Roblox Gambling Sites: What Every Parent Needs to Know
Platform Accountability | Child Safety | May 2026
If you have a child who plays Roblox, you probably think of it as a safe, colourful game about building things and exploring virtual worlds. That is the version most parents see, it is also the version most children want you to see.
This week, Sky News published a follow-up investigation confirming that illegal gambling casinos are operating inside Roblox’s ecosystem. Children are using them openly. One user typed “yea im 13” in a casino chatroom in January this year, nobody stopped them.1
This is not a new problem. It is a problem that was exposed, supposedly fixed, and came straight back. Here is what you need to know.
What are these sites and how do they work?
If your child plays Roblox, they know what Robux are. It is Roblox’s in-game currency, bought with real money, around £8.99 for 800 Robux, used to buy outfits, accessories, and upgrades inside the game.
What most parents do not know is that Robux can be used to gamble.
A network of third-party websites, operating entirely outside of Roblox, allows children to log in using their existing Roblox account details, the same username and password they use to play the game, then use their Robux to place bets. The games on offer include “Crash” (a multiplier bet where you cash out before a graph crashes), roulette, slots, and head-to-head games. Winnings come back as Robux or directly as cryptocurrency.
These sites are not part of Roblox. Roblox does not run them and says it prohibits them. But they use Roblox’s own currency and your child’s own login. To a child, it looks like part of the Roblox world.
Four things parents need to understand right now
1. There are no age checks
None of these sites verifies age. A child logs in with their Roblox account and they are in. Sky News screenshot a chatroom message from a 13-year-old, dated January 2025. Nobody removed them, nobody asked a question. That is the full extent of the age protection on these platforms.
2. The UK geoblock is not a protection
Some sites geoblock UK users because they are not licensed to operate here. It sounds reassuring. One of the casinos in the investigation, Rollbet, was found to have staff actively telling users to use a VPN to bypass the block. A VPN is a free app that masks your location online. Any teenager with a smartphone can install one in two minutes. The block is effectively a door with the key left in it.
3. Real money moves through this
Robux is not Monopoly money. It is purchased with real currency, a child who has received Robux as a birthday gift, earned it through the game, or had a parent top up their account, is gambling with real cash. Winnings can be converted back into cash or cryptocurrency. Rollbet, one of the named sites, had over 35,500 members on its Discord server before it announced it was shutting down.
4. The casinos that get shut down come back
One site, BloxFlip, announced it was “permanently shutting down” within 36 hours of being named in the original Sky News investigation in December 2024. Then it emailed the journalist who exposed it to announce its return “under new ownership.” These operators have learned that the consequences of exposure are temporary. That tells you everything about whether they fear the current regulatory body.
What the Gambling Commission already knows
This is not new information for the regulator.
The Gambling Commission’s 2025 Young People and Gambling official statistics, published last November, specifically named Roblox as one of the platforms where awareness of gambling-like features is highest among young people.2 Their qualitative research found that loot boxes and skin gambling in games, including Roblox, can serve as early pathways into problem gambling. Half of all young people surveyed already knew you could bet with in-game items on outside websites.
Back in December 2025, I wrote about a podcast interview in which Roblox’s CEO called the idea of putting prediction markets inside Roblox a “brilliant idea.” The fuller picture of the company’s approach to these risks is there if you want it.
Will Prochaska, director of the Coalition to End Gambling Ads, told Sky News he found it “surprising” and “saddening” that the commission had not “done more to stop” the Roblox casinos, and that a “systemic” approach could have addressed the problem.3 The commission’s response pointed to ongoing work across regulators and enforcement bodies, and added that they “would also like parents and carers to be vigilant to sites used by children.”4
I understand what regulators are up against. But asking parents to be vigilant about sites they do not know exist, using currency from a game they thought was safe, is not a safeguarding strategy. The commission’s own data tells us how widespread this already is among children. The response needs to match that reality.
Roblox told Sky News they “firmly prohibit all simulated and actual gambling activities” on the platform, and that players are “prohibited from engaging in off-platform secondary-market transactions for Roblox items or Robux.”
Those are the right words. I have watched organisations recite the correct policy language while harm was still occurring. The policy existing and the policy working are two entirely different things.
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How to protect children from illegal Roblox gambling sites
For parents
Talk to your child about Roblox. Not as a lecture, as a conversation. Ask which games they play, have they ever seen anything about winning Robux or a Roblox casino? Curiosity is far less threatening than an interrogation, children are far more likely to open up when they feel safe to do so.
Explain what Robux is and how it works. Many children and parents do not realise Robux has real cash value. It can be purchased with real money and used in ways that look and feel like gambling. Understanding that helps a child recognise when something is not right.
Check your child’s Roblox account settings. Make sure the account age is set correctly, parental controls are enabled, and chat settings are appropriate. Roblox does have parental controls. They work better when you know they are there.
Know the names. BloxFlip and Rollbet are two that have been publicly named. If your child mentions a Roblox casino or anywhere you can win Robux, take it seriously.
Be their safe space. If your child has already visited one of these sites, has gambled, or has seen something that worried them, the worst outcome is that they feel they cannot tell you. Make it clear, and keep making it clear, that they can come to you with anything they have seen or done online, without anger or punishment.
Guides and resources for parents are available at guides.cybersafetyguy.com.
For teachers and DSLs
This is worth raising in PSHE and in safeguarding briefings, particularly for KS3 and KS4 where Roblox use remains high.
If a child discloses that they have been gambling online, treat it with the same seriousness as any online risk disclosure. A conversation with parents or carers is warranted, and depending on the extent of the harm, a referral may be appropriate.
The VPN angle is worth addressing in digital literacy sessions. A child who knows how to bypass a geoblock to access a gambling site may be using the same method to access other restricted content. Understanding that children are actively working around these restrictions changes what “online safety” software actually protects against.
Peer influence is a significant driver here. These sites are found through friends, Discord, and social media influencers. The entry point is social, not solitary, which means school-based conversations about gambling risk are more relevant than they might appear.
If your school uses Roblox as part of a creative or digital curriculum, it is worth reviewing whether existing digital safety guidance covers third-party sites that use Roblox credentials.
Guides and resources for schools, including PSHE materials and DSL briefing cards, are available at schools.cybersafetyguy.com.
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Mickey Carroll, ‘This illegal casino exposed itself... and in a very surprising way,’ Sky News, 27 May 2026. https://news.sky.com/story/this-illegal-casino-exposed-itself-and-in-a-very-surprising-way-13548206. Accessed 27 May 2026. Note: Factual reporting is Sky News’. Dale McGleenon provides independent commentary and guidance.
Gambling Commission, Young People and Gambling 2025: Official Statistics, published 13 November 2025. https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/report/young-people-and-gambling-2025-official-statistics. Accessed 27 May 2026
Will Prochaska, director of Coalition to End Gambling Ads, quoted in Sky News, ibid.
UK Gambling Commission spokesperson, quoted in Sky News, ibid.