The Best Online Poker Sites in the UK

If you are a fan of online poker in the UK you have a lot of options available to you. This is mostly a good thing, but it can make finding the best site a little tricky. Different players have different needs, and that is where I come in. 

In this guide, I will compare the best poker sites available to UK players. I'll comb through each site and find the best options for your needs.

Best Casinos with Online Poker

I wanted to find the best poker sites in the UK, so I decided to break them down into categories based on what different players might need. After that, I picked out the top casino for each category. Here goes. 

Founded in 1946, BetVictor Casino has been serving players, offering a good spread of live poker games to anyone who wants to play.  Some popular titles include the 80s-themed Side Bet City and Casino Hold’em.

It’s a solid site with tons of traffic, which is great for testing your skills against a wide range of players at any time. With attractive design on mobile and desktop, it’s a good player experience when you bet at BetVictor.

Pros

• Attractive game interface
• Good reputation for trust and safety
• High player traffic

Cons

• Some variations missing
• Confusing VIP programme

PartyCasino is another pick for online poker play in the UK. With hundreds of thousands of players at peak times, the casino's PartyPoker site is one of the largest and best poker sites going. It offers a huge array of cash games and big-money tournaments. 

It is always a great sign when you go to the bonuses section of an online poker site and you have to keep scrolling to get to the bottom. That is what you get with PartyCasino. Bonuses are always updating but right now there are some great massive jackpots, weekend rewards, and free play and cashback offers.

Pros

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

Cons

• No landscape mode on mobile play
• Cramped layout

Virgin Games Casino is a major player in the UK poker scene. It hosts some of the biggest online tournaments around and is definitely a go-to poker site for poker fans!

Virgin Games has superb software, so it’s a great pick for new and seasoned players. Plus, there are plenty of players online all the time, which keeps the action going! Get ready for some fierce competition when you play here. Because of the big tournament guarantees, you'll often run into some skilled players.

Virgin Games is definitely worth checking out if you're signing up to play poker online. They always have great bonuses and promotions, plus a great selection of games and tournaments. 

Pros

• Home to huge tournaments with massive payouts
• Large traffic volumes at all times
• Buy-ins start from as little as £1
• Poker signup bonuses

Cons

• Stiff competition in tournaments
• No rakeback

BetMGM Casino is well-liked and often offers superb bonuses and promotions, which makes it a great choice for poker fans in the UK. No matter your skill level, they have live poker games for beginners and pros. This mix of options is what makes BetMGM one of the top poker sites out there.

Pros

• Games for every level
• Good for beginners and pro players
• Generous bonuses and regular promotions

Cons

• Lower traffic than some of the larger poker sites

We review the best poker sites based on our strict standards. Our poker experts actually play on each site to give you our hot takes on the top sites for UK poker players. Here are some of the things we look for when evaluating these sites:

How To Choose Top Online Poker Sites

When picking an online poker site, keep an eye out for these things:

• Check out welcome bonuses and promotions to find the best deals with the fewest restrictions. Take advantage of these offers to get the most out of signing up and depositing to your new account.
• Look at the size of the prize pools, and the frequency and variety of tournaments and games available.
• Consider the traffic - more players means a better experience.
• Test out the playing experience for yourself. If you're planning to play on mobile, download some top online casino apps. Or, sign up and deposit to a couple of our recommended online poker rooms to see which one you enjoy playing at.

This section is mainly for beginners, but even if you’re not, there’s no harm in a refresher. Below, I'll give you a quick summary of how to play poker so when you join any of the best poker sites UK offers, you’ll be ready to play.

Basic Poker Rules

You play poker with 52 cards. Each card is ranked in ascending order from two to king, with the ace card being the highest and lowest. The 52 cards are divided into four equal suits: hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades. You win a hand by getting a better combination of cards.

There are all kinds of poker games, and how the cards are dealt makes a big difference.

Generally, you will have a round of betting once you receive your cards. There are three options when it comes to betting:

1. Fold: This is where you do not participate in this hand.
2. Call: This is where you match the amount the first person to bet placed in the pot.
3. Raise: This is where you decide to raise the pot amount and add extra to that number. This is now the new minimum if someone wants to call.

After however many rounds it takes for everyone to either fold or call, the remaining players show their hands. Whoever has the best combination of cards wins the pot.

Understanding Poker Hands

It's important you really get familiar with what you want from your hand. Once you memorise them it can help you go from a beginner to an expert level player. 

Poker Rake

The rake in poker is the percentage of each game the house takes. 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, you get less value from your 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. 

When you’re ready to take the plunge, signing up to play poker online is pretty straightforward. If you want to play on your laptop or phone, just pick a poker site, sign up for an account, and put some money in to get going. 

• 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.

Just like online baccarat casinos host tournaments, UK poker sites offer plenty of chances to compete for big prizes.

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

From Sit & Go to multi-flight, tournaments are a great way to boost your skills and have a shot at winning cash prizes. Here are some of the most poplar: 

Spin & Go and Sit & Gos

Sit & Go and Sit & Goes are small single-table poker tournaments. You pay a set amount to enter, and the game only starts once enough players have signed up. The fast-paced and low-skill poker format makes them ideal for beginners. 

There is one main difference between the two. Sit & Go has a fixed prize when you start. Spin & Go, however, has a dynamic prize pool that's decided by a random multiplier before the start of every tournament.

Hyper Poker Tournaments

If you want to play poker online at a fast pace, these tournaments are for you. Blinds go up so fast in this game that the player's stacks dwindle quickly, speeding up the game. Usually, there’s a two or three-minute countdown before the blinds go up, giving you enough time to play a few hands.

ReBuy Poker Tournaments

This is the alternative to Freezeout Tournaments. The best online poker sites will all run ReBuy tournaments. They will be regular games with some periods where they let lost players buy back into the game. Players still in the game don’t mind this, as it increases the pot size.

Mystery Bounty Poker Tournaments

The best poker sites have variety, so if you see Mystery Bounty Tournaments, you could be on to a winner. They can differ, but usually, the tournaments introduce bounties at the deeper end of the game.

For example, you may get a prize for every player you knock out at the business end of a tournament. It encourages more robust play, so is for the thrill seekers.

Multi-Table Tournaments (MTT)

In multi-table tournaments, games happen across several tables. Players at each table compete for a spot at the final table. The winners from each level move up to play for bigger prizes. Poker sites like WSOP use this tournament format.

Progressive Knockout Tournaments

In this type of tournament, each player gets a bounty. If you knock a player out of the game, you get half of their bounty right away. The rest is added to your own, making you a bigger target for your opponents.

Multi-Flight Tournaments

In multi-flight tournaments, players go through different phases. You start with the qualifying round and then advance to later stages. The phases often have staggered starts. But all players compete at the same level before the winners move on to the next stage.

You can only qualify once. But if you get knocked out of the first phase, you can try again in the later initial phases to qualify for the final rounds.

Freeroll Tournaments

Freerolls are great because there are no entry fees, and everyone starts with the same stack. Plus, you can win real cash prizes set by the tournament operators.

Freezeout Poker Tournament

The hint is in the name when it comes to this online poker game. When you’re out, you’re out, and you can’t buy back in. Players in a Freezeout Poker Tournament start with a specified amount of chips, and if they lose them all, that’s it, game over.

Satellites Poker Tournaments

Sometimes, instead of cash, you can win entry into a bigger tournament as a prize. These are satellite tournaments. Winning a satellite gets you into the bigger money tables without paying the entry fee. This gives you a chance to compete for larger prizes in secondary tournaments.

There's no such thing as a standard game of poker. Let's take the best blackjack casino sites as an example. They offer so many variants that it can be hard to keep up. The same goes for poker. 

These are the most popular versions you'll find at the top poker casinos in the UK: 

Texas Hold'em

Texas Hold'em is the classic poker you see in big tournaments. In this game, everyone gets two cards for themselves. Then, there are five shared cards dealt out. After each new card is dealt, there's a round of betting. The player with the best hand at the end walks away with the pot.

Omaha

In Omaha, each player is dealt four cards and five community cards. To make the best possible five-card hand, you have to use two of your own and three community cards.

Seven-Card Stud Poker

When playing Seven-Card Stud Poker, you start with two cards face down and one card face up. Then, you'll get two more face-up cards and one final face-down card. After that, all players reveal their hands.

Five-Card Draw

During Five-Card Draw, each player gets dealt five cards face down. Then, they can swap up to three cards during the "draw" phase and get new ones from the deck. The aim is to make the best hand possible from the cards they have.

Caribbean Stud Poker

In Caribbean Stud, you get dealt a five-card hand which you play against the dealer, not other players. The dealer also gets a five-card hand, with one card turned face up. You decide whether to play or fold based on your cards, and you can raise the bet by 2x the ante. After bets are placed, the dealer reveals their hand to see who wins.

Three-Card Poker

In this poker game, each player and the dealer get three cards. Players can either play or fold. If they choose to play, they need to bet double the ante amount. The dealer only plays with a hand of queen high or better.

Pai Gow Poker 

In Pai Gow Poker, you get seven cards and have to make two hands: one with five cards and one with two cards. Both of your hands need to beat the dealer's hands, and your five-card hand has to be better than your two-card hand to win.

Video Poker

You don't need to sit at a table with other players to win money playing poker online. Some big online casino sites offer virtual or live poker where you play against a real-life dealer. Party Casino and Mr Vegas are a couple of sites that offer these games.

Bonuses are a very important factor in ranking the best poker sites the UK has to offer. The important thing here is to remember it's more than welcome bonuses that matter. While they are important you also want to make sure your casino rewards you for loyalty with regular bonuses.

Welcome Bonus

Casino bonuses are a big deal at the best poker sites in the UK. When choosing your casino, make sure you look for a welcome bonus with fair wagering requirements. Some even have a no deposit bonus, which can be a nice perk. Just make sure to read the T&Cs first.

Rakeback Bonus

Rakeback bonuses are great if you like tournaments. They let casinos give back a part of your entry fee or rake, kind of like a cashback deal. If you come across poker sites for UK players that offer good rakeback bonuses, you know they're solid brands.

Cashback Bonus

A cashback bonus rewards loyal customers. It's a bonus that gives you back a percentage of your stake or loss after a certain period. For instance, if you lose £100 at the tables over the week, the casino might give you 10% back as a cashback bonus, so you’d get £10 back.

Loyalty Programmes

Loyalty programmes can be great if you plan to stick around for the long term. These offer increasing rewards in line with your play frequency and volume. The more you spend, the more you get. This comes in better rakeback percentages, extra deposit bonuses, or access to tournaments. Most good poker sites offer a loyalty programme to reward and encourage your loyalty.

For the most part, playing poker on your phone is a joy, thanks to top-notch casino apps. These include online poker giants like 888poker, GGPoker, PokerStars and PartyPoker.

These usually give you a solid gaming experience. But it’s a good idea to connect to WiFi whenever possible for a more secure and stable connection. Also, the mobile experience may be more limited, especially if you like juggling several tables at a time.

Luckily, high-quality apps are the norm today at our top poker sites. They mak it super easy to play poker on your mobile, whether using an app or a browser.

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.

Best Live Poker Sites

Check out this list of alternative UK poker sites to join and try out. These sites have superb live poker games where you can play against a real dealer. There are some great video poker options, too. You can also play live roulette, live blackjack, and live baccarat at these sites.

Free poker is a good starting point for beginners. There's no risk of losing, just like playing real money slots for free in demo mode.  

Yet, playing real money poker is a better way to learn. That's because it comes down to the quality of the decisions you and your opponents make. When there’s real money on the line, players are more cautious.

Freerolls are a fun way to join tournaments. They usually offer cash prizes or entry into bigger real-money tournaments. And you don't need to have money in your account to play. But sometimes, you'll need to earn loyalty points from real money play before joining.

• Don’t jump right in the deep end. Some players you'll face have been playing for years and are experts. Start with low-stakes games where you are more likely to face players at your level.
• Know your strategy. We gave a brief rundown of the rules above, but there is a lot more to poker than this. The cards you draw should influence your decision for the rest of the hand. Do some research and read a little strategy to up your game.
• Find the best online poker site for you. Different kinds of players value different factors from their poker sites. We recommended some of the best above; go through them and see which is best for you.
• Don’t be afraid to try new games. The best poker sites in the UK will have many games you can try out. We listed some of the varieties above, but there are loads. Try some different flavours and see which one you like best.