1. Top Rated UK & European Poker Sites Online. Online poker has been wildly popular across Europe for nearly two decades. The Europeans were some of the first to play regularly, based on a love of.
2. Welcome to PokerSites.com - the premier guide to the best online poker sites of December 2020. PokerSites.com was established in 2001 as a place for players to seek out and compare the best poker websites to play at. There are hundreds of online poker sites.
3. Through it all, Ignition Poker has remained the best of the US real money poker sites, with the best online poker software in the business. Customers in Australia can also play real money poker at Ignition; other jurisdictions are being added on a regular basis as online poker makes its way across the world.

• Best European Online Poker Sites
• Free Poker Sites

It depends on the poker site but most online poker sites in Europe will have options for local currencies. The Euro is of course widely available as is the British Pound on UK websites, which is a big advantage over playing at a US-centric poker site where you'll need to pay a fee to exchange your currency and makes deposits and withdrawals. European Poker Sites – List of poker sites for players from the EU The European Union (EU) has massive influence over the rules and regulations of the online gambling industry, including online poker across the continent. One might assume that with such an organisation, the laws regarding online poker in the 28 (soon to be.

The European Union (EU) has massive influence over the rules and regulations of the online gambling industry, including online poker across the continent. One might assume that with such an organisation, the laws regarding online poker in the 28 (soon to be 27) countries would be uniform. It isn’t, though.

In fact, each country has its own laws and interpretations regarding online poker and other gambling games, and this can make things rather more complex than they ought to be.

Best Online European Poker Sites for January 2021

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Best European Online Poker Sites

The Big Question: Can I Play Online Poker in Europe?

Contents

• EU Poker Laws, Rules and Regulations

Most European countries see the benefit in online gambling. This is a massive source of taxable revenue, and one which sees many European countries regulate and license their own poker sites. There are, of course, a handful of the 58 countries which make up Europe (including some of the 28 in the European Union) which do not play ball, though.

In theory, the European Union should regulate all aspects of the poker and gambling industry for its member states. Several leading EU countries, such as Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Spain don’t see eye to eye with those EU regulations, though, and have chosen to implement their own gambling laws, much to the fury of the EU. Britain on the other hand will soon be leaving the EU, and as one of the bloc’s most liberal and gambling loving countries leaves, that presents a whole new set of complications for the gambling sector in Europe.

At present, the EU has been trying in vain to get a strict set of regulations implemented across the entire bloc, but that has proven more difficult than they expect. Again, in theory, an online poker room which is licensed out of one of the 28-member states should be entitled to offer their services to players in all member states. That sounds lovely, but some countries (such as Belgium) will only permit their nationals to play in state-licensed poker rooms – the headache is endless.

With most European countries wanting to maintain their own tight grip on gambling laws, many of these issues are going to have to be settled in the European Courts. This is a nightmare scenario for many, but despite this, most players in European countries are free to gamble at online poker sites all the same.

EU Poker Laws, Rules and Regulations

If the EU regulations on poker sites are not being implemented, then we need to look at each European state’s gambling laws individually to get a clearer picture of the scenario, or at least, most of the major countries’ laws.

• The UK: There’s no issue here at present. Provided a poker site is licensed by the UKGC (UK Gambling Commission), players can play there. However, the UK does not prohibit its players from playing at other EU-licensed poker rooms, either.
• Austria: Austrian’s are free to play at state-owned poker rooms and casinos, and although they aren’t supposed to, this free access to other EU poker rooms for any player who wishes to play elsewhere.
• Belgium: Belgium is one of the tougher countries when it comes to online poker laws. Only Belgian Gambling Commission licensed poker rooms can offer their services to players, and a tough blacklist demands that ISPs block access to all gambling sites which aren’t in possession of one.
• France: Players in France are permitted to bet on poker games online, but only at poker rooms which have attained a 5-year ARJEL license (from France).
• Germany: Germany prohibits online poker rooms unless you happen to be residing in Schleswig-Holstein. The licenses issued by Schleswig-Holstein permit gambling at poker rooms until the licenses expire in 2018. Later this year, it is likely that all forms of gambling (including poker) are likely to be made illegal under a federal law in Germany. This puts the country at great odds with the European Union.
• Ireland: Irish players are, in theory, supposed to visit Irish licensed poker rooms, although there are no laws to prohibit players trying their hand at other EU-licensed poker rooms.
• Italy: Any poker room which holds a license issued by the AAMS (Autonomous Administration of State Monopolies) is authorised to offer poker games to players in Italy.
• Netherlands: Gambling at poker rooms in The Netherlands is legal. A monopoly is in place on Dutch poker rooms, and despite some blacklisted of foreign poker rooms, by and large, Dutch players are free to play abroad.
• Portugal: Portuguese players can play at any poker room which holds a license from the SCML (Santa Casa de Misericordia de Lisboa). Initially, any poker room could apply for such a license, but lately, the commission has been ensuring that only Portuguese poker rooms obtain a license, in a bid to drive Portuguese players to national poker rooms.
• Russia: You can forget about online poker gaming in Russia. The country blacklists most gambling sites, and very few Russian land-based casinos exist at all. VPNs will get you around most of the blockade, though. Russian is not a member of the EU.
• Spain: The General Directorate for the Regulation of Gambling Activities authorises Spanish poker rooms the right to offer their services to Spanish players. However, Spain discourages Spanish players from playing at non-Spanish poker rooms.
• Sweden: Gambling is legal in Sweden, and although the Swedes would like their players to play at state-licensed poker rooms, they make no attempt to dissuade players from playing at other EU poker sites. In fact, if the poker room is licensed (with any kind of license) Sweden doesn’t seem to mind, making it one of the most liberal poker playing countries.
• Switzerland: Not an EU member, but Switzerland games of chance can be played in brick-and-mortar casinos. Switzerland doesn’t offer licenses, and doesn’t block access to offshore poker rooms, but they don’t like it. There are promising signs that Switzerland will regulate and therefore make online gaming legal in the next few years.

As for the other European countries, their gambling laws and online poker laws are just a muddled and mixed as the bigger nations which are mentioned above.

EU Poker Licence Authorities

Once again, if the EU law was accepted in all European Union member states, then any poker room which carried a license from one of the licensing jurisdictions inside the union would be able to offer their services to players in any other EU country. This is still a long way from being realised, though.

Malta, Gibraltar and the United Kingdom are the main licensing jurisdictions in the European Union. A good rule of thumb is that if a poker room is licensed by one of the these three, you can bet that it is safe to play there.

Most EU countries which have legalised poker rooms have their own licensing commissions, though, and if you’re playing in a national poker room with a national license, there’s no danger.

Popular Poker Games in the EU

Everything and anything. All the world’s leading casino software providers are in operation in Europe, and so European players (provided that can access poker rooms) can play every major poker game devised for the online gambling sector. Many of these are live dealer and mobile games, although countless variants are also there for you to play. Top titles include:

• Casino Hold ‘em
• Draw and Stud poker
• Cyberstud Poker

Entering the WSOP (World Series of Poker) from satellite tournaments and competitions isn’t really to do with which country you play in. It is to do with the size, popularity and reputation of the poker site you play at. Provided you are playing at a major poker site licensed out of a respectable jurisdiction, you’ve got a good shot at making that happen.

As well as those games mentioned above, it is also possible for European poker players to get to grips with mobile and live dealer poker games, too, with the list of titles in these genres almost endless.

European Online Poker Promos and Bonuses

Every major poker room which accepts players from Europe is likely to carry promotions and bonuses for you to claim, too. Of course, the EU is no big fan of false advertising, and there are numerous campaigns about right now to try and cut down the amount of nonsense which appears in promos and bonuses – the UK is making big strides in this sector. You can claim a plethora of bonuses and promos when playing at poker sites in Europe, so there’s no danger there. Some of the many things you can expect to find include:

• Welcome bonuses and deposit bonuses
• Loyalty bonuses, refer-a-friend bonuses, VIP deals
• Daily, weekly, monthly specials
• Rakebacks

Depositing/Withdrawing Options Available To EU Players

Seemingly every major banking option can be used when playing poker online in Europe. You have your major credit cards, e-wallets and prepaid cards, but also bank transfers, wire transfers, and even snail-mail cheques if you wish.

Of course, not every option is open in each country (but most are), and deposits are usually free of charge in European licensed poker sites. Withdrawals are also often free, although each poker site may have minimum and maximum deposit/withdrawal limits.

The Future of Online Poker in the EU

In an ideal world, the European Union would come down hard on any member state that isn’t adhering to its policies on gambling. The EU wants to create a united front, where open markets and movement of goods allow players in any EU country to play at a poker room licensed out of any other EU country. That is the dream. There is going to be a long and hard-fought battle over this, and it will take many years. As for countries like Russia (outside of the EU and with its own laws) don’t expect their stance to change anytime soon.

Final Thoughts

Playing online poker in Europe is a very mixed bag. Some major poker playing countries permit players full access to poker games, and others take a more radical and limited approach. However, even those more limited countries are, on many occasions, far more accessible than elsewhere in the world. Europe is, therefore, most of the time, an online poker player’s haven.

FAQs You May Have About Online Poker in Europe

Europe is a collection of languages (and sometimes currencies). It is, therefore, ideal that you first play at a poker site which is legal in your country and offers a compatible language. Most European poker sites use the euro currency. Once this is done, check out its games, reputation and payment methods.

Because online poker is expertly regulated in Europe, a downed poker site is not as worrying as you might think. If your poker site is down, it doesn’t mean that it is closed. More likely, it is just experiencing downtime whilst it is upgraded, adapting to new regulations, or being maintained. Only if a poker site is down for over a week without warning should you be concerned.

That depends on what country you happen to be residing in. No European country punishes its players for gambling at an offshore poker room, so even if poker is illegal in your country, feel free to play at an offshore poker room – you won’t be punished for it. They only go after the operators.

Ordinarily, we would advise players to play at a poker room which is licensed out of the country they reside in. If this is not possible, we would look for a major poker website which is licensed out of one of the big neighbouring licensing jurisdictions, such as the UK, Gibraltar or Malta. Even if this fails, you can always play at proper offshore poker rooms, licensed out of Curacao, Costa Rica or Panama.

In many cases, a simple VPN (virtual private network) or proxy is enough to help European players get past some of the ISP (internet service provider) blocks that EU countries put in place to stop you from playing poker online.

Most of them do, yes. Poker schools are online courses, guides and tools to help newbies get into the game. Whilst many smaller-scale poker sites omit this essential practice, Europe offers the world’s biggest poker sites, and almost all of these offer this service to newbies in the online poker world.

Nobody knows right now. However, any deal between the UK and the EU is likely to take gambling into consideration. What will likely happen is that the UK Gambling Commission license will still be recognised by the European Union, provided EU citizens with access to UK poker rooms. This deal would possibly see the UK recognise similar licenses from EU member states. Alternatively, those UK poker rooms which want to keep offering their services to players in the EU would apply for a license from Malta, an EU member. Likewise, the EU poker rooms which want to keep offering their services to players in the UK would apply for a UKGC license.

Either way, we find it very doubtful that the major poker rooms are going to cut off a significant portion of their services to players in either the EU or the UK. Not when two very easy alternatives are available. In all honesty, you’d needn’t worry – this is unlikely to be an issue.

Online poker is very popular throughout Europe and there are many poker sites that cater for the European market. If you live in Europe then you have plenty of options when it comes to choosing where to play. While this is largely a good thing, it does mean you need to put a bit of thought into deciding which site to join. Just signing up at any poker room you come across is not really a good idea, as the standards can vary quite dramatically from one place to the next.

We have checked out a large number of poker websites that welcome European players and taken a look at what they have to offer. There are actually several decent places to play, but in our opinion there are a few that really stand out as being particularly good. We have listed these below, in ranked order, and we believe these to be the very best European poker sites currently on the web. On this page we have also explained exactly how we go about ranking these sites.

Ranking European Poker Sites

We take a great deal of pride in the fact that we provide current and accurate information to our readers in terms of where to play online poker. We put in a lot of effort to ensure that we only ever recommend the very best poker rooms that are entirely reliable and trustworthy and have plenty to offer poker players. Our ranking process is really quite simple though. As experienced poker players we know exactly what makes for a good poker website and we look closely at the important factors and then rank the sites according to how well they perform in the relevant areas.

The sites that we have listed above do not just accept European players, they positively encourage them and cater for them as best they can. They offer a wide range of deposit options that are suitable for players in Europe, such as credit and debit cards and the popular e-wallet services. They typically allow you to deposit in euros to avoid currency conversion fees, and some of them even have tables where you can play in euros rather than US dollars.

Because the sites that we have listed are European player friendly, they obviously attract a lot of European players. This ensures that you will find plenty of cash games and tournaments running at the time of day you are likely to want to play. In fact, most of these sites are so popular that you will see action at the tables at any time of the night or day. This means that, whenever you want to play, you should be able to play your preferred type of game at your preferred stakes.

There are lots of other things that take into consideration when ranking these sites too. The standard of the software is something we believe to be very important for example. The top poker rooms have high quality software that runs smoothly, is very stable and has good graphics and animations. You will also usually find lots of useful features that all help improve the overall playing experience – whether that is a decent filter in the lobby to help you find a suitable game, the option to take notes on your opponents or the ability to review your hand histories.

A good sign up bonus is something else we feel all good poker rooms should offer. It doesn’t have to be a huge bonus but it should be reasonably generous and, perhaps more importantly, it should be player friendly and not require you to play a ridiculous amount of hands before you can actually clear it. The best sites offer more bonuses and rewards to regular players too, which can potentially provide you with a lot of extra value.

There are some other things that we look at, such as the quality of the customer service, but we’ve mentioned most of the really important considerations. We believe that any site that scores well in all these areas and has demonstrated that it looks after its customers well is worthy of recommendation. If you live in Europe and are looking to join a new poker site then we honestly don’t believe you could do any better than those that we have listed on this page.

Online Poker Regulation and Legislation in Europe

Free Poker Sites

The many countries in Europe all have their own individual legislation relating to online poker. In some countries it is strictly regulated, with limitations on which sites you can play at. Things are much more relaxed in other countries and in some places it is decidedly unclear where you can and can’t play.

If you live in Europe then it is probably a good idea to try and find out exactly what the local laws state and what your options are. The sites that we have listed here, though, accept players from most European countries and are certainly the best places to play.