Top Online Casinos in United Kingdom

Everyone is aware of the popularity of gambling nowadays in the UK, and the rapid growth of online sports betting and casino sites has helped this. People can place a bet no matter where they are or what they are doing, but it hasn’t always been this way.

Gambling has been around in the UK for a very long time. People were betting on horseracing in the 19th century when bookmakers would set up in a pub and take bets with the help of runners who would keep an eye on the odds. This was not legal – they also needed lookouts to watch for the police! The Street Betting Act of 1906 was designed to put a stop to this behaviour with varying degrees of success. It was not until the Betting and Gaming Act of 1960 that off-course betting became legal.

The growth of betting shops

It was during the 1960s that betting shops started to open in large numbers and this meant that in-person attendances at horse and greyhound racing venues declined. There was a temporary rise in attendances during the 1980s as they became fashionable destinations for a day or evening out, but the vast majority of people still preferred to place their bets at a distance.

Once gambling became legal betting shops appeared in every high street in the country, while people who preferred other games could head to the bricks and mortar casino halls and the bingo halls. Before the advent of online casinos and other sports betting sites, the newspapers printed the daily sports fixtures such as the horse races, the football games and other events so that people could work out the bets that they wanted to place before heading down to the bookmakers.

The move to online gambling

The Gambling Commission was established in 2005 and the aim was to set up tighter controls over gambling activities. Some sites have found that their practices did not meet the requirements and struggled to obtain the appropriate licences. All online casinos and sports betting sites are overseen by the Gambling Commission. Since the growth of the internet, the work of the Commission has increased as more online sites are opening up and more members of the public are turning to them for entertainment.

Our review process involves looking at each aspect of an online casino and determining an overall score based on how they met our standards and expectations.

Some online casinos will be inevitably better than others, but all of our recommended casinos are safe to place real money bets. Below we’ll list the most important factors we look at and how they fare when it comes to UK casinos.

Online casino security

The UK online casino market is one of the largest in the world. Thus, one of the most developed gambling markets in terms of security and fair play. As per UK law, all online casinos that aim to service residents of the UK must obtain a license from the United Kingdom Gambling Commission, the only gambling regulatory body in the UK.

The UKGC keeps a close eye on casino operators and imposes strict standards that ensure smooth operation and most importantly – fair treatment to customers.

Operators who disobey the UKGC risk large monetary punishments, or even license removal. What’s more, players who feel they’ve been wrongfully stripped of their winnings or mistreated in any other way can file a complaint with the UKGC.

Additionally, UK casinos have baseline online security standards such as SSL encryption, safeguarding all your personal information such as account details and payment method info.

Language

Naturally, all UK casinos are available in UK English. Many respected UK brands also aim to serve a wide European player base and are thus available in additional languages such as Swedish, Norwegian, German and Finnish. Customer support is generally available in English, and rarely in other languages.

UK Customer support

Customer support is one of the most essential factors for having a good time while playing. When an inevitable question pops into your mind, or some issue interrupts your gameplay, it is good to know you can rely on a fast customer support channel to resolve your matter in no time.

Fortunately, UK online casinos are well aware of this, and most of them offer professional customer service via live chat. The casinos that offer live chat 24/7 get bonus points in our book, but what’s more important is the quality of the support offered, as well as the response times. A few minutes is a reasonable waiting time, which may rarely extend up to 5-10 minutes during peak hours.

Additionally, most UK casinos offer a local phone support number you can dial for a more personal touch. Alternatively, requesting a callback is also an option at some casinos.

Players have grown accustomed to live chat and rarely feel the need for phone support, which is why we withhold our strict judgment for UK casinos without a phone line.