There’s no longer a bookmaker sitting on the corner of every London street. This was the most visible sign of gambling in London for many years.
However, that landscape has changed significantly in more recent times, as online gambling now accounts for the vast majority of Britain’s overall gambling market.
Fewer High Street Shops
The numbers tell their own story, as UK Gambling Commission figures for the year up to March 2026 showed that Britain’s gambling market jumped 4.4% to £17.5 billion, with online gambling increasing almost 7% to £8.3 billion, with a 15% jump in online casino play being the main reason.
During this same period, the number of betting shops fell by 208 to 5,617. Online now makes up around 63% of gambling revenue, excluding the National Lottery.
The closures have increased significantly this year off the back of the UK government’s decision to double the Remote Gaming Duty from 21% to 40% in April 2026. Operators have been cutting their retail costs, as many of them were only breaking even or were loss-making.
The change is especially stark in London, as some boroughs were heavily saturated for years. Newham, during its peak years, had 81 betting shops. The decline started there when the council led a national campaign against fixed-odds betting terminals, whose maximum stake was cut from £100 to £2 in 2019.
That stake cut, combined with the rise of smartphone betting, removed much of the business case for clustering shops together. Empty units have followed, often taken by vape shops, phone repairers and takeaways and not a return to traditional retail.
One type of gambling venue is bucking the trend. Adult gaming centres, high street arcades filled with slot machines, are in vogue. These are venues that some operators closing their betting shops are now looking into whether they’re worth opening. Critics warn that slots carry some of the highest risks of gambling harm.
Consolidation in the Casino Space
London’s land-based casinos have seen a lot over the years. Several of Mayfair’s famous private clubs are no more, with the Clermont Club shutting in 2018, followed by the Ritz Club in 2020 and Crockfords after 195 years in existence in October 2023.
The decline of these clubs is partly due to the big drop in wealthy overseas visitors coming to London. However, there’s also the aspect of people spending more of their money online, with live casino online games offering a realistic remote playing experience.
The casinos that remain are now a consolidation of the bigger operators. Wynn Resorts completed its takeover of Crown London Aspinalls in June 2025, rebranding it Wynn Mayfair. Genting bought the Aspers casino in East London, which is the largest casino floor in Britain.
It renovated the property and relaunched in July 2025. The Hippodrome Casino in the West End has leaned more into entertainment, regularly hosting shows and not relying as much on the gaming floors.
Leaving the Financial Market
Many of the UK’s biggest gaming brands were once listed on the London Stock Exchange. However, many of them are gone now, deciding to look elsewhere, like New York, to access bigger pools of capital. This has been a trend seen in the City outside of gaming companies, too.
Advertising and Sport
While betting shops are fading out of view, gambling brands are more visible than ever before in other ways. Online operators spend heavily on marketing, and much of it is aimed at Londoners on their commute or in the stands.
The Tube is inundated with gambling-related ads, with operators spending huge sums every year to plaster the Underground network with their ads. Some councils like Brent and Enfield have called on London Mayor Sadiq Khan to ban having these types of ads on the Tube.
The mayor had previously agreed to push for change in this regard during his 2021 re-election campaign, and in December 2025 he said he’s waiting for a national government framework on gambling harm before doing anything.
Football has been the site of some significant changes. Premier League clubs can no longer carry gambling brands on the front of their matchday shirts, ending deals once worth an estimated £60m a year across eight clubs.
However, these logos can still appear on the sleeves of jerseys, as well as on advertising in stadiums, pitchside hoardings, and general partnership agreements. The logos have more so moved and not vanished.
No Drop in Harmful Gambling
With more people gambling from their own homes, the activity has become less visible, but that doesn’t mean that it’s any less harmful. A London Assembly Health Committee investigation in 2024 found London’s rate of problem gambling was 5.6%, almost twice the British average of 2.9%. London also had the highest rate in England of adults who might benefit from gambling treatment.
Smartphones also take away some of the natural limits that you’d get in a betting shop. People used to not have access to 24/7 betting options and they’d have to physically travel to go to the bookies, rather than just load up an app on their phone within seconds.
Seeking Help
Demand for help has grown. NHS England doubled its problem gambling clinics to 15 in 2024, after referrals rose by almost 130% in a year. There have been proposals for the government to backtrack on planning changes which make it much harder for councils to object to the opening of new gambling premises.
Whatever the case, London’s gambling landscape is changing in a major way. Higher taxes for online operators have seen an exodus of companies from high street betting, as their overall margins shrink. The end of Premier League front-of-shirt deals is a positive move, but teams can still showcase gambling logos in other ways.
No matter what changes are introduced, the gambling industry looks like it won’t slow down anytime soon. The question facing City Hall, councils and ministers is no longer how many bookmakers a high street can hold. It is how to regulate a gambling market that now fits in every Londoner’s pocket.
18+. Gambling carries a risk of addiction and financial loss and should never be seen as a way to make money. This article is for information only and does not endorse gambling or any operator. For free, confidential support, visit GamCare or call 0808 8020 133.