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
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.
