Online poker in the United Kingdom is completely legal and is a regulated and controlled industry.  With some of the UK's largest bookmakers offering online poker games for many years, UK players have tons of options when it comes to playing online.  On this page we've listed the best UK poker sites as well as written an overview of the regulated market with detailed information on regulatory bodies and benefits to players.  Below you'll find our current list of the best online poker sites accepting players from the United Kingdom.

Online Poker in The United Kingdom (UK)

All gambling both on and offline in the UK is regulated by the Gambling Commission who provides licenses and collects fees from operators.  Under this body operators must adhere to certain due diligence requirements are subject to a number of rules throughout their operation in the market.  Because of this, the UK has the most robust, honest and active online gambling industry in the world which means there's lots of choice for players with dozens of active competitors in the market.  Below we've provided some key facts that are relevant for UK poker players looking for more information on playing from within the UK:

  1. Taxes on Online Poker Winnings - Perhaps the biggest benefit for UK players is that any income or winnings derived from playing online poker is completely tax free!  Compared to almost every other country in the world this is a great incentive for UK residents since the income is shielded from income taxes and can be dispersed to personal bank accounts without fear of audits requiring back taxes.
  2. Currency Availability - In the early days of online poker most sites only offered games in US dollars which was particularly annoying when the Pound was very strong.  By using a UK friendly poker site you can deposit, withdraw and play entirely in UK £ Sterling without the need to unnecessarily lose money through costly foreign currency transactions.  All of the UK sites we list on this page allow you to play in Pounds and certain sites even offer multi-currency accounts in Dollars, Pounds and Euros.
  3. UK Specific Operators - Another benefit to sticking with United Kingdom sites is that they will offer promotions, tournament times and bonuses that are geared specifically to UK players.  Back when sites like Party Poker were the largest online (filled with US players) it was very frustrating to keep up with popular tournament times since they were usually in the middle of the night UK time.  These days UK sites gear everything towards UK based times making it much easier to play at a decent hour.  This UK specific strategy also extends to promotions from the sites which are more relevant including UK based poker tournaments as well as other frequent promotions that are local to the members regions.
  4. Banking Methods - The last aspect of playing at UK sites which is very useful is the wide range of deposit methods available to players.  Since the market is 100% legal and regulated there are many different ewallets and other innovative methods you can use to move funds to and from your poker account including uKash, Moneybookers, Bank Transfers, Credit Cards and lots of other options.