United Kingdom

by Mario Alfonsi  |  Published on May 24, 2017  |  Updated on May 24, 2017

There are a huge number of gambling companies that are based in the UK and are fully licensed by the UK Gambling Commission, and it does have to be said the United Kingdom does have something of a liberal and laid back approach to gambling in general.However, that does of course mean that whilst you are going to find no end of poker sites that will accept you as a player that is based in Great Britain, you are always going to have the peace of mind in knowing all UK based poker sites are run to the very highest of standards too.united kingdomThe following guide is one I have put together as I do know that more and more people are looking for a poker site at which to call home, and trying to make sense of the many hundreds of them you can play at can be something of a time consuming task to say the least!But if you do enjoy playing poker in a land based poker venue and you feel the time is now right to switch over to playing poker online, then please do read on for I have lots of tips and advice about how you can go about doing so!

Licensed & Legal UK Poker Sites For 2023

All Poker Rooms are Licensed , Mobile Friendly Advertiser Disclosure
NameCompatabilityBonusRatingFeatures
1

100% upto $1000

(18+, T&C’s apply)
  • No requirement to play for high stakes
  • Take part in guaranteed poker tournaments
2

Deposit $10, Get $10 in SPINS tickets

(18+, T&C’s apply)
  • No risk free of charge tables available
  • Texas Hold’em and Omaha Poker offered to players
3

Visit bet365 for the latest offers

(18+, T&C’s apply)
  • Suitable for low stake players
  • Guaranteed poker tournaments
4

upto £100

(18+, T&C’s apply)
  • High valued bad beat jackpots
  • Huge number of Texas Hold’em tables
The United Kingdom, which is more commonly referred to as the UK consists of the island of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as well as several smaller islands. The UK itself is considered to be a sovereign state that’s situated just off of the N.W. coast of Europe. The U.K borders the Republic of Ireland, the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea.The main currency in the United Kingdom is the Pound Sterling. There are several online poker sites that accept Pound Sterling deposits and a handful of poker sites that offer play in GBP.

Make Sure You Play at UK Licensed Poker Sites

The UK Gambling Commission has been set up and operates to ensure that gamblers in the United Kingdom have access to fair games of chances online, and that gambling commission does ensure that players who have any problems when gambling at any sites they license and regulate can always get such problems address too.Therefore it does of course go without saying that if you are someone that is based and is living anywhere in Great Britain and you want to play poker online for real money or even for free then it should be a poker sites that is approved and licensed by the UK Gambling Commission that you should be playing at.There are certainly no shortages of such poker sites available, and the one standout quality of each of them is that they are all run and operated to the very highest of industry standards, so there is going to be very little chances that you will ever experience any problems playing at those sites, but if you do so those problems are going to get addressed and very quickly too!

UK Poker Playing Environments

The Hippodrome CasinoLand based casino venues in the UK often have their own set aside areas on their gaming floors that are dedicated poker rooms, and as such if you do ever pay a visit to such a venue like at the Hippodrome Casino in London you will probably have no problems being able to join in playing any cash ring games or poker tournaments on offer at those types of venues.However, there are only going to be so many poker players that can fit into such a venue and as such if you want to have the far betting opportunity of playing against a much larger number of opponents at lots of different cash ring poker tables, then you should be looking it play online.By you doing so you could choose to play at a poker site offering a fully downloadable online poker software platform, or play using your web browser at a no download instant play poker site instead.But no matter which one you do choose to play at you are going to find plenty of different poker game variants and no shortages of poker tournaments to play, and more than enough opponents to play against too.The same could also be said of the next generation of mobile poker sites which you can download directly onto a tablet device or onto a smart phone too!

Well Known British Poker Players

Poker is a very popular pastime in the United Kingdom, therefore the UK has produced quite a few very well-known poker players. Northern Ireland for instance brought us Andy Black, and Marty Smyth. England has produced a Smorgasbord of big names in the poker industry including, but most certainly not limited to the following members of the Hendon Mob Databases UK all-time money listSam Trickett, who currently holds the top slot on England’s all-time money list took down an earth shattering $10,112,001 payday last July at the World Series of Poker in America, coming in 2nd to Antonio Esfandiari of the US.

Poker Taxes in the United Kingdom

Here’s a simple rule for playing poker in the European Union, if you’re playing poker at a locally licensed poker site (see above) you won’t have to pay taxes. Most of the time local sites are identifiable because their website addresses end in a country specific extension, for instance, PokerStars.fr would be the address for Pokerstars players from France, and PokerStars.fi would be for players from Finland and so on. If you’re not sure if a poker site is locally licensed, it should be to difficult to find out, either email customer support, or pop open a chat window and ask the support team where their license is issued.If you’re still unsure, then your best bet (pardon the pun, but it’s fun) is to consult either a tax consultant, a lawyer, or perhaps both, I guess that just depends on how much poker you play.

UK Poker Deposits and Withdrawals

There are several options available to UK residents when it comes to making deposits to real money poker sites in the United Kingdom. The most popular of all is to simply use a credit card.I would very strongly advise you to only play at a poker site if you are in Great Britain that allows you to deposit, play and withdraw all of your winnings in GBP, if you play at poker sites that do not let you do that you will then be hit with currency conversion fees and charges!

Frequently Asked Questions

As soon as you are good and ready to playing poker online, no matter where you live in the UK, it isn’t going to take you very long to find a poker site that does tick all of the right boxes on your checklist of wants and demands. If you do have any additional questions you may find the answers below, so do please read on.

Do all poker sites accept GBP?

Quite a lot of poker sites do now accept GBP deposits from their customers, but always check before you sign up to any poker site just in case any force you to deposit and play in any other currency!

Can I use UK bank cards to deposit at poker sites?

You should have no difficulties what so ever being able to deposit using a bank debit card issued by a UK bank at the majority of poker sites, and most UK issued credit cards can also be used too.

Does the UK Gambling Commission license poker sites?

The UK Gambling Commission licenses and regulates every single type of gambling site from bingo to betting from casinos to poker sites!

What’s the UK Legal Age to Gamble?

As long as you are over the age of 18 then you are legally old enough to play poker online or in fact in any playing environment in the UK.

Do many people play poker online in the UK?

You will be surprised at just how many people tend to play poker regularly online in the UK but it is certainly more than player in land based poker rooms across Great Britain!

What is the best time to play online poker in the UK

The most active time for poker tables located in the United Kingdom kicks off at about Poker tables in the UK 7:00p.m. in the UK and seems to hold strong until about 11:00p.m., much of the reason for this trend is simply that that’s when people are off work and finished with dinner, they’re ready to burn off a little steam and blow some cash online. If you’re playing at a major poker site like PokerStars however, peak times won’t be nearly as important to you, these sites are pretty active around the clock.