TLDR The BGC denied claims that its members supplied games to unlicensed offshore gambling sites Donbet and Mystake A campaign group raised the allegations during a House of Lords hearing on June 17 SBC News could not independently verify the claims during testing The BGC says piracy, not supplier complicity, is the more likely explanation for familiar games appearing on black market sites The Gambling Commission is set to gain new powers to block unlicensed domains in the coming months
The UK’s Betting and Gaming Council pushed back hard this week against allegations that some of its members were supplying games to illegal offshore gambling websites.
The claims were raised on June 17 during a House of Lords hearing by a campaign group. The group said it had found evidence linking game suppliers connected to the BGC to offshore operators Donbet and Mystake.
BGC Chief Executive Grainne Hurst responded quickly. She said the named suppliers had denied any knowing involvement with black market operators.
SBC News tested both platforms. Accounts could be created on Donbet and Mystake, but the games named in the report were not accessible. The claims could not be independently confirmed.
BGC Points to Piracy, Not Complicity
The BGC offered a different explanation for how its members’ games might appear on unlicensed sites. Hurst said piracy is a growing problem in online gambling, where game code can be copied, reverse-engineered and repackaged to look like the real thing.
This is not unique to gambling. Across digital industries, software is regularly stolen and redistributed without the creator’s knowledge or consent.
The BGC said intellectual property theft is a more likely explanation than direct supplier involvement.
Hurst added that any member found to be knowingly supplying illegal operators would face serious consequences. That includes losing BGC