Report
Phase 4: Illegal Gambling Index – Technical Report
The Gambling Commission’s technical report detailing the development of the Illegal Gambling Index.
Statement development during Phase 1
Phase One began with a scoping exercise, in which Yonder spoke with the Gambling Commission’s Enforcement teams, and their Lived Experience Advisory Panel (LEAP), in order to inform a preliminary understanding of the online illegal gambling market, the features of operators within it, and the motivations of those that gamble with them.
A quantitative survey was then conducted with 1,000 individuals who had gambled online in the last 4 weeks (excluding National Lottery, or in-person, only), in which respondents were asked whether they had engaged in any types of behaviour that may indicate use of an illegal gambling website (such as gambling using a Virtual Private Network (VPN), or gambling on a ‘foreign’ website), and whether they had any experiences that are typical of some illegal gambling websites (such as glitchy websites, or difficulties withdrawing).
Their responses to these questions, coupled with their consent to re-contact, provided Yonder with a sample of individuals who gamble on illegal gambling websites for follow-up qualitative research, in which their identified behaviours and experiences were used to garner a range of opinions across the sample4 .
The qualitative element of Phase 1 consisted of 10 in-depth online interviews with these illegal gambling website users, as well as 2 1.5 hour mini-focus groups with people with lived experience of previously using illegal gambling websites. Findings from the qualitative phase helped to shape the Commission’s understanding of the various individuals who gamble online that are engaged in and/or attracted to the illegal market, and their experiences. This phase of research also served to demonstrate that there is not often a clear understanding among individuals who gamble online of whether they are using an illegal operator.
Although it provided the Commission with a richer understanding of the online illegal gambling market, Phase 1 was limited in that it used a broad stroke approach to categorising and recruiting respondents for qualitative research. Statements used in this phase were not suitable for accurately understanding incidence of consumer engagement in the market, due to the room for legal website usage within some (such as use of a glitchy website, which could have been the case on a website licensed by the Commission, or difficulty withdrawing funds, which is also sometimes the case on licensed websites).
Phase 2 was needed to validate findings from the first phase, and to also develop a core set of indicators that could be taken forward into the Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB), in order to provide an accurate picture of the engagement with illegal gambling websites over time.
References
4 For more insight on how these individuals were identified as having used illegal gambling websites, see the findings of the Phase 1 project report.
Statement development during Phase 2
Last updated: 5 November 2026
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