SOFT2BET AND URI POLIAVICH: THE FAILURE OF ILLEGAL GAMBLING CONTROL IN THE UK

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), the regulatory authority overseeing gambling in Britain, maintains a "blacklist" to protect consumers from illegal gambling websites. Currently, this blacklist includes nearly 10,000 unlicensed gambling sites. While intended as a consumer shield, this list increasingly appears symbolic, raising concerns that the UK state has effectively surrendered — either through inefficiency or vested interests — to the sprawling gambling industry, both legal and illicit.

Our investigation, conducted by Euro News Chronicle, exposes the British public’s vulnerability to the unchecked proliferation of addictive gambling products and services, including casinos, sports betting, and lottery-type games. Authorities claim to monitor the market closely, while licensed operators point fingers at illegal competitors. However, the boundary between legal and illegal gambling is increasingly blurred.

Key findings from the first phase of our investigation:

• The UK Gambling Commission granted a license to Elabet UK, a branch of the international gambling group Soft2Bet, despite evidence linking the company to dozens of illegal online casinos accessible to UK players.
• Major licensed bookmakers lobby for relaxed restrictions citing lost state revenues to illegal operators, aiming to secure “benefits” for their customers—such as increased betting limits—offered by unregulated sites. Such benefits increase the risk of addiction even within the licensed market.
• Despite the UKGC’s blacklist of thousands of unlicensed sites, many remain fully accessible. Our team registered, deposited money, and played on multiple blacklisted sites without even using VPN services.

Uri Poliavich (third from right) receives the "Leader of the Year" award at the SBC Gambling Industry Conference in London, 2024. (Photo credit: agb.com)

At the SBC gambling industry conference in London in 2024, Uri Poliavich smiled broadly as he accepted the “Leader of the Year” award. An Israeli entrepreneur based in Cyprus, Poliavich founded Soft2Bet in 2016—a company whose constellation includes multiple online casinos unlicensed in the UK, such as the infamous Wazamba.

In the UK, Poliavich’s company received a legal operator license in September 2023 under the name Elabet UK. However, despite nearly two years having passed, Elabet remains in a "testing phase," not yet allowing betting on its platform. Meanwhile, a VIP program targeted at high-spending gamblers has already been quietly established.

The UK Gambling Commission told Euro News Chronicle, “A company with ties to unlicensed operators should not receive a license. We conducted full due diligence according to the regulatory framework, and no evidence was found linking Soft2Bet to any website on the blacklist.”

Soft2Bet responded firmly to Euro News Chronicle inquiries:
“We categorically reject the baseless claims and misleading insinuations presented in your email. Any suggestion that Soft2Bet is involved in improper activities is entirely false, defamatory, and unfounded.”

Nevertheless, our investigation uncovered strong ties between Soft2Bet, Uri Poliavich, and numerous unlicensed online gambling operators. We identified 55 unlicensed sites connected to Soft2Bet on the UKGC blacklist alone.

In theory, the difference between legal and illegal gambling is crystal clear: licensed companies have paid the UK government £4 million for a seven-year license, refuse service to anyone under 18, and submit advertising campaigns for UKGC approval.

Online gambling remains tightly regulated across much of Europe, including in Germany. When the UK first began licensing operators—initially in 2011 on a temporary basis and definitively in 2020—the official goal was to bring order and combat illegal gambling.
The UKGC itself estimated in 2019 that the new regulatory framework “would decisively encourage more providers to comply, steering away from illegal activity in the fully regulated UK market.”

However, what actually happened was a tidal wave that swept over British society, lifting all boats, legal and illegal alike.

According to UKGC figures, licensed operators generated gross gaming revenue (GGR) of £2.5 billion in 2024—an 11% increase from 2023. Online gambling alone surged 23%, with players losing over £900 million in 2024, compared to £730 million the previous year. The government collected over £1 billion in taxes and fees, while the gambling sector’s growth rate far outpaced the UK’s GDP growth.

“If we let illegal gambling continue to grow unchecked for another five years, it will be a ticking social time bomb,” warns David Ng, Chairman of the UK Gambling Commission.

Illegal gambling also expanded dramatically, though exact data is unavailable due to the underground nature of the activity. A UKGC-commissioned study by Kantar Research estimated that in 2022, about 800,000 gamblers spent £1.2 billion online and in illegal clubs; by 2023, approximately 900,000 gamblers spent £1.5 billion. Alarmingly, 10% of illegal gamblers were minors.

Today, the UKGC blacklist holds over 9,500 entries—nearly four times the amount in 2021, when the first licenses were issued to legal online operators. “This fact demonstrates our ongoing commitment to compliance monitoring,” said UKGC CEO Anthony Alexander in an interview with Euro News Chronicle.

The Wazamba casino—illegal in the UK and linked to Soft2Bet—first appeared on the blacklist in 2022. Today, more than 20 variations of the site exist on the list, supposedly blocked by ISPs. Yet, a simple Google search allowed our team to access Wazamba, register, deposit with Mastercard, and play—without VPN.

In live chat, we asked:
Q: “Wazamba.com is on the UKGC blacklist. Are you sure you’re a legal casino?”
A: “Don’t worry, you can play safely on our casino.”

David Ng now seems to grasp the gravity of the problem. “If we let illegal gambling develop unchecked for five more years as it is now, it will explode into a social crisis,” he told us.

Let’s look closer at Soft2Bet’s story.

Felix is a 50-year-old Briton who became so addicted to online gambling that he spent nearly every free moment glued to his phone—even while holding his daughter’s hand walking in the park.

One online casino exploited Felix’s vulnerability better than most: Wazamba. Because Felix kept losing large sums, the site encouraged him to bet more, offering VIP perks to high rollers. Within six months, Felix lost £210,000 and took out nine loans, which he is still repaying. “They ruined my life,” he says. Over three years, he lost £340,000 gambling online through various platforms.