Top Ten European Poker Sites
Online poker is a booming industry across Europe. Players on the continent are spoilt for choice, with a wide variety of sites to choose from. Europe has a relaxed attitude to online poker and thanks to its lenient gambling regulations. Players can play at practically any site they wish, and take advantage of great bonuses and promotions, as well as freerolls and satellites to great live poker tournaments in Europe.
| Rank | Poker Site | Sign Up Bonus | Review | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
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888 Poker | 4.5/5 | 100% up to £230 | Visit Site Read Review |
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| 2 |
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Boyle Sports | 4/5 | % up to | Visit Site Read Review |
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| 3 |
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PokerStars | 3.9/5 | 100% up to £400 | Visit Site Read Review |
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| 4 |
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Nordic Bet | 3.7/5 | % up to €1000 | Visit Site Read Review |
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| 5 |
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Betsson | 3.5/5 | % up to | Visit Site Read Review |
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| 6 |
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Euro Poker | 3.5/5 | 100% up to €2,500 | Visit Site Read Review |
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| 7 |
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Party Poker | 3.3/5 | 100% up to £500 | Visit Site Read Review |
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| 8 |
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Unibet | 3.2/5 | 100% up to £200 | Visit Site Read Review |
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| 9 |
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24H Bet | 3/5 | 200% up to €1000 | Visit Site Read Review |
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| 10 |
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Betway | 2.4/5 | 200% up to £750 | Visit Site Read Review |
The top ten poker sites for European players:
24h Bet
24h Bet operates under a Maltese gaming license which offers European customers a regulated environment to play online poker (this license also allows tax-free winnings in European countries) and is part of the gambling company iGame Malta Ltd. It primarily appeals to Scandinavian players but welcomes players from across Europe. A good selection of poker games can be found here, including Hold’em, Omaha, Razz, 5 Card Stud, 5 Card Draw and 7 Card Stud. There are weekly €25,000 and €50,000 tournaments which draw an impressive number of players, and satellite qualifiers to big live poker tournaments across Europe. New players can receive a 200% up to €1000 match bonus (players must deposit €20 or more to avail) and 6 tickets to €1000 new player freerolls. The loyalty scheme is decent, with 10 Loyalty Points per $1 in rake, and players can exchange every 30 Cashable Loyalty Points they earn for $1 in cash and get up to 30% cashback. It’s a modern looking website with usable software which players can download or else play an in-browser version. Payment options include Visa, Mastercard, Neteller, Skrill and others and deposits are fast and straightforward.
888 Poker
888 Poker been hugely popular with European players for years, it comes a close second in the popularity stakes after PokerStars. It has a steady level of poker traffic and a good mix of serious and recreational players. Most of the action is found at the Texas Hold’em tables, but there’s always tables active in 7 Card Stud, Omaha and Snap Poker. Games come with a wide range of buy-ins to suit every wallet. 888 Poker offers plenty of online tournaments at times which suit European players, including the impressive $100,000 Sunday Tournament. New players are offered £20 free, no deposit necessary as well as a welcome bonus of 100%, up to $400. Software on 888 has had a recent revamp and has a range of new features such as 3D table graphics and preferred seating. The site has almost 20 different payment options available to players so the selection of depositing methods should suit European players.
Betsson
A popular online poker site for Europeans, Betsson has millions of registered players. The site is owned by the parent company of other high-ranking European poker sites such as Nordic Bet, Betsafe and Triobet, and shares its traffic with other sites on the MPN network so Betsson players can expect up to 5,000 other players online at peak European hours. A decent selection of poker games is available here on Betsson and numerous tournaments are always running every day (such as the €25,000 Sunday Showdown, €15,000 Sunday Drive, the €8,000 Mosh Pit and the €6,000 Big Night In) and satellites to big live poker events across Europe. Betsson offers a choice of welcome bonuses for new players, who can decide if they’d rather €100, €300 or €1,000 – new customers just have to rake €5 for every €1 of the bonus within 60 days of setting up their account. Payment options for depositing here include debit and credit card and various e-wallets such as Paysafecard, Skrill, Neteller, ClickandBuy, Ukash for players to choose from. Betsson also has 24/7 live chat support for players that need assistance.
Betway
Betway has attracted an impressive number of players since it launched a decade ago. It’s consistently popular with European online poker fans and the highest traffic levels on the site are usually around peak European times. The majority of cash games on Betway tend to be fairly low-stakes,most players having drifted over from the popular sportsbook. As well as all the poker game variants that you’d expect, Betway offers its players a ‘fast-fold’ variant called Blaze Poker (as soon as players fold, they are whisked away immediately to a brand new table with new opponents and a new set of cards – so players can minimise waiting times in-between poker hands). Betway provides a useful ‘Anonymous tables’ feature, allowing poker players to keep a low profile. The Betway Bad Beat Jackpot is another handy feature which ensures players can reverse their luck when beaten and get back in the game. The Betway welcome bonus allows new players to claim 200% match bonus (up to €750) when placing their first deposit on the poker site. All new players are also eligible to avail of six weekly €1000 New Player Freerolls and up to six weekly €500 Added New Player turbo tournaments. Betway’s MPN powered software is reliable and straightforward. There’s some great features here, like preferred seating, four coloured deck and note taking. Deposits on Betway are instant and withdrawals can be processed in less than seven business days. The customer support team at Betway are contactable 24/7 via telephone, email or live chat. Customer support is available in 17 different languages.
Euro Poker
Euro poker is operated by the Swedish based Ongame group and shares its player pools. It offers poker fans in Europe the chance to play in a range of different languages (currently offers eleven language options) and customer service which is language specific. Tournaments on the site attract a decent number of online players. Games include Texas Hold’em, Omaha, 7 Card Stud and 5 Card Draw and a variant called Strobe Poker – a turbocharged ring game which allows players to have new opponents for every new hand they play. New players at Euro Poker are rewarded with a match bonus of 100% up to $1000 and a worthwhile VIP scheme. Customers also receive a boost of $100 for each friend they bring in, rewarding the friends with $100 at the same time. Euro Poker has pretty good software with useful features like easy to use statistics and note-taking option. Payment transactions are fairly fast, and come with a range of methods such as Visa, Mastercard, Neteller and Skrill.
Everest Poker
Part of the Betclic Group, the site has been running since 2004 and is a recognizable name in the online poker industry. Everest is particularly popular with European players thanks to its multilingual platform and fully translated software in fifteen different European languages. Since Everest belongs to the iPoker network, the traffic here is decent with plenty of players online during peak European times. Everest typically has anywhere up to 6,000 players online any one time during the day and the competition is usually fairly soft overall, with mostly recreational players. As well as the typical Texas and Omaha variations, the site also has Speed Poker, a “fast-fold” format game which allows you to play hundreds of hands every hour, and Twister Poker, a type of sit-and-go “winner-takes-all” tournament which is played three-handed. There’s €252,000 worth of prizes to be won every Sunday at Everest’s major tournaments. New customers are welcomed to Everest Poker with €10 free in the form of entry tokens into weekly freerolls and 20 Reward Points that can be exchanged for cash rewards. Everest will also match your first deposit amount by 200% up to a maximum of €1,500 for new players. Like other iPoker skins, Everest is powered by Playtech software which is easy to use can be relied upon for secure and stable features. There’s a range of banking methods available for customers, from the standard Visa and Mastercard options, to a range of e-wallets like Neteller, Skrill and Click2Pay. The site has an excellent customer service team, who can be contacted via email or live chat options.
Nordic Bet
A Scandinavian favourite, Nordic Bet started began as a niche sportsbook betting site focussed on Nordic sports but soon now developed into one of the top online gambling brands in Europe with poker and casino rooms. Nordic Bet is owned by the same company that runs rival poker sites Betsson and Betway, and is part of the MPN (the Microgaming Network). The Microgaming software offered by Nordic Bet is straightforward to use with excellent graphics and noteworthy features, such as the option to use a password protected poker table. Its traffic levels are shared with other skins on the peak number of players online usually sits at the 1,500 mark. Poker games on offer at Nordic Bet are varied enough to suit any poker player, with new players being treated to a choice of four different sign up bonuses, which they can unlock by depositing different amounts into their accounts. Bonuses of €50 to €1000 are up for grabs here once players can generate the required amount of rake. The Nordic Bet loyalty scheme is generous, offering the chance to rack up player points and exchange them for rewards. The Poker Bonus is released in stages of €5 on the Bronze, Silver and Gold levels, while this moves up to €10 on the Elite level. Payment options here are varied and definitely aimed at European players – Nordic offers Visa and Mastercard, Neteller, Entropay, Skrill, Click2Buy, WebMoney and bank transfer – and the site uses Euro as its primary currency. Nordic Bet’s customer support system offering email, telephone and live chat options for sorting out player queries.
Partypoker
Partypoker was at one stage was the world’s largest online poker platform and still has a huge number of players, many concentrated within Europe. It attracts an average of 1,100 players at any given time, but traffic often rises a good deal higher to over 2,000 and it always has a high number of players during peak European times. A wide selection of Texas Hold’em, Omaha Hi/Lo, Pot Limit Omaha, 7 Card Stud games are on offer here, as well as some others like Blackjack. Tournaments run everyday at suitable times for European players, with the Daily Majors, Hyper Turbos and the site’s Pokerfest which offers a schedule of 80 tournaments and over $2.5 million in guaranteed prizepools. As a welcome bonus, new players are offered £20 free with their first deposit of £10, as well as a match bonus of 100% up to $50. Party Poker offers a “2nd Chance First Bet” to its players, so basically if a first bet is unsuccessful, a player can win a £5 or £10 free bet. Partypoker software is simple to download and use, thanks to features like the 1 Click Lobby (players can access their game in just one simple click.)
PokerStars
The world’s number one poker site is naturally going to be number one in Europe too. It just can’t be beaten for its massive player pools, lucrative cash prizes, its variety of games and the big online tournaments it regularly runs. PokerStars has a legion of European fans who return again and again. The site offers a choice of poker games from standard Hold’em, Omaha and Omaha Hi/Lo, to 7 Card Stud, Razz, Triple Stud and 5 Card Draw. PokerStars appeals to European players as it has dozens of tournaments running right throughout the day, particularly at peak European times. The weekly Sunday Million tournament has a famous $1m prize pool, with a buy-in of $215. By competing on the PokerStars website, players can qualify to big live poker events on the circuit every year, including the European Poker Tour (EPT) and Estrellas Poker Tour. PokerStars offers new European customers a 100% welcome bonus of up to $600 when they join. As far as software is concerned, the PokerStars downloadable client is available for both Windows and Mac and is available in a wide selection of local currencies and languages to suit European players. The PokerStars lobby is both functional and modern. Cash deposits and withdrawals are fast and secure with a wide variety of banking options.
Unibet
Unibet is one of the largest online bookmaking sites in Europe, with a well popular sportsbook and thriving online casino as well as the poker room. Standing on its own as an independent network, Unibet enjoys decent traffic of around 1,000 players at peak times (though it tends to average around 550 players) A significant number of its poker players tend to be casual sports bettors who have switched over from the Unibet sportsbook, so competition is fairly soft. Poker games are mainly Texas Hold’em and Omaha Hi-Lo along with some niche options like has Banzai, a short-stack short-handed cash game. Plenty of tournaments run weekly on the Unibet site, like the $150k Guaranteed on Sundays and a monthly $250,000 Gtd tournament. Unibet Poker offers satellite qualifiers to big live poker events such as the European Poker Tour (EPT), the WSOP and the World Poker Tour, plus its own Unibet Poker Open Tournament which stops at locations across Europe. There’s a new depositor bonus of 100% up to €200, as well as entry into 4 weekly €500 Welcome Freerolls and a free €2 ticket into a qualifier for the Unibet Poker Open. Software on the Unibet site is powered by Relax Gaming, so graphics are modern and the download client is easy to install. There’s some cool features, like personalised avatars for games, and name changing up to three times a day during games. Poker tables are re-sizeable and game play is speedy. Unibet’s 24/7 Player Safety Early Detection System is ideal for helping players detect any potentially dangerous behaviour. Customer service consists of live chat 24/7, as well as email and telephone.
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