UKGC: "not on GamStop" now a main route to illegal sites

People in Britain who use illegal gambling websites increasingly find them by searching for "not on GamStop", according to research published by the Gambling Commission on 20 October. The phrase once mainly meant getting around GamStop, the national self-exclusion scheme for licensed online gambling. The report finds it now works as shorthand for a set of features linked to the illegal market: fewer identity checks, less friction, faster payouts, and credit card or cryptocurrency betting.

The study is the third phase of the Commission's Consumer Voice series on illegal online gambling, carried out by Yonder Consulting. It combines an analysis of public online conversations between 28 February and 1 September 2026, a survey of 4,007 people who had gambled online in the previous four weeks (fieldwork 1 to 15 May 2026), and two online focus groups with 15 participants in July.

The Commission stresses that using illegal sites is something only a small minority of gamblers do. The report looks only at that minority.

Access, not better odds

The survey ranked how strongly different reasons were linked to illegal site use. The two strongest were looking for sites not blocked by GamStop and using sites that would not ask for much personal data. Experience-led reasons, such as hunting for better odds, mattered less. The exception was the Accidental Tourists, for whom trouble withdrawing winnings was more strongly linked than looking for sites outside GamStop.

The report also notes that ID and finance checks reportedly turn up on illegal sites too. Players who leave the licensed market to avoid checks can meet the same checks again, without the protections a licensed site has to offer.

Four kinds of user

• Self-Excluders report getting around their GamStop exclusion. The Commission calls them a small group.
• Skilled Advocates say they gamble on illegal sites on purpose. They are significantly less likely to trust gambling companies, the government and the regulator. Of the illegal-site users surveyed, 72% of Skilled Advocates sought sites with minimal identity checks, against 34% of all illegal-site users.
• Social Explorers do not say they use illegal sites deliberately but show signs of it. They are deal-seekers who rely on friends' recommendations; 81% browse for better odds, against 58% of all illegal-site users.
• Accidental Tourists also show signs of use without intending it. They want fast, easy play; 79% agreed they "do not want to be bothered by the gambling company when gambling", against 52%.

What it means

The Commission's conclusion is that one message will not reach everyone. Its early view is that education about the warning signs of illegal sites may work for Social Explorers and Accidental Tourists, while Skilled Advocates are unlikely to be persuaded that way; for them, enforcement against the wider illegal-site ecosystem and tackling the friction points they object to are more likely to work. A technical report on the Commission's new Illegal Incidence Index, with findings from the first four waves of illegal-gambling data in the Gambling Survey for Great Britain, is scheduled for November 2026 as phase four.

In a blog post with the report, the Commission adds that many "not on GamStop" search results lead to affiliate pages promoting illegal operators. SBC News, citing Google Trends, reports that UK searches for the phrase rose 120% year on year.

The report's point about friction is worth reading next to recent enforcement in the licensed market, such as the Commission's L & L Europe settlement over withdrawal delays. It also echoes the doubts over offshore licensing raised by the Comoros government's statement on Anjouan licences.

If you have signed up to GamStop and are struggling with the urge to gamble, GamCare runs the free National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133, open 24 hours a day.