand for the gambling black market, this figure would continue to grow. The use of cryptocurrency to gamble makes it easier for players to gamble in unlicensed offshore casinos. Even in my country, players do not only use the licensed casinos, and a lot of people gamble in platforms abroad, aided by the use of crypto.

The most common disadvantage of playing in unlicensed casinos is player protection and you might be unable to challenge the decision of an ofshore casino in court, in the case of a dispute. But then, come to think of it, a lot of people also get screwed by licensed casinos and they do not get any justice.

[tread93]

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/

It’s a good point. I mean regulation always sucks but it’s a small price to pay to ensure that gambling sites are legitimate and being held accountable. That way they can boast they uphold regulations on their web page and as a result gain confidence in the users and attract more new clients seeking a legitimate and fun online gambling hub.

[famososMuertos]

Well, they don't actually explain how the study was conducted; though that doesn't necessarily mean the figures are accurate or even worse than stated. The real issue is how "illegal" is defined; there are so many variables, such as players moving abroad solely to avoid existing tax rates. For instance, professional Spanish poker players often relocate to places like London or even Andorra due to tax implications and market flexibility.

Along those lines, some players might be making cryptocurrency deposits (using VPNs and the like) to bypass certain obligations; some casinos allow this. Whether or not it is illegal depends on various factors, but I think the study aims to provide some concrete data to push for stricter regulation.

[Julien_Olynpic]

25% is a very significant figure indeed. It reveals something interesting: for a quarter of players, providing their personal data through the KYC procedure is unacceptable or highly undesirable. We know, after all, that this is precisely what distinguishes unregulated and illegal crypto casinos—the lack of a KYC procedure or its rather perfunctory implementation. People ignore the risk of being deceived by illegal crypto casinos simply to avoid verification. These figures give us pause.

[Nheer]

Some compliant casinos really don't allow access but since they did not require 0000000000000000 of l upon creation of an account it can easily be bypassed by some because they will just use a VPN to access and create an account and there they go they can gamble already. So regulators cannot blame it all on overseas casinos as gamblers sometimes bypass the system just to play, unless all users who sign up will require KYC, then that changes things a lot.

KYC after registering in all casino will change a lot of things but not everyone likes the idea of KYC. It will easily help in dictating and penalizing anyone that tries to register or gamble in any country that it's not allowed because am sure even with VPN, KYC cannot be bypassed as it mostly requires identification details and sometimes also a facial identification.

Also even in most countries that gambling are allowed, only the person above the government identified matured age are allowed to participate in creating account or partaking in gambling, but with KYC not made mandatory, many underaged children have been recently into gambling which is mostly influential to children and is very bad for the community.

[TopTort777]

25% is a very significant figure indeed. It reveals something interesting: for a quarter of players, providing their personal data through the KYC procedure is unacceptable or highly undesirable. We know, after all, that this is precisely what distinguishes unregulated and illegal crypto casinos—the lack of a KYC procedure or its rather perfunctory implementation. People ignore the risk of being deceived by illegal crypto casinos simply to avoid verification. These figures give us pause.

I think among those 25% of European gamblers, not all of them even have an idea that they are gambling in illegal casino. They gamble in casino they found somewhere, heard from someone or were suggested, without even bothering to check if it is legal or illegal. I bet those illegal gambling are places where people eventually can place a bet. Owner of the place can sell you a sandwich and if you want he can accept a football bet Or even if you just buy there a lotter ticket or place counter-strike skin on virtual sport - for statistics this is still a casino that counts toward those 25%.

[Coyster]

We know, after all, that this is precisely what distinguishes unregulated and illegal crypto casinos—the lack of a KYC procedure or its rather perfunctory implementation. People ignore the risk of being deceived by illegal crypto casinos simply to avoid verification. These figures give us pause.

That is not always the case. Let's say a casino doesn't have the local license to operate in France, but it is a registered casino with a valid license, E.G. a Curacao license. If that casino goes on to offer their service to gamblers in France, they would be regarded as an illegal casino and can face severe penalties. And my point is that the players who go ahead to use this offsore illegal/unlicensed casino could still face KYC verification in the event of a dispute, even though it could just be a means by which the casino tries to stall payments.

[Ziskinberg]

I think among those 25% of European gamblers, not all of them even have an idea that they are gambling in illegal casino. They gamble in casino they found somewhere, heard from someone or were suggested, without even bothering to check if it is legal or illegal. I bet those illegal gambling are places where people eventually can place a bet. Owner of the place can sell you a sandwich and if you want he can accept a football bet Or even if you just buy there a lotter ticket or place counter-strike skin on virtual sport - for statistics this is still a casino that counts toward those 25%.

It's not literally an illegal casino, the definition is just from the European regulators, so it means these are casinos that are outside their jurisdiction. It could be licensed somewhere or have no license at all, but they still consider it illegal gambling because it is not registered under them.

[WhoYouCantKill]

I think there are more casinos that also regulate certain excluded countries, and all of that is listed in their terms and conditions.
Casinos declared illegal in a region may still continue to grow, especially for slot game sites that are growing very rapidly. Blocked sites will create other slot game sites. You can see such situations in countries that are actually fighting gambling addiction.

One thing most people fail to understand is that, blocking a gambling site doesn’t automatically take the demand for gambling completely out of the picture. Some users can easily just move to another platform, especially right now that new casinos keep popping out of the blues everyday. And that’s why I believe true enforcement needs to go beyond just restricting websites  if they are to be effective, they should prioritize creating public awareness, effective regulation and even support for those who are actually battling addiction.

[henmark]

25% is a very significant figure indeed. It reveals something interesting: for a quarter of players, providing their personal data through the KYC procedure is unacceptable or highly undesirable. We know, after all, that this is precisely what distinguishes unregulated and illegal crypto casinos—the lack of a KYC procedure or its rather perfunctory implementation. People ignore the risk of being deceived by illegal crypto casinos simply to avoid verification. These figures give us pause.

I think among those 25% of European gamblers, not all of them even have an idea that they are gambling in illegal casino. They gamble in casino they found somewhere, heard from someone or were suggested, without even bothering to check if it is legal or illegal. I bet those illegal gambling are places where people eventually can place a bet. Owner of the place can sell you a sandwich and if you want he can accept a football bet Or even if you just buy there a lotter ticket or place counter-strike skin on virtual sport - for statistics this is still a casino that counts toward those 25%.

Well depends on how you gamble. Because if you are gambling with bitcoin, then yeah, you may not have a clue if it is legal or illegal. But if you are gambling with fiat, then sending money from your bank account and then getting money back to your bank account from an illegal source would be good enough for you to notice because if you do not, then the law will notice it for you.

I also would like to say, 25% is only the known, because since it is illegal, you can't really know the exact number; they are doing something illegal, hence they might be hiding it, so you may never know the exact number.

[Maslate]

I also would like to say, 25% is only the known, because since it is illegal, you can't really know the exact number; they are doing something illegal, hence they might be hiding it, so you may never know the exact number.

They are not referring to a person on that 25%, but they are referring to the market (illegal casinos), and you are correct, that 25% is not accurate but that report is coming from the government agency, so you can assume that they did the research with reference, to come up with that 25% being the estimate.

That data could be gotten from.

internet traffic,
exchanges,
etc, anything that they can access and get data from.

[fighter2627]

Here in our country, there are many illegal online casinos promoted by well-known influencers. The worst thing is that the owners of these are well-known politicians in the government
where they own both legal and illegal casinos.

But of course, the government benefits from legal gambling casinos, whether online or physical gambling, except of course from illegal gambling that is still operating without
the government's permission.

[Makus]

I think the trend toward illegal casinos gaining ground will only intensify over time. Users generally don't care whether they play at a legal or illegal casino. If a casino is illegal, that doesn't mean they're scammers. And generally, if a person trusts an illegal casino, and the casino itself justifies that trust, why should we deprive ourselves of the pleasure? Ultimately, I believe most casinos will become illegal, just as Bitcoin was briefly considered an "illegal" asset.

Using an illegal gambling site can be quite dangerous not because the casino is actually a scam but because they are not licensed, if anything goes wrong in the long run there is no way gamblers can come out to sue them because they aren't legal to begin with. This .eans that using such casinos would always be at the risk at the risk of the players. Users don't really if a casino is lega or illegal as lomg as it meets their needs, they don't really have a problem with it but it is always advisable to make use of casinos that are legal.

[DrBeer]

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/

I’ll share my opinion.
The main reason is fear of tax requirements in the country where the casino is based. All legitimate casinos are required to provide information upon request by government agencies in the country where they obtained their license to operate.
The second reason you mentioned KYC essentially involves...
the same risk of personal data disclosure and the subsequent risks associated with dealing with tax authorities.

Most people say, directly or indirectly, that they’re afraid that some time after revealing their identity to the casino, they’ll face financial claims for unpaid taxes.