£500K black market projection accepted
Savvas argues the government knowingly accounted for £500,000 flowing to the black market as an acceptable consequence of the tax rise.
Snapshot · The iGaming Leader
The Founder Who Got Tired of Gambling's Bullshit. So He Built Something Better.
Explore episode
Jun 20, 2026
Where this was said
Black Market Rampant: The Human Cost of Getting Tax Policy Wrong
At 37:25 · chapter starts 36:40
Moving from MrQ's internal response to the wider industry picture, Savvas turns his frustration on the government directly. His argument is not just about business impact but about people: real players, real harm. The government, he says, explicitly accounted for £500,000 going into the black market as an acceptable consequence of the tax — and he finds that position incomprehensible. Unregulated sites don't have safer gambling tools, AML checks, or self-exclusion mechanisms. The assumption that the black market is only attracting GamStop-listed problem gamblers is, in his view, dangerously naive — there are far too many unlicensed sites for that number to hold. The regulated industry's job now is to give players genuinely compelling reasons to stay — not through promotional complexity, but through honesty, transparency, and a superior experience. The CMA's intervention on how promotional offers must be written is cited as a reminder of how far the industry had drifted from player-centric thinking before regulation forced its hand.
Shifting the Paradigm: What Real Money Entertainment Could Be
Savvas is building toward synchronous, shared entertainment — inspired by pandemic-era poker nights, Kalshi, and Polymarket. The insight is that players feel more engaged when they sense control and social connection. Can MrQ replicate that across real-money gaming beyond slots and live dealer?
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