A Coalition to End Gambling Ads (CEGA) investigation has found that two of the most notorious illegal online casinos in Britain, Donbet.com and Mystake.com, remain accessible despite being reported to the Gambling Commission last year as part of an inquest into a death by gambling related suicide.
The websites, which are reportedly owned by a company called Santeda International, appear to be listing games supplied by 18 British-licensed software providers – representing a breach of their licence conditions and a possible offence under the Gambling Act.
CEGA officers were able to open accounts, make deposits and gamble on the sites from Great Britain, with some games from British licence holders available directly and others appearing when a VPN was switched on.
Two of the licensed games developers appear to have received their licenses from the Gambling Commission after their games appeared on the illegal websites.
The report raises serious questions about the Gambling Commission’s enforcement and licensing regime, supplier due diligence, and the links between Britain’s licensed gambling sector and the unlicensed market.
Games developed by five members of the Betting and Gaming Council appear on the websites, highlighting concerns about the sector’s “standards body” and how serious it is about combatting unlicensed gambling.
The Betting and Gaming Council is reportedly a partner in the Government’s Illegal Gambling Taskforce, despite it representing companies that are associated with illegal gambling.
The report calls for immediate blocking action, an independent investigation into the Gambling Commission’s licensing regime, licence suspensions for any suppliers in breach of their licences, and the expulsion of the Betting and Gaming Council from the Government’s Illegal Gambling Taskforce.
Chloe Long who lost her brother, Ollie Long, to gambling related suicide in 2024 after he was gambling on Santeda International websites said:
“Like hundreds of others every year, Ollie was taken from us by a gambling industry built around highly addictive and increasingly sophisticated products. For years, Ollie struggled deeply, believing the harm he experienced was his own fault.
“Despite taking steps to protect himself, including signing up to GAMSTOP, he continued to be targeted by illegal operators who exploited him in the most predatory ways.
“It is horrifying that more than two years on from his death, illegal sites directly linked to his case remain accessible in the UK, and are being supplied by the licensed sector, raising serious questions about the effectiveness of current regulation and enforcement.
“Across both the licensed and illegal markets, the system is failing to protect people, while harmful products, relentless advertising, and gaps in oversight continue to drive devastating consequences. Urgent, meaningful reform is needed to prevent more families experiencing the same loss.”
Will Prochaska, Director of the Coalition to End Gambling Ads, said:
“The harm associated with illegal gambling in the UK is a symptom of a licensed sector that is out of control and causing addiction. Some of the people who become addicted gambling on licensed online casinos are then preyed upon by unlicensed operators after they have tried to stop gambling.
“It is a scandal that games developers that hold licenses in Great Britain are now supplying illegal gambling websites. It makes a mockery of the UK’s gambling laws, and makes it much harder for consumers to know whether they’re engaging with a legal or an illegal operator.
“The situation betrays the continuing association between gambling and crime, which the Gambling Commission has a statutory duty to prevent. Urgent reform is needed and all new gambling licence applications should be paused whilst the Gambling Commission’s licencing regime is investigated and made fit for purpose.
“The Betting and Gaming Council’s siren calls about the threat of illegal gambling ring hollow when their members’ names appear all over illegal websites. The BGC should require all its members to confirm that neither they nor their suppliers and affiliates have relationships with unlicensed gambling in Britain or overseas.”
Notes:
The Coalition to End Gambling Ads is a group of organisations campaigning to stop gambling being promoted. Our membership includes public health institutions, councils, charities, faith groups, credit unions, and sports clubs. We focus on policy recommendations that will have the greatest impact on reducing the harm caused by gambling advertising, and as part of that work we focus on advertising for both licensed and unlicensed operators.
We regularly report instances of gambling advertising that breach the Committee of Advertising Practice rules as well as advertising of unlawful gambling. In 2025 we reported an advert by the gambling operator Stake which resulted in Stake surrendering its right to serve the British market and subsequently saw its “white label” partner, TGP Europe, surrender its licence, taking 15 harmful gambling brands with it.
The investigation covered in this report started because of reports of Donbet.com and Mystake.com advertising to British consumers using the phrase “not on Gamstop”. Gamstop is the national self-exclusion register for people who want to stop gambling online. If a casino is listed or advertised as “not on Gamstop” it is a clear sign that the casino on offer does not have a licence to operate in Great Britain and that it is trying to get people who don’t want to gamble to start again.
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