The Best Online Poker Sites in the UK

UK online poker fans are spoiled for choice but knowing which of the dozens of leading poker sites is best for you is a more nuanced decision. We’ve compared the best poker sites for UK players, including the best poker sites by traffic, to help you on your way.

Best Casinos with Online Poker

Popularity of Online Poker in the UK

Online poker is hugely popular in the UK, with players logging on in the tens of thousands every day to take part in different games, tournaments and formats. From beginners enjoying a few hands as they learn the ropes through to stars of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) playing for professional pride and big prizes, online poker is a popular pursuit at all levels, right across the country.

Estimates suggest there are around 300,000 active online poker players in the UK as of 2024, regularly playing at casino sites for real money. But where are they playing, and which are the best sites you should check out if you want to join their ranks?

Best Poker Sites by Traffic

Traffic is an important metric for choosing a poker site. It’s the difference between a site that’s bursting with players, and a site where you’ll struggle to find enough volume for tournament play. For serious online poker players, we recommend sticking to the UK poker sites with the highest player volumes, so you can be sure of a competitive field. Here they are:

• PokerStars
• GGPoker
• 888poker
• PartyPoker
• iPoker

The Top 5 Online Poker UK Sites

PokerStars

Home to some of the largest online tournaments in the world, PokerStars is a true titan of the UK poker scene. With impressive software allowing for a slick user experience, plus strong player liquidity around the clock, PokerStars is a premier option for everyone from beginners to advanced players. 

Watch out for stiff competition when you play here – due to the high tournament guarantees, you’ll often come up against seriously good players. 

However, with good bonuses and promotions, plus an excellent range of games and tournaments, PokerStars should be a serious consideration for anyone signing up to play poker online.

Pros

• Home to huge tournaments with massive guarantees
• Large traffic volumes at all times
• Strong liquidity
• Good loyalty rewards and promotions

Cons

• Stiff competition in tournaments
• No rakeback
• Maximum 4 tables in multi-play

GGPoker

A truly global player in the world of online poker, GGPoker is an easy recommend for online poker in the UK. With regular monthly millionaire promotions and tons of cash games at all levels, it’s perfect for beginner to intermediate players looking for a safe, trustworthy poker site that plays well on desktop and mobile. A WSOP official partner, GGPoker is known for its high tournament prize funds. With a good welcome bonus for new players offering up to £60 in free play from a £10 deposit, GGPoker comes with our seal of approval.

Pros

• Good mobile app
• Monthly millionaire promotions
• Large number of games
• Strong welcome package

Cons

• Very detailed KYC verifications
• Complicated loyalty structures
• Limited SNG options

Unibet

Perhaps best known for its impact on the sports betting world, Unibet is right up there with the best online poker providers in the UK. With low rake fees, it’s geared primarily towards beginners – a fact that is reflected in its lower tournament guarantees than other casinos. 

However, for casual players, the tournament schedule is ideal, allowing for flexible, easy play. With no support for HUDs and trackers, you can be sure you’re playing person to person on any game. And with a strong reputation, plus a generous welcome package for new players, Unibet is an attractive option for UK poker fans.

Pros 

• Aimed at beginners and casual players
• Good reputation for trust and safety
• No HUD and trackers permitted
• Generous welcome package for new players
• Low rake fees

Cons

• Limited tournament guarantees
• Lower traffic than some of the larger poker sites

PartyPoker

Launched in 2001, PartyPoker is one of our top picks for online poker play in the UK. With hundreds of thousands of players at peak times, it’s one of the largest and best poker sites going, offering a huge array of games and big-money tournaments. Up to 55% cashback is available for loyal players, with good welcome bonuses for new players. And with games ranging from $0.02 buy-in to $50/$100 tables, there’s something for everyone at PartyPoker.

Pros

• Large player volumes
• Packed tournament schedule
• Good cashback and other bonuses

Cons

• No landscape mode on mobile play
• Cramped layout

888poker

Since 2002, 888poker has been serving poker players from around the globe, offering a good spread of cash games, Sit & Go and MTT tournament play. A trusted operator with big guarantees on tournaments, 888poker is among the highest traffic poker sites going – perfect for those who want to pit their skills against a large pool of opponents, any time of the day or night. With attractive design on mobile and desktop, it’s a good player experience when you bet at 888poker. 888poker also has sister sites like 888sport and 888casino, where you can bet on the best UK slots, live game shows and live dealer games like online roulette and baccarat.

Pros

• Attractive game interface
• Strong guarantees
• Busy MTT schedule
• High player traffic

Cons

• Some variations missing
• Confusing VIP programme

Other Top UK Poker Sites

Competition for our top 5 poker sites is fierce. Among the best of the rest, you’ll find the likes of Bet365 Poker, Virgin Games Poker, 32Red and 10bet Casino. Bet365 Poker is a spin-off from the popular Bet365 casino site. While these tend to have lower traffic volumes than the big hitters in our recommendations, they all have their perks – from sign-up bonuses to different tournament types and structures. 

Live Poker

Check out this list for some alternative UK poker sites to sign up at and try out. These offer excellent live dealer poker games where you can compete versus a real life dealer, while there's also video poker options. You can also find live roulette, live blackjack, and live baccarat at these sites.

How We Rank the Best UK Poker Sites

We review all the poker sites we recommend in-depth, benchmarking to strict criteria to ensure we rank fairly and accurately. Our team of poker experts play at each site individually, bringing you our hot-takes on the best sites available for UK poker players.

Reputation and Trust: all poker sites we recommend are sites we know you can trust, with a full UK licence from the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC).

Safety and Security: we also take care to ensure our recommended sites are safe and secure. All poker sites we recommend use enhanced encryption technologies to protect your data and financial information.

Tournaments and Games: the top-ranking sites we recommend have the best selection of tournaments and games, including in multiple variations, to suit the needs of every player.

Deposit and Withdrawal: aside from the range of payment methods supported, we also rank sites based on the speed and ease of processing casino withdrawals, so you can move money to and from your account without delay.

Customer Support: customer support is another key factor in our assessments. Sites are given priority rankings based on the quality and availability of support, so you can be sure help is on hand when you need it.

Quality of the Player Experience: from the ease of use of the online platform to the look and feel of the app, we examine the all-round quality of the player experience when sizing up what's available. Our top recommended sites all offer a playing experience of the highest quality, as vetted by our in-house poker experts.

How To Choose Top Online Poker Sites

As a player, there are a few key things you should be looking for when choosing an online poker site. Welcome bonuses and promotions for one thing – it’s always worth reviewing and comparing different bonus offers to find the best deals with the least restrictions. If you’re signing up anyway, it’s worth taking advantage of these offers to enjoy the maximum benefit from signing up and depositing to your new account.

You should also consider the size of the prize pools, and the frequency and range of tournaments and games on offer. Similarly, the traffic, in terms of the sheer number of players, matters in terms of getting the best experience - the more the merrier.

And don’t forget to size up the playing experience for yourself. Download some top online casino apps if you’re planning to play on mobile, or sign up and deposit to a couple of our recommended online poker rooms to get a better feel for where you enjoy playing.

Online Poker Bonuses 

Bonuses are an important consideration when you’re playing poker online. Welcome offers like a deposit match or a no deposit welcome bonus can boost your bankroll. These offers are available as standard when you sign up and deposit to a new account.

But be warned: even the best welcome bonus casino will attach T&Cs that limit how much you can win, or require you to wager the bonus multiple times, while other casinos will even exclude poker from the bonus altogether. So read the terms carefully before you sign up.

At poker casinos, it's common to find promotions like rakeback, which give you a chance to scoop back a percentage of your rake contributions as you play. Then there are promotions like freeroll tournaments, where you can play for cash prizes with no entry fee. While terms and conditions usually apply to all poker bonuses, it’s worth sizing up the bonuses available when choosing a poker room.

Loyalty Programmes

If you’re planning to stick around for the long-term, loyalty programmes can be great. These offer increasing rewards in line with your play frequency and volume. The more you spend, the more you get, usually in the form of increased rakeback percentages, additional deposit bonuses, access to other tournaments, and other perks and prizes.

Most good poker sites offer a loyalty programme designed to reward and encourage your loyalty to their site over the competition.

Online Poker Real Money Tournaments

Just as the best baccarat casinos online regularly host tournaments for players, poker sites in the UK offer plenty of opportunities to pit your wits against others for huge prizes.

Real money tournaments are one of the most exciting ways to play. At PokerStars, for example, the prize fund guarantees range from $25 to $1 million, while PartyPoker offers $1.5 million guaranteed across 82 tournaments.

From single table Sit & Go to multi-table and and multi-flight tournaments, tournament play is among the best ways to improve your skills, while giving you the chance to win much larger amounts of money. 

How to Play Poker Online in the UK

When you’re ready to take the plunge, playing poker online is all pretty straightforward. Whether you’re playing on your laptop or mobile device, it begins by choosing a recommended poker site, signing up for an account, and depositing some funds to get started.

• Choose a poker site from our recommended list
• Register for your account
• Deposit funds into your account, factoring in any deposit welcome bonus
• Choose the game you want to play based on your preferred variation and game format
• Choose your buy-in
• Get ready to play on desktop or mobile
• Withdraw any winnings, or roll-over your bankroll to another game or tournament

In Person Poker vs Online Poker

While playing poker in person and online are essentially two formats of the same game, the subtle differences can call for significantly different approaches. At its most fundamental, there is a speed of play difference – with online poker, hands are dealt by software, so it’s possible to play 60-90 hands per hour. At a live table, cards are dealt by hand, reducing the overall potential to around 30 hands per hour for live play.

But there’s also the added ability to read opponents when you play face to face – the subtle tells and reactions that could give clues about an opposing hand. This is a sort of intel not available when playing online poker, where you have no visual gauge on your opponents.

Free Poker vs Real Money Poker

Free poker is generally seen as a good starting point for beginners, with no risk of loss, just like free slot games compared with real money slots. However, it’s often not the best way to learn, with real money poker offering a more realistic experience. It comes down to the quality of the decisions you, and your opponents, make. When there’s real money on the line, play is more cagey.

Freerolls can be a fun way to take part in tournaments, often with the reward of cash prizes, or entry into larger real money tournaments. There’s no need to have funds on deposit to play in these tournaments, though you will sometimes be required to have reached a number of loyalty points from real money play before you’re eligible. 

Playing Poker on Mobile

For the most part, poker on mobile is served by high-quality apps. All the big poker rooms have apps for iOS and Android users, which you can download and install for free. While these generally offer a good playing experience, it’s worth ensuring you’re connected to WiFi where possible, for a secure, stable connection.

You should also be prepared for a more limited experience in some respects on mobile, especially if you like to play multiple tables. However, with high-quality apps now the standard when you play at our recommended poker sites, or on a mobile browser, it’s never been easier to play poker on mobile. 

Online Poker Payment and Withdrawal Types

Deposits and withdrawals are at the forefront of convenience – a major factor when choosing the right poker site. We recommend playing with poker sites that support payment methods you’re comfortable using, with fast withdrawals and no fees where possible.

The most common payment and withdrawal types include:

• Debit card
• Apple Pay
• PayPal
• Neteller
• Skrill
• Boku
• Pay by phone
• Trustly
• Bank transfer

The fastest withdrawals are usually to eWallet services, available at online casinos that accept PayPal, Neteller, and Skrill, for example. For small deposits, pay by phone and Apple Pay options are usually the most convenient, though these are limited to maximum £10 deposits, with £30 daily maximum deposit limits. Larger amounts are usually best handled by Trustly or bank transfer directly, though in the case of bank transfer, you can sometimes expect to wait a little longer to get your hands on your money. 

Using a debit card to withdraw funds at the best Maestro, Visa, and Visa Electron casinos can take a few days but they are usually very reliable and secure.

Poker Rake

The rake in poker is the percentage of each game taken by the house. In a live poker game, this is represented by the house physically taking chips from the game. Rake tends to be a percentage of total bets, ranging from 2.5% to 10% depending on the game format and where you’re playing, though this can reach as high as 20%.

When the rake is higher, players get less value from their hands – as a result, this often calls for a tighter, more conservative playing strategy. Lower rake games, by contrast, allow players to open up a little more, and play more aggressively on the basis that the returns are more favourable. 

Popular Poker Game Types

There’s no such thing as a standard game of poker. Just like at the best blackjack casino sites, there's so many variants available that it can be hard to keep up. Here are the most popular versions you’ll find at the top poker casinos in the UK.

Texas Hold'em: almost the default variation, Texas Hold’em is poker as played in the WSOP and other marquee tournaments. Five cards are dealt in common, with each player holding two of their own cards. Four rounds of betting follow on each incremental card turn before the best hand walks away with the pot.

Omaha: similar in many respects to Texas Hold’em, Omaha sees players dealt four cards each, plus five community cards. Two of the player cards, plus three of the community cards are required to make the best possible five-card hand, using exactly two cards from their hand, and exactly three community cards to complete the hand.

Seven-Card Stud: players are dealt two face down, plus one up card to begin each hand. Betting progresses until all players have received two down cards and four up cards. A final down card is dealt to remaining players in the hand, before hands are revealed.

Five-Card Draw: players are dealt five cards face down, then given the opportunity to replace a number of their cards on the “draw”. Usually a maximum of three cards from five can be replaced by another three cards from the deck, with the aim of making the best possible hand from the cards that have been dealt.

Caribbean Stud: players are dealt five-card hands, which are played against the dealer (rather than other players). The dealer also receives a five-card hand, from which one card is turned face up. Players consult their cards to determine whether to play or fold, with a raise option equal to 2x the ante. Once bets have been placed, the dealer turns over their hand to reveal their five cards.

Three-Card Poker: players and the dealer are dealt three cards each. Players can play or fold, with the play option involving a bet double the ante amount. The dealer only plays with a hand of queen high or better.

Pai Gow Poker: players must make two hands from seven cards dealt, one with five cards and one with two cards. Both hands must beat the dealer’s hands, and the five-card hand must better the two-card hand to win.

Video Poker: you don't have to join a table with other poker players to win money playing poker online. At sites that don't have dedicated poker software, you can play virtual poker or live poker where it's just you against a real life dealer. Some sites that offer these games are Party Casino and Mr Vegas.

Online Poker Game Categories

Sit & Go (SNG): Sit & Go, or SNG, is a single table tournament format, where prize funds are usually fixed. Players buy in for a predetermined amount, and the tournament only begins when there are enough players registered to start the event. Fast-paced, with low-skill demand relative to other poker formats, they’re the ideal option for beginners.

Multi-Table Tournaments (MTT): multi-table tournaments are a format that takes place over multiple tables, rather than the single table style Sit & Go. Players across each table compete for a seat at the final table, with the winners from each levelling up to play for larger amounts. The WSOP operates a multi-table tournament format.

Progressive Knockout / Bounty Tournaments: this is a tournament format where players are each assigned a bounty. When you knock a player out of the tournament, you pick up half their bounty, usually credited instantly to your bankroll. The other half is added to your own bounty, which makes you a bigger target for your opponents.

Multi-Flight: multi-flight tournaments occur in phases, with qualifying rounds to compete in later stages. Phases are often on staggered starts, but all play to the same level before winning players move on to the next stage. Players can’t qualify twice, but can play in subsequent initial phases if they are knocked out of the first phase, in a bid to qualify for the final rounds.

Freerolls: these are tournaments where there are no entry fees, and where each player is assigned an equal starting stack. Real cash prizes are often available here, with prize pools determined by the tournament operator.

Satellites: in some cases, a tournament prize is not cash but entry into a larger tournament. These are known as satellites. Winning a satellite buys your ticket to bigger money tables, without the need to stump up the entry fee yourself, giving you the chance to compete for larger prizes in secondary tournaments. 

UK Poker Sites: Our Final Thoughts

There’s a lot of choice out there for online poker play. UK players are lucky to have the likes of PokerStars and GGPoker as leading options, offering high tournament guarantees, high player traffic and strong liquidity around the clock. The playing experience offered by the likes of 888poker and PartyPoker make them strong contenders too, while beginners will find everything they need at Unibet Poker.

Our recommended sites represent the best choices for players, in our expert opinion, and we'll add any fantastic new casino sites as soon as they hit the scene. For more information, see our detailed reviews on each poker site before signing up and depositing to your new account.