Data from the Sociological Institute at the Slovak Academy of Sciences said 400,000 Czech players use illegal gambling sites and the figure signals a serious market problem.

The Czech Republic loses over CZK330 million or $15.9 million each month in tax money from legal gambling operators as people play on unlicensed sites unknowingly. Data came from the 2026 Black Book of Legal Gambling by Robert Klobuck of the Sociological Institute at the Slovak Academy of Sciences and kept the same focus. It included economic analysis by the Centre for Economic and Market Analysis, led by Executive Director Aleš Rod and followed the same understanding of the legal activity. Findings in that analysis said Czech players lost nearly CZK14.5 billion every year through gambling on operators without a licence outside state control.

This sum meant up to CZK4.0 billion loss for the state budget since CZK2.9 billion to CZK3.6 billion vanished in taxes every year and municipalities saw up to CZK500 million losses. However, the Rod report said the cost could sit even higher because income tax money and employee contributions also fall due to the lack of legal gambling activity. Rod said that legal gambling is not only a social issue but also an economic issue for the state that depends on tax intake from people. He said uncollected money has a price because it can support sport, culture, addiction prevention, debt reduction, or stay with taxpayers through legal operators. He said money instead went to operators without a known name placed outside the Czech authority’s reach in tax havens far from state law.

He said operators that are not legal can use more profit for more marketing spend and gain a larger market share against operators that follow the law. Rod said this problem keeps growing as the online market size grows and brings more players to operators that do not follow state rules.

Illegal Gambling Operators in Prague

The primary concern in the Black Book of Illegal Gambling focused on high numbers of people gambling illegally. The report put 400,000 players knowingly on unlicensed operators and another 400,000 unable to tell legal from illegal. Combined data showed the three most searched non-legal brands hit over 111,000 Czech browser searches in one month. The Czech market held 27 legal operators and 1,113 non-legal brands targeting Czech players. Petr Čelechovský from Bonver Win said numbers showed the scale of the problem and the need for strong action on the black market. The issue spread past online gambling and hit land venues.

The report said inspections across gambling venues uncovered legal sites in areas with municipal bans. One such area sat in Prague after a blanket slot ban in early 2024. Čelechovský said illegal land operations remained a fact and laws got broken and municipal rules got ignored and crime took place. He said the state must step in and control operations by tighter legislation to support Customs Administration enforcement.

Calls for Change to the Czech Regulation

Čelechovský pushed for new rules to protect players and help legal operators. Industry group Institute for the Regulation of Gambling said two studies should push the government to act. IPRH Director Jan Řehola said the current repressive steps failed. He said the Czech Republic must upgrade tech tools to block illegal sites and streamline banks and payment provider links and also raise public awareness of risk. Researchers questioned the strength of the national self-exclusion register. The study noted 66.2% of self-excluded online users still played illegally sometimes or often. Řehola said crypto casinos and social media trends reshaped the black market and the market needed fresh regulation. He added the space that sat outside control and pulled children and young people. He said minors saw gambling in online groups or gaming servers before the legal age.