3 online casinos where a British gambler can play high-quality Poker

Until several decades ago, Poker meant a handful of American cowboys sitting around a green table, with some cards in their hands, trying really hard to show no emotion at all. Those were the days! Then, at the turn of the century, during the poker boom years, the game became a worldwide phenomenon. Suddenly, the British people forgot about their traditional boring card games, like rummy, whist, cribbage or three-card brag, and started paying close attention to their American cousins.

This happened due to two factors. First, there was the Channel 4 Late Night Poker television series, which ran between 1999 and 2002 and popularized the game inside the UK with filmed tournaments. Viewers could see each player’s hand thanks to under-the-table cameras, which was considered pretty entertaining at a time when you couldn’t watch Pewdiepe playing Minecraft. Second, there was the Internet. Due to its invention, the poker pool more than doubled its size.

So, long story short, in the late 90s/early 2000s, the Brits started to take Poker seriously. Nowadays, there are tons of platforms where a regular bloke like you and I can throw some cards around the table with his mates or some total strangers. So there are a lot of options out there. That’s why we thought about compiling a list of the best places for playing Poker online as a UK-based player. To identify them, we checked several platforms that review online casinos, to see which ones are the most poker-friendly.

888Poker

Screenshot from https://www.888poker.com/

888 Holdings is a household name in the online gambling industry. Based in Gibraltar and founded around the early 2000s, it launched a string of websites and popular gambling brands. One of its children was 888poker, an online cardroom that was previously known as Pacific Poker. Nowadays, the platform claims it hosts over 10 million registered members all around the globe, with a new customer joining in every 12 seconds. As the website is fully licenced and regulated by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission, some of these customers are probably Brits. Maybe most of them. 

Now, with all this background information out of the way, you’re probably wondering what sort of goodies you can enjoy as a British poker enthusiast. First of all, you'll encounter classic poker products such as 7Cards Stud, Texas Hold'em and Omaha Hi. Then, there are 888's own games: Snap Poker, Pick'em8, God of the Arena and BLAST Sit & Go’s. And these are just the tip of the iceberg. You can also take part in Progressive Knockout tournaments, where you're rewarded for every other player you eliminate. If you manage to outlast everyone, the reward you receive at the end will be considerable.

Countless other types of tournaments also await you: Sit and Go, Multi Flight, Free Tournaments, Satellites, Deep Stack, XL Championships, 888poker LIVE and so on and so forth. The promotional offers are not too shabby either: if you surf the Internet, you may stumble upon things like the kingcasinobonus.co.uk bonus codes, where you can claim some of the best 888 bonuses in town! And if you’re in a rush and wish to play while travelling, you may download the iOS/Android mobile app and shuffle some cards on the move.

Last but not least, this online casino is so neat that it even teaches you, step by step, how to play poker. I mean, just look at the range of menu options listed below. There’s even an interactive poker guide where you can learn how to play each game mentioned above. Awesome!

PokerStars

At this point in time, everybody heard about PokerStars, even your nan, if she’s still alive. Owned by The Stars Group, it’s the largest poker site in the whole world, with two-thirds of the market in its pocket. Its impact upon the gambling industry cannot be overstated: in 2003, a PokerStars tournament title-holder became a world champion in real life by winning that year’s World Series of Poker edition. We’re talking about Chris Moneymaker, whose surprise victory gave birth to the so-called ”Moneymaker effect”. Suddenly, thousands of young players were inspired to believe anything’s possible and you may win big bucks just by staying at home, playing online poker on your computer.

As with the previous example, there are countless game options at your disposal: 5 Card Omaha, Razz, Five Card Draw, 2-7 Triple/Single Draw, Showtime Hold'em, 8-game mix. Each one of these comes with its own set of rules, which are thoroughly explained in the website’s “How to Play Poker” section. What’s more, there’s also a VR version of the game, where you can shuffle some cards in a beautiful virtual environment and you may even read your opponents’ body language in a live session. It’s just like real life, except you don’t risk getting beaten up or mugged when you exit the casino with a bag full of money, because you’re doing all these in the comfort of your home. Amazing!

William Hill

William Hill is the grandfather of British punting. According to good old Wikipedia, it was founded at a time when gambling was not even legal in the UK. So that’s something! As technology got better, the bookmaker also got into the online poker business and now’s one of the best places in the industry to play the game in a safe virtual environment.

William Hill Poker features a multitude of poker formats: Sit & Go Tournaments, Cash/Ring Games, Speed Poker, Wild Twister and many others. There are three ways in which you can experience all these: on your Android/iOS mobile phone or tablet, by downloading the corresponding app; via the desktop app or in Instant Play mode, which does not require you to download anything and is ideal for Mac computer users.

Newcomers eager to better themselves may enrol at the William Hill Poker School, where they can find everything they need to know about the game. You will go through the whole glossary of Poker jargon, you will learn when to raise, when to fold or call and so on. After all, Poker is a game which heavily relies on strategy, so it’s extremely important to get the basics right before you venture the treacherous seas of online punting.

Another key factor which will assist you during your journey on William Hill Poker is the platform’s hefty welcome pack: as soon as you register and make your first deposit, the website will award you a cash bonus worth hundreds of pounds. Fabulous!

So pick any of these and start gambling like a champ! Who knows, maybe you’ll become the next Daniel Negreanu.