BGC Releases Interactive Game to Raise Black Market Awareness

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The other day, the Betting and Gambling Council (BGC) launched an interactive quiz which they titled “Spot The Black Market.” Its purpose is to help people distinguish proper and illegal iGaming platforms. Instead of white papers and guidelines that punters won’t likely read, the Council picked a new approach. They use elements of gamification, which is at its peak of popularity nowadays.

What the “Spot The Black Market” Initiative Actually Tests

Although it looks like a simple interactive tool, this game has a big purpose. It’s among the best ways to show how good unlicensed websites are at mimicking visuals and features of legal operators. It has 9 questions allocated into two blocks:

• First. The first one tests one’s skills in identifying the black market operator by its visuals.
• Second. Whereas the second part implies checking more profound knowledge on the British gambling market, such as the amount of funds staked annually in the underground, how much funds the UK budget loses annually, etc.

The quiz aims to encourage players to look deeper and verify the licensing information rather than admiring superficial visuals.

Boosting Awareness With the BGC’s Quiz

As we already stressed, the visual investigation is no longer enough in 2026 to stay protected. Here’s the checklist “Spot The Black Market” quiz offers:

• The license number link in the footer directs you to the official United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) register.
• UK-regulated gambling sites do not accept deposits and withdrawals via cryptocurrencies.
• All bonuses should have clear and fair terms, not encouraging excessive play with time limits.
• Gamble Aware, GAMSTOP, Take Time to Think, age restriction and other protection seals should be in place.
• Credit card bans, safer play tools, harm markers, and other safeguards are available.

Most players, especially seasoned ones, are sure to spot an illegal casino, betting or poker site. Swedish gambling regulator Spelinspektionen conducted a study in 2025 and revealed that 72% of participants couldn’t distinguish between legal and unlicensed sites. The situation in Sweden hardly differs from that in the UK. 

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*Cardmates editor's results after testing black market awareness.

True Cost of the Black Market to the UK Economy

Except for the risks posed to players, the offshore market harms the UK budget as well. Some of the negative effects:

• The British budget loses £67 billion of duty annually to the black market.
• 1 in 5 punters aged 18-25 have gambled at non-UK casinos at least once.
• Players stake over £10 billion on black market operators.
• UK residents stake £1.6+ billion in the physical underground casinos.

What Draws UK Players to Offshore Sites

The problem of offshore gambling is acute in the United Kingdom. BGC and UKGC publish lots of reports and research on the black market's impact on the UK tax system and its negative effects on players' well-being annually. Despite this, 2.1% of British online bets go to unlicensed casinos and bookies. Let’s see why these sites seem appealing to users:

• Opportunity to gamble anonymously with crypto.
• Bypassing self-exclusion, document checks, and age restrictions.
• No caps on stake limits, unlike £2 and £5 in online slots at UKGC-licensed casinos.
• More generous bonus offers.

The government is working on changing the cryptocurrency regulations, so it may become available to legal operators. The recent 10x wagering rule no longer makes big bonus deals with 60x wagering at illegal casinos appealing.

BGC’s “Spot The Black Market” quiz is one more move to help UK punters distinguish licensed and offshore sites, because many still sign up, not understanding if the platform is legal. A quiz is not enough to turn the community away from black-market thrills. Gamification can hardly do what regulation hasn’t managed. But the initiative will definitely raise people’s awareness.