One in 10 Brits Plays Online Poker. By 2026, it Could be One in Seven

_{Poker events are now a regular feature across the UK. (Image: Jeff Gilbert/Alamy)}

Data published by YouGov in January 2025 showed that one in 10 UK adults was playing online poker, double the figure recorded just three years earlier. The findings confirmed what many regular players had suspected: the online game had moved well beyond a pandemic-era hobby and was establishing itself as a mainstream form of digital entertainment.

The question now, heading into 2026, is whether that growth curve holds, and what the table looks like if it does.

Who was Playing in 2025, and Why it Matters to You

The January 2025 snapshot revealed a player base that skewed younger and spent more than most other online gambling formats. Players aged 18 to 34 accounted for 43% of UK online poker participants, compared with just 23% for online sports bettors and 33% for online casino players. The 35 to 54 bracket made up the largest single group at 44%.

For players, those numbers carry a practical implication: the games are getting more competitive. A younger, digitally fluent player base tends to study harder, use tracking software, and move up stakes faster. If participation continues to climb through 2026, and there is little structural reason to expect it to reverse, recreational players will increasingly share tables with opponents who treat the game seriously.

The spending data reinforces that picture. While 57% of players staked between £1 and £100 per month, 15% exceeded £500, a proportion dramatically higher than the 4% seen among sports bettors and 11% among online slots players. Online poker was, in January 2025, already attracting a meaningful share of high-volume gamblers.

Poker Expert Antonio Sapio Paints a Positive Picture for Operators

Antonio Sapio, of live events specialist VibeLive, argues that what is often overlooked in this conversation is what the tax change does not touch.

"Live events and land-based experiences remain unaffected by these changes,'"he says.

Sapio’s company is an experiential marketing laboratory, which harnesses the power of brand experience to captivate and activate high-value audiences. The business supports marketing campaigns across poker, casino, sports betting and beyond, using events, experiences, live content, social, PR, partnerships and other types of activations.

_{Antonio Sapio gives his expert view. (Image: Antonio Sapio)}

Sapio told Casinos.com: "Live poker festivals and in-person activations are not only resilient in the current regulatory environment, but they're also becoming one of the most efficient ways for operators to engage players, build loyalty, and deliver real value."

Sapio frames this as a structural opportunity rather than simply a workaround.

"Live events now sit in a kind of regulatory green zone in the UK," he says.

"While online verticals are being taxed like luxury goods, live poker festivals, casino events, and in-person experiences remain untouched. That creates a rare imbalance in the ecosystem, and smart operators will lean into it."

Where the Market Stands Heading into 2026

PokerStars led the UK market in the January 2025 data with 16% of players, followed by Sky Poker and 888 Poker at 15% each and Bet365 at 14%. William Hill, Ladbrokes, and Paddy Power held smaller but notable shares.

Those platform rankings may shift. Nearly half of players, 49%, said they were open to trying new sites, and 65% actively sought out platforms offering free bets or comparable promotions. Loyalty programmes influenced 52% of players, and 53% said they noticed when a platform sponsored sports, events, or TV shows they followed. In a market where participation is growing, operators willing to invest in both promotions and brand visibility stand to gain ground.

In a higher-tax environment, that last figure carries new weight. Sapio sees sponsorship and live event investment not as nice-to-haves but as strategic necessities.

'Marketing budgets won't disappear,' Sapio told Casinos.com. 

"They migrate. Operators still need player acquisition and retention, and live events can suddenly become one of the most cost-effective channels to do both. When digital ads get expensive, shaking a player's hand across a poker table becomes far more valuable than a banner impression."

For brick-and-mortar casinos and hybrid operators, that shift represents a potential opening. 'Partnership opportunities expand,' Sapio adds.

"Venues and hybrid operators become strategic allies, not just event hosts", Sapio said.

If the 2021 to 2024 growth rate, roughly doubling in three years, were to continue at even half that pace, UK online poker participation could plausibly reach 13% to 15% by the end of 2026. That is speculation grounded in trend data rather than a forecast, but the direction of travel has been consistent enough that a significant reversal would require an equally significant external shock: a major regulatory tightening, a high-profile platform failure, or a wider economic squeeze on discretionary spending.

None of those scenarios is implausible. The UK Gambling Commission has been progressively tightening online affordability checks, and further restrictions on deposit limits or staking speeds for online card games could dampen participation among the higher-spending segment that makes the poker ecosystem viable. That 15% of players staking over £500 per month is precisely the demographic regulators have in their sights.

For now, though, the structural conditions favour continued growth. Smartphone penetration is near-total in the relevant age groups, live poker infrastructure remains limited outside major cities, and the offshore tournament calendar, combined with online satellite culture, continues to funnel new players into the game.

The 2025 data was a snapshot. What the 2026 figures show will determine whether the last three years were an anomaly or the beginning of something considerably larger