Top 5 Best Online Casino Sites
Here, we review the best of the best online casino sites in the uk, to help you narrow down your search.
Betfred
We love Betfred Casino for the huge variety of different slot games, jackpot slots and table games available. Other features include:
- New customers can earn up to 200 Free spins.
Existing customers can win up to 50 Free spins every day, on the free daily bonus game.
Daily mystery parcel when you stake at least £0.10 on selected games.
New and exclusive games released regularly.
- Live casino games.
Bingo games.
888 Casino
888 Casino has a lot to offer, with exclusive games and some good promotions. Features of the 888 Casino include:
88 Free spins on sign up.
Welcome bonus of 100% up to £200.
Get five Free spins daily when you stake £5.
Free daily wish game.
Popular big name slots games, such as Big Bass and Book of Scrolls.
Daily jackpot slots.
Live casino games.
William Hill
William Hill has plenty to offer, as a big name bookmaker making moves among the online UK casinos. Features of the William Hill Casino include:
Free spins offers.
Spotlight promotions to highlight new games.
Plenty of new and exclusive games.
Big name games such as Big Bass and Fishing Frenzy.
Live dealer games.
Bingo.
Parimatch
Parimatch have a great online casino with several welcome bonuses to choose from. Features of the Parimatch casino include:
New customers get £50 in bonuses when they wager £15 on selected casino games.
New customers get a £20 slots bonus plus ten Free spins when they wager £5.
Live casino bonus - get £50 welcome bonus when you wager £10 within seven days of registration.
All the casino games you could wish for.
Live casino games.
VBet
VBet is a friendly little casino with an impressive deposit bonus available to new customers. VBet's online casino offers:
New customer 125% deposit bonus of up to £150 plus 50 Free spins
5% cashback if you end the week down playing live casino games.
10% weekly cashback on all slots up to £50.
Wide selection of games including jackpot slots, megaways, lottery games and table games.
Live casino games.
What is an online casino?
An online casino is an online version of a real-life, physical casino. Online casinos enable gamblers to bet online from the comfort of their own home. Many online casinos offer slots games, table games such as blackjack and roulette, and some also have a live casino where bettors can interact with real-life dealers via a video link to a studio. Increasingly, online bookmakers are adding an online casino to their website and app portfolios.
Online casinos usually have a mix of both web-based games, where the games can be played entirely online via a good internet connection, and download-based games, where the user is required to download a specific piece of software to be able to play the games on their computer at home.
Online casinos are broadly divided into two categories based on the software they use: web-based and download-only casinos. Traditionally, online casinos would include only one of the two platforms. However, with advanced technological changes, an online casino can now accommodate both. With so many advances in technology, web-based casinos are now far more popular.
Most games at online casinos follow a computer algorithm, which is weighted slightly in favour of the casino. It is possible at some online casino sites to view the payout percentage of each game, in order to make an informed decision as to whether or not you wish to play.
Many online casinos offer customers bonuses for creating an account or for playing specific casino games. Often, these bonuses have high wagering requirements before and winnings can be withdrawn.
In the UK, online gambling is governed by the Gambling Act 2005. Online casinos must have a Remote Gambling Licence in order to offer online betting to customers in the UK. Legally, users must verify their age and identity in order to gamble online at a casino site.
How to Choose the Best Online Casino for You
We want you to have the best possible online casino experience. That is why we have put together this guide for how to find the best online casino site for you. We will discuss what to look for, beyond the shiny welcome bonus or top name games.
Welcome Offers
Not all welcome offers are created equal. Some offer Free spins, while others offer a wagering or deposit bonus to new customers. Often deposit bonuses will require users to make a relatively large deposit in order to receive the advertised bonus. Many welcome bonuses are also tied to specific games, so it is worth checking that the game is one you are interested in playing.
When choosing an online casino site, always read the welcome bonus small print carefully. The most attractive offers may look great on the surface, but a very high wagering or playthrough requirement will almost certainly result in a zero balance, as low-risk games will likely be exempt from the promotion. We recommend looking for low wagering requirements on deposit bonuses and Free spins offers that require just a small initial minimum deposit.
Game Variety
Online casinos are often very good at grabbing the attention of customers with big-name games such as Fishing Frenzy, Big Bass Splash and Age of the Gods. However, what happens once the allure of those initial attention-grabbers has worn off?
The best online casinos will have a constant stream of new and exclusive games available to keep gamblers interested. The very best will have a wide variety of different game types, such as online slots, progressive jackpots, and favourite casino games such as blackjack, poker and baccarat, with live dealer games available for punters to interact with the dealers and enjoy more of a real-life casino experience. Some online casino sites even offer bingo and game shows with live hosts and spinning wheels.
Payment Methods & Withdrawals
It is always worth checking which payment methods casino sites accept before creating an account with them. Some online casino sites offer a wider range of different payment methods than others. It is especially important to do your research if you want to use a payment method such as Skrill or Neteller, as these are less widely accepted than, for example, debit card payments, which all UK casino sites tend to accept.
It is also a good idea to be aware of the Terms and Conditions around withdrawals. Some online casinos require comprehensive proof of identity before users can withdraw funds, while others may have limited payment methods that can be used for withdrawals.
Unique Site Features
While many online casinos are similar in terms of their offering, they often also have some unique features. For example, some UK casino sites have daily games where players can win Free spins, while others have unusual gameshow-style live dealer games where players can interact with each other and the host.
Mobile Experience
Most internet casinos also have mobile apps available for customers to use. The quality of these can vary, but the best online casinos will have smooth-running apps that allow users to have an enjoyable gaming experience in the palm of their hand, via their smartphone. There are often also mobile casino bonuses for customers to take advantage of.
If you prefer gambling via your smartphone to using your desktop or laptop, then it is essential to check that your chosen online casino has a mobile app to allow you to play your favourite casino games, without stress.
Security and Support
When choosing an online casino site, it is important to make sure that your personal details are safe. Look for online casinos that are properly licensed and regulated, and use encryption to keep your personal details, private and secure.
A good Customer Support service is also essential as when things go wrong, it is reassuring to know that they will be remedied quickly. The top online casinos will have a great Customers Service department, which will be contactable via a variety of different methods, often with 24/7 support.
Licensing & Regulation
In order for an online casino to operate legally in the UK, it must be properly licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission. By scrolling to the bottom of the homepage of your chosen online casino, you should be able to find the licence details and UK Gambling Commission account number for that particular site.
The Benefits Of Playing Online
There are many advantages of online casinos over bricks and mortar casinos. We list some of them, here.
Convenience
The number one advantage of online casinos is convenience. With an online casino, you can be anywhere at all and play casino games. Many areas of the UK simply do not have physical casinos in existence, so online casinos allow UK players to enjoy casino games when they otherwise would not be accessible. Of course, there is also the ultimate convenience of being able to enjoy playing casino games in the comfort of your own home.
Wide Selections Of Games
Another massive plus for online casinos is that they have a huge variety of different casino games. Most online casinos boast new and exclusive games being added to their online catalogue on a regular basis. This means that there is always something new and exciting for UK players to enjoy.
Chance To Play For Free
One big pro for online casinos is that they offer UK players the opportunity to play some games for free. The best online casinos provide players with regular, sometimes daily, chances to gain Free spins via free-to-play promotions, meaning that there is no need for players to part with their hard earned money to play some of their favourite games. These free games are usually online slot machines that may be new to the online casino, or a particularly popular slot game.
Higher Pay Outs
Another advantage to online casinos is that they often have higher payouts than physical casinos might. The best online casinos offer jackpot slots. These jackpot slot games sometimes offer cash prizes or progressive jackpots. Many have guaranteed daily payouts.
Security and Privacy
One final advantage of UK online casinos over physical ones is the obvious increase of both security and privacy. An online casino allows you to play in the privacy of your own home, with your money being spent over a secure server, with the option to deposit via an online wallet such as PayPal or Neteller, allowing your gambling transactions to be even more private and secure.
Bonuses and Promotions
Most UK online casinos offer customers bonuses and promotions. Here, we describe the various different bonuses and promotions available to UK players.
Welcome Bonuses
Welcome bonuses are for new customers making their very first deposit at the online casino site. Usually, these bonuses are either for a fixed amount (e.g. deposit £10 get a £30 bonus) or for a percentage of the initial deposit (e.g. 125% deposit bonus up to £50). Sometimes, a welcome bonus might only be targeted to customers depositing a particularly large amount of money, as the bonus percentage of the initial deposit increases with the amount deposited.
Often, welcome bonuses are tied to particular casino games and have specific wagering requirements, which mean that players can only withdraw proceeds of the bonus once they have played through the bonus amount a certain number of times.
No-Deposit Bonuses
No-deposit bonuses are exactly as they sound; bonuses that do not require players to make a deposit in order to receive them. These bonuses are usually not in the form of real cash, and are deducted from the player's account balance, when they come to make a withdrawal.
Deposit Bonuses
A deposit bonus requires players to make a cash deposit in order to receive the casino bonus. They usually refer to a customer's first deposit, but can sometimes be paid in chunks (e.g. first deposit bonus, second deposit bonus and so on). Generally, deposit bonuses have relatively high wagering requirements and there is limited game availability when it comes to eligible games needed to play through said wagering.
Free Spins
There are generally two types of Free spin bonus; one for new customers, which is usually tied to a deposit bonus, and others for existing customers, which are usually generated at random via free daily play games. With the latter, customers are invited to spin a wheel or open a box to reveal a daily prize, which could be two, five or ten Free spins, or sometimes even more.
In most cases, any Free spins acquired must be used on specific slot games. The winnings from these spins are usually paid as cash for players to use however they wish.
Reload Bonuses
Reload bonuses are used to encourage players to stick with one online casino, rather than jumping from one welcome bonus to another. Put simply, a reload bonus is offered to customers who have already made a deposit at an online casino before.
Reload bonuses may be paid weekly as a percentage of a customer's deposited funds that week, or more commonly, as a percentage of a player's weekly or monthly losses, in total or on a particular online casino game.
Mobile Casino Bonuses
Mobile casino bonuses can be the same as any of the other bonuses mentioned above - except that any deposit must be made via the casino's mobile site or app, in order to qualify for the promotion. It is always worth checking the Terms and Conditions of any bonus or promotions, as sometimes the requirement to deposit via the mobile site is located in the small print.
Other Common Casino Bonuses
Other common casino bonuses include:
Loyalty bonuses, where customers can earn points, Free spins or other rewards depending on how much they play particular casino games or online slots;
'Sticky' bonuses, where customers are awarded a bonus that cannot be withdrawn (i.e. if the bonus is £50, the customer wagers the required amount and is left with £75, they will only be able to withdraw £25 as cash);
Payment method bonuses, where customers can receive a bonus when making a deposit via a specific payment method, such as PayPal.
Best UK Mobile Casinos
The best UK mobile casinos offer slick graphics, intuitive userbility, attractive bonuses and a great selection of casino games and slot games. We list some of our favourite casino apps, here:
Party Casino
LeoVegas
Hey Spin
Grosvenor Casino
All British Casino
Best Casino Games
The best online casino will always offer the best online casino games; we discuss some of the favourites, here.
Roulette
Roulette is probably one of the first casino games that comes to mind when thinking about physical casinos. Likewise, it can be found at most online casinos, due to its popularity. In roulette, a croupier spins a wheel in one direction,whilst spinning a small ball in the opposite direction. The wheel is made up of between 37 and 39 red and black numbered sections.
Players will have placed their bets prior to the wheel being spun, choosing between various options such as the colour red or black, an odd or even number, groupings of particular numbers, whether the number will be high or low, or even a single number.
As the ball loses momentum, it eventually comes to rest in one of the numbered sections. Winnings are then paid to any and all players who have placed a successful bet.
BlackJack
BlackJack is a card game played against the dealer. In this game, you are aiming to get the total of your cards as close to 21 as possible, without exceeding it (going bust), and, crucially, your total needs to be higher than the dealer's. The cards 2-9 are designated the value of the number they display, while face cards (Jack, queen, king) are worth ten. An ace is worth either 11 or one.
When playing online, the cards are shuffled and dealt by the computer, and players place their bets. Each player is dealt two cards, face up, while the dealer is also dealt two cards; one face up, the other face down. At this point, players can click a button and choose to stand (just keep their two cards), hit (receive another card), double down (double their bet by receiving just one more card) or split (if they have a pair, or two cards worth ten, players can split their hand and double their bet, continuing play with two separate hands created by the split).
Once all hands have been played, the dealers cards are revealed and any winnings are paid out, with a fresh game ready to begin.
Baccarat
Baccarat is a very straightforward casino game. Before the cards are dealt, users bet on the banker to win, the player to win, or a tie. The dealer then deals two pairs of cards; a 'player' hand and a 'banker' hand.
In baccarat, the cards 2-9 are assigned their face value, while an ace is worth one and 10, Jack, queen and king are all worth zero. The object of the game is for the customer to predict which of the two, two-card hands will be closest to nine, without going over.
Once the cards are dealt, the dealer calculates the totals of each hand and any winnings are paid out, before a fresh game begins.
Video Poker
Video poker is another relatively straightforward game to play, once users are familiar with the different winning hands involved. Fortunately, many online casinos allow users to play in demo mode, allowing them to learn the ropes without betting any real money.
Players first place their bets, then press the 'deal' button. Players are then dealt five cards, and can choose to hold any cards they wish from their initial hand. Players can then click the 'deal' button again, to have any unheld cards re-dealt. The computer then determines whether this final hand is a winning deal. Winning deals include:
Royal Flush
Straight Flush
Four Of A Kind
Full House
Flush
Straight
Three Of A Kind
Two Pairs
Jacks Or Better.
Once any winnings have been paid out, pressing the deal button again will start a new round.
Slots
Slots are made up of columns called reels which are decorated with a variety of symbols. Players place their bet then press the 'Spin' button to spin the reels. Players win when three or more of the same symbols line up along a payline. The amount of the winning payout is related to the value or the symbol and the size of the bet placed. There are thousands of different virtual slot machines available to play, with a variety of different themes, numbers and size of reels.
How we Rate the Best UK Online Casinos
We use a number of different parameters to determine how good a UK online casino is, before we recommend it to you. Here, we detail those parameters to give you a greater understanding of how we make those recommendations.
Welcome bonuses
Everyone likes a good bonus, don't they? That is why we check to make sure that the best online casinos we recommend to you, offer a generous welcome bonus to attract your business.
Deposit Options
We know that players want the convenience of being able to use their favourite payment method. That is why we look closely at each online casino site that we review, to check that they offer a good range of different deposit options.
Games
A vital component of any good online casino site is a strong selection of games. Therefore, we look for UK casino sites with a wide range of free games, slot games, table games and progressive jackpots, as well as new and exclusive games being released regularly, to keep your gambling experience fresh and exciting.
Withdrawals
When you want to withdraw your money from an online casino, you understandably want the process to be smooth, straightforward and timely. That is why we review the withdrawals process of every online casino we recommend to ensure that there are no unnecessary delays or red tape involved.
Customer Support
Good customer service is vital when online gambling at a casino site. We check the customer support offering of all of the casinos that we recommend, to determine whether they have a variety of different ways to contact them, and have suitable availability of these services. The best casino sites offer 24/7 support to their customers and reply quickly and helpfully to any queries.
Security
We check to make sure that all of the casino sites we recommend are properly licensed and regulated, and use secure encryption to keep your personal details safe.
Payment Methods
The best online casino sites will offer customers a range of different payment method options. In this section, we discuss some of those available in more detail.
Debit Cards
When making a deposit at an online casino site using a debit card, it is very much like making a purchase at any online retailer. Simply enter the amount you wish to deposit, and your card details, then hit the deposit button. Debit cards are usually the only eligible payment method with regards to deposit bonuses at online casinos.
Pay By Mobile
Making deposits via pay by mobile is great for players who want to avoid using a bank account or other online wallet. Deposits using this method add the deposit amount directly to the customer's mobile phone bill.
Neteller
Neteller is a popular online wallet accepted by many online gambling sites. Neteller allows users to add funds to their wallet using a debit card or bank transfer. The user can then make a deposit to their online casino account using their Neteller credentials, rather than their debit card directly. This allows users to keep their card or banking details private from the online gambling site.
Trustly
Trustly essentially acts as a middle man between your bank account and the casino site. When users select Trustly as a payment method, users will be transferred to Trustly where they will be securely connected to their bank. Users then log into their account to confirm their payment, and Trustly does the rest.
PayPal
PayPal is a popular online wallet, which is widely accepted by many online casino sites. Similarly to Neteller, users simply select PayPal as a payment method and enter their PayPal credentials, allowing users to deposit funds to their online casino account without sharing their bank details.
paysafecard
PaySafeCard is a prepaid card, which allows users to deposit without sharing their bank account details with anyone. A PaySafeCard can be purchased from a retailer using cash and then used to make a deposit at a casino site. As PaySafeCard is a prepayment method, this allows players to have greater control over their gambling budget.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the best online casinos will have the best variety of games, from classic casino games to new and exciting video slots. They will provide you with the best possible customer service and a range of different payment methods, with swift processes for depositing and withdrawing funds. We hope that this guide will enable you to find the best of the UK casino sites out there, and make the most of the different games and bonuses they have to offer. Happy playing, and remember to gamble responsibly, so the fun never stops.
FAQs
UK players are lucky to have some excellent online casinos at their disposal. In our opinion, the top online casinos for UK players include Betfred, 888Casino and William Hill.
Yes, online gambling sites are legal in the UK, provided they are legally licenced and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission.
Yes, UK casino sites are safe to play at, provided they are properly licenced and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission. Most UK casino sites use encryption to keep their customers' personal information safe.
Yes, many of the best UK casino sites offer mobile versions of their website and/or mobile apps, so that users can enjoy casino games on their smartphones.
Most online UK casinos offer virtual casino games including slots games, free games, game show games and table games such as roulette games, card games and live dealer casino games.
No, online casinos are not rigged, provided of course that they are properly licensed and regulated.
Blackjack is widely regarded as having the best payout rate of all the online casino games.
Yes, it is possible to win real money with online casinos.
No, gambling is not taxed in the United Kingdom, so you do not need to pay tax on your winnings.
