By Charlon Muscat

PokerStars is the place to be if you want access to one of the largest online poker rooms, over 2,500 slots and table games, and a full-fledged sportsbook. There are loads of promos up for grabs, with new players getting a choice between two welcome offers, plus regular reloads and tournaments on top.

Carry on through my PokerStars Casino review to learn more. 

Key information

What is PokerStars casino all about?

PokerStars is pretty much the benchmark for online poker in the UK, yet spending a bit of time on the casino side shows it’s right up there with the very best for slots and table games as well. New players can choose between two sign-up promos, with plenty more bonuses and tournaments available once you’ve settled in.

Bonuses

PokerStars lines up two separate welcome bonuses, one for the casino and another for poker. Here’s what’s on the table:

• Casino Welcome Bonus: 100% first-deposit match up to £500 + 50 Free Spins
• Poker Welcome Bonus: 100% first-deposit match up to £400 + £10 in Spin & Go Tickets

You can only choose one of the two, depending on what you fancy having a go at first on PokerStars’ tab.

On the casino side, the cap is £500, giving you £1,000 altogether, with half being your own stake and half added as bonus credit. For poker, the limit is £400, and the bonus unlocks gradually as you collect points through rake or tournament fees instead of arriving in a single payment.

Both deals give a bit extra on top. The casino package comes with 50 extra spins, valued at £10. You can only use them on a fixed set of slots, including Big Bass Bonanza, Big Bass Splash, Book of Dead, and Diamond Stars Classic 94. Winnings cap at £100 and are paid as bonus funds that still need wagering.

The poker welcome offer adds £10 in Spin & Go tickets, handed out across five days. Each ticket only stays valid for 48 hours, so I’d really only say it’s worth picking one up if you’re planning to play straight away.

Beyond the welcome offer, PokerStars Casino hosts plenty of recurring promos. You’ll find weekly free spins through events like Spins Odyssey, prize draws on selected slot providers, rotating Spin of the Day rewards, and challenges tied to jackpots. There are also ongoing features like Stacks - a weekly points-based challenge with cash prizes that climb up to £1,000.

Available games

If I had to take a punt at the total games on PokerStars, I’d say the line-up clears the 2,500 mark. Most of them are slots, with a shade over 265 being exclusives you won’t see anywhere else. My personal favourites are Cashzuma Day of the Dead and Book Of Sacrifice, both built by PokerStars’ own in-house studio. You’ll also find others put together in collaboration with providers like Relax Gaming and Skywind Group.

As for RNG table games, the line-up’s a bit on the slim side compared to the best online casinos. I counted 14 video poker titles, six blackjack tables, four roulette, and a single craps. Where it really steps up is the live dealer side. PokerStars struck a deal with Evolution in 2024 to run their own studios, giving them 12 branded blackjack tables and a roulette wheel.

That’s on top of plenty more, including baccarat, casino poker, sic bo, game shows, and other niche picks from the likes of Playtech and Pragmatic Play Live. Minimums start at 10p and stretch right up into the thousands on the VIP tables.

Did you know? By clicking on your username, a small window opens where you can switch between Real Money and Play Money. The latter works as a separate balance of virtual chips, letting you try out slots and table games in a realistic casino-style environment. Wins and losses show up on that practice balance, so you can get the feel of things without risking a penny.

Online Poker

PokerStars remains one of the best UK poker sites online. Cash games dominate the lobby, with Texas Hold’em spread from £0.01/£0.02 micro-stakes to £200/£400 nosebleeds. Six-max tables draw the heaviest action, though you’ll find full-ring and heads-up ticking along as well. Pot Limit Omaha sits next in line for traffic, mostly up to £1/£2, with Zoom fast-fold going in both Hold’em and Omaha.

Then you’ve got the rarer treats like 2-7 Triple Draw, Razz, Badugi, Stud, Courchevel, plus the mixed sets such as H.O.R.S.E. and 8-Game that run regularly and are pretty much unique in the online poker space.

Tournament coverage is immense. Weekly highlights include the Sunday Million (£109, £1M GTD), Sunday Storm (£11, £150K GTD), Bounty Builder High Roller (£530, £350K GTD), and Sunday High Roller (£1,050, £150K GTD). Omaha MTTs, such as Omania and Sunday Supersonic, add depth. PokerStars also runs annual flagship series - SCOOP, WCOOP, MicroMillions, and the Winter Series - featuring guarantees exceeding £100M.

What I personally enjoyed the most were the Spin & Go sit-and-gos. They’re three-player turbo tournaments where the prize pool gets decided at random before a single hand’s dealt. Buy-ins go from 25 cents right up to a grand, and every time there’s a shot at multipliers as high as 12,000x. Spin & Go Max takes it a step further with random player numbers and forced all-ins once you hit the hand cap.

User experience and interface

Probably the first thing anyone says when landing on PokerStars is that there’s a lot going on. But once you start breaking things down, it’s actually very easy to move around.The website is split into three main areas — Poker, Casino, and Sports.

Each one focuses on its own thing, along with the promos and bits of learning material that tie in. The cashier links the lot together, so no matter if you’re playing games or betting on sports, the funds come from the same wallet. You can even set your account to GBP, USD, or Euro and swap between them whenever you like.

As for the platform’s look overall, PokerStars always gives me a different vibe compared to other UK slot sites, mainly because of that black-and-red colour scheme. Anyone who follows the big poker tours will know it’s become a signature part of the brand.

Mobile and app compatibility

Aside from playing in the browser, PokerStars also has a dedicated desktop client for both Mac and PC. I grabbed it straight off the PokerStars website and had everything installed in under two minutes. The big draw here is that you can play several tables at once, whereas the website only lets you stick to one.

In terms of performance, it’s quicker, with a wider spread of tournaments and cash games, plus extra ways to tweak the table layouts and settings.

On smartphones and tablets, you can download the PokerStars app from the App Store or Google Play. Both versions have pulled in thousands of downloads and top marks from players, which says a lot about the whole setup.

VIP programmes and loyalty rewards 

PokerStars has a tiered rewards program where you earn reward points every time you pay rake in cash games or fees in tournaments. I had to opt-in manually the first time (from the top menu bar near the username tab). Then, points started stacking up on a progress bar. Once that's filled, you pop open a Chest, which contains your reward.

In total, there are six levels - Blue, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond, Black. The higher ones require more points but pay larger cash equivalents. At the low end you’re looking at about 15% rakeback, and if you grind hard enough to hit Black, you can pull back 40%. I’ve noticed that missing the target for 28 days knocks you down a level, which makes things easier to clear but the prizes drop.

Then there’s the really high-end part: PokerStars Select and Select+. These tiers are only for players generating serious volume (£50,000 and £100,000 in rake per year). Here the Chest system disappears entirely. Instead, you’re getting straight daily rakeback: 50% across all games in Select, and in Select+ it’s 60% on Spin & Go and Zoom, with 50% on everything else. 

Diving deeper into PokerStars 

Ever since 2019, PokerStars has been part of Flutter Entertainment, after a merger with The Stars Group, which was the original owner. The company’s a giant in gambling, based in Ireland, and behind plenty of names you’ll recognise. That includes Betfair, Paddy Power, Sky Bet, and even FanDuel in the US.

Licensing

In the UK, PokerStars is regulated by the Gambling Commission (license number 39108), which requires players to be at least 18 to join. When you register, the system runs an automatic check on your details. Mine cleared right away, but if it hadn’t, I’d have been asked for documents like a passport, driver’s licence, or a recent utility bill.

Payment methods

PokerStars gives you 12 different casino payment methods to deposit, covering debit cards, e-wallets, bank transfers, prepaid vouchers, and even mobile options. The minimum is £10 with most options, though PokerStarsTopUp goes from £7, while bank transfers sit right at the other end, starting from £5,000.

One special feature at PokerStars is Fast Deposit. With it, you can save one payment method as the preferred option and top up instantly, even straight from a table, without having to type in your details again.

Withdrawals at PokerStars link back to the methods used for deposits. The minimums are usually around £10, while the maximum depends on what you’re using — Visa, for example, pays out between £10 and £6,500. I've had many of my requests clear instantly, or at least within 24 hours. Plus, there are no fees.

Software providers

PokerStars gets most of its games from a select line-up of 19 software providers. Now, I know that number might look a bit on the small side compared to some of the newer UK online casinos, but every single name here is top tier.

You’ve got Pragmatic Play, Play’n Go, Blueprint Gaming, Evolution, Playtech Live, Red Tiger, iSoftBet - the list goes on. Add to that the in-house titles built by the PokerStars development team, and you’ve got something that really sets the platform apart.

Security and fairness 

Every virtual slot and table game at PokerStars uses a Random Number Generator (RNG) to decide outcomes, which is certified by Gaming Laboratories International (GLI), an independent testing body, to prove it’s random and fair. 

On the money side, player balances are protected with the UKGC’s high-level fund segregation. That means deposits go into a legally ring-fenced trust account, completely separate from PokerStars’ own operating money, with an independent trustee in charge. The whole setup makes sure that even if the company collapsed, players would still get their balances back.

PokerStars backs up security and fairness on its poker games with a full Game Integrity team of about 60 specialists, including ex-pros and data scientists, who keep an eye on the action round the clock. Automated systems flag about 95% of breaches before players even spot anything, and peer-reviewed checks make sure every case gets handled properly.

Responsible gambling measures 

PokerStars has a full suite of responsible gambling tools built into its platform to help players stay in control. Here’s what you can expect:

• Age checks – everyone must be 18+, verified through ID and background checks, with winnings forfeited if false details are used.
• Net Deposit Limits – automatic caps based on age and account stage (e.g. under-25s limited to £250 daily / £500 monthly).
• Self-exclusion – players can exclude themselves for set periods or permanently, across PokerStars and sister brands (Betfair, Paddy Power, Sky, etc.), with no option to reverse it.
• GAMSTOP link – they integrate with the UK-wide self-exclusion scheme.
• Custom limits – options to set daily or weekly deposit caps, table stake limits, tournament buy-in limits, or even block individual casino games or sports betting.
• Casino reminders – pop-ups that alert you to how long you’ve been active.
• Help access – direct links and signposting to GamCare, GambleAware, and other treatment services.

Payment methods