Best online poker sites: which one to play on where you live

The best online poker site depends first on where you live, because no single site is open everywhere. Outside the US and the UK, GGPoker has the most tables at every stake and PokerStars has the strictest licence and the biggest tournament series. In the US, your choice is between the state-licensed sites in six states and offshore sites such as ACR Poker. In the UK, only sites licensed by the UK Gambling Commission are legal, including GGPoker.co.uk and PokerStars through Betfair.

Below we compare the five sites we’ve reviewed in full, GGPoker, PokerStars, ACR Poker, CoinPoker and WPT Global, on licence, bonus, rakeback, rake, traffic and the countries each accepts, then go market by market. Every figure comes from the sites’ own terms, rake tables and bonus pages during our check in November 2026.

Best poker sites at a glance

The table sums up what each site does best and whether it’s open to players in the two markets people ask about most.

The diagram shows the same split by market, which is the first filter to apply.

Our top picks

Each pick below is one of the sites we’ve reviewed in full. The order is our overall ranking for a player who can use all five; your own shortlist depends on where you live.

GGPoker: best overall

GGPoker is the biggest poker site in the world by a wide margin. In autumn 2026 it averaged about 10,100 cash game players at once over 30 days, roughly four to five times PokerStars. That means tables at every stake around the clock, the biggest tournament guarantees online and the official WSOP Online series every summer.

It’s licensed by the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission, with a separate UKGC-licensed site, GGPoker.co.uk, for British players. The welcome bonus is 100% up to $600, released at $1 for every $5 of rake. Ocean Rewards, an eight-level loyalty program, returns roughly 16% to 80% of rake depending on your level.

GGPoker bans all third-party poker software, including trackers and HUDs, and gives every player its own stats tools instead: PokerCraft and a built-in Smart HUD. It doesn’t accept players from the US, France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland or Australia; our guide to GGPoker countries has the full picture.

For: most traffic, WSOP Online, rakeback up to about 80%. Against: no third-party trackers, closed in the US and several big European markets.

More detail: GGPoker bonus and GGPoker rakeback.

PokerStars: best licence and tournaments

PokerStars is the best-known name in online poker and the second-largest cash game network, with about 2,160 cash players on average over the same period. It runs on a Malta Gaming Authority licence held by TSG Interactive Gaming Europe, part of Flutter, and publishes a full rake table. Its tournament series, the Sunday Million, SCOOP and WCOOP, are among the biggest online.

The welcome offer, code STARS600, matches 100% of your first deposit up to $600 and releases $5 for every $15 of rake. That’s the easiest bonus to clear of the five: $300 of rake per $100 of bonus. Stars Rewards returns about 15% of rake at the first level up to 40% at the top, and 50–60% for invited high-volume players.

It’s also the only one of the five that allows approved trackers and HUDs. The catch is that “PokerStars” means different things in different places: in the US it runs only as PokerStars on FanDuel in New Jersey, Michigan and Pennsylvania, in the UK through Betfair, and in several European countries on separate local sites.

For: strongest licence of the five, top tournaments, cheapest bonus to release. Against: far less cash traffic than GGPoker, a different product in the US and Ontario. See our PokerStars review and the PokerStars bonus guide.

ACR Poker: best for US players

ACR Poker, the flagship of the Winning Poker Network, is the biggest offshore site that accepts US players. Its terms exclude nine states (Washington, Kentucky, Delaware, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada and New Jersey), so it’s open in the other 41 and Washington, DC. Since July 2026 it has been licensed in Anjouan; before that it held a Curaçao licence. The operator is International Processing Services SA of Panama.

The welcome bonus is 100% up to $2,000, released at $1 for every $5 of rake within 60 days. Rakeback is a choice: a flat 27% each week or the Elite Benefits ladder. Rake is 5%, capped at $3. ACR allows HUDs and trackers that use only your own hand histories, and crypto withdrawals usually arrive within an hour.

The downsides come with being offshore: no US state regulator stands behind it, it doesn’t offer self-set deposit limits, and bots and real-time assistance keep coming up as a concern.

For: open in most US states, fast crypto payouts, large US-facing tournaments. Against: offshore licence, no state protection.

The bonus in detail: ACR Poker bonus.

CoinPoker: best for crypto

CoinPoker is built around cryptocurrency: you deposit and withdraw in USDT and other coins, and payouts can land within minutes. It’s the third-busiest cash network, with about 2,060 cash players on average, and you don’t need to send documents just to start playing. The licence is from Anjouan (ALSI-202412004-FI1), and the operator is Precise Interactive Inc. of Panama.

The welcome bonus is the biggest in percentage terms, 150% up to $2,000, but the slowest of the five to release: $1 for every $10 of fees, so $1,000 of rake per $100 of bonus. Rewards come through CoinRewards, races and drops for everyone, plus the 3-Bet Club, which costs $35 a month and returns 10–15%. Since June 2026 CoinPoker bans HUDs and trackers.

Its terms restrict the US, the UK and a long list of other countries.

For: crypto payouts, busy cash tables, low-friction start. Against: light licence, restricted in the US and UK, slow bonus. See our CoinPoker review and CoinPoker bonus guide.

WPT Global: best for soft games and PLO rakeback

WPT Global carries the World Poker Tour name and has a reputation for recreational-friendly tables: nobody may use HUDs, trackers or any outside poker software, and its table-management tools control how strong regulars sit together. It averaged about 1,790 cash players over the 30 days to 12 October 2026, fourth among cash networks.

The site is licensed by the Tobique Gaming Commission (licence 0000005) and run by Everstronglink of Costa Rica. Its welcome offer is 100% cashback on the first deposit up to $3,000, but only half goes to poker in most countries, released at $1 per $10 of rake. Rakeback is narrow: 30% each week for every PLO player, and 40% only for players who start high-stakes No-Limit Hold’em tables.

WPT Global excludes 83 territories, including the US, the UK, much of the EU, Australia and the Canadian provinces of Ontario, Alberta and New Brunswick.

For: soft cash games, strict software ban, 30% PLO rakeback. Against: closed in many markets, no rakeback for most Hold’em players. See our WPT Global review and WPT Global bonus guide.

Best poker sites by country

Where you live decides which of the picks above you can use, and in the US and the UK it adds sites that aren’t open anywhere else.

United States

Six states have licensed, regulated online poker: Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Delaware and West Virginia. The sites are licensed by each state, and several share player pools across state lines. These were the poker sites running in each state during our check:

PokerStars has run in the US as PokerStars on FanDuel since 1 April 2026, with one shared pool for New Jersey, Michigan and Pennsylvania. WSOP links Nevada, New Jersey, Michigan and Pennsylvania, and BetRivers links Pennsylvania, Michigan, Delaware and West Virginia. Connecticut and Rhode Island allow online casinos but had no online poker during our check, and Maine passed an online gaming law in January 2026 with no poker site live yet.

In the other states the options are offshore sites. ACR Poker is the biggest that accepts US players; CoinPoker, GGPoker and WPT Global don’t. Offshore sites aren’t overseen by any US regulator, so if something goes wrong, there’s no state body to complain to. Sweepstakes poker sites, which use a two-currency system to avoid gambling laws, have been banned in a growing list of states, including California, New York, New Jersey and Nevada.

United Kingdom

Any site offering poker to players in Great Britain needs a licence from the UK Gambling Commission. Of the five sites here, GGPoker serves the UK through GGPoker.co.uk, and PokerStars through Betfair, which shares the international PokerStars player pool. PokerStars on Betfair had no welcome bonus during our check but offered Stack+ rakeback of up to 25%.

ACR Poker, CoinPoker and WPT Global aren’t UK-licensed; CoinPoker and WPT Global exclude the UK in their terms. Gambling winnings, poker included, aren’t taxed in the UK.

Canada and the rest of the world

Ontario has its own regulated market, separate from the rest of Canada: sites need to be registered with iGaming Ontario, and big brands run separate Ontario versions with their own player pools. In the other provinces, international sites such as GGPoker, PokerStars, CoinPoker and WPT Global accept players, with WPT Global also excluding Alberta and New Brunswick.

In most of Latin America, Asia and Europe the choice comes down to each site’s own list of accepted countries. Several European countries, including France, Spain, Italy and Portugal, have ring-fenced markets where only locally licensed sites may operate; GGPoker’s international site doesn’t accept them. Before you deposit anywhere, check the site’s restricted list against your country, and if it isn’t clear, ask support.

Don’t use a VPN to play on a site that doesn’t accept your country. Every site here asks for proof of address before withdrawals, and their terms allow them to close accounts from excluded countries and keep the balance.

Compare the welcome bonuses

Headline amounts range from $600 to $3,000, but every one of these bonuses is released through rake, so the useful number is how much rake each one needs per $100 of bonus. The table lines up the five offers.

On the chart the difference is easier to see.

The bigger headlines need far more play. CoinPoker’s full $2,000 takes $20,000 in fees, WPT Global’s $1,500 poker half takes $15,000, and ACR’s $2,000 takes $10,000; the full STARS600 takes $1,800. For most players, the best bonus is the one they’ll release in full, which usually means a smaller deposit. Our guide to the first deposit bonus shows how to size one, and our guide to no-deposit bonuses covers the rare offers that need no money.

Rakeback and rake

After the welcome bonus, what you pay and get back on every pot matters more than any promotion. The five sites take very different approaches:

The headline rakeback rate isn’t the whole story. GGPoker’s top levels need very high volume, while ACR’s 27% applies from the first dollar; WPT Global charges less per pot at micro stakes but gives most Hold’em players nothing back. In money: a player who pays $100 of rake a week gets $27 back at ACR’s flat rate, around $15 at PokerStars’ entry level, and nothing at WPT Global unless he plays PLO.

Our guide to rake in poker explains caps and how rake adds up over a session.

Our guide to poker rakeback compares what each of these sites returns at $100, $500 and $2,000 of rake a month, and GGPoker vs PokerStars puts the two biggest sites side by side.

Traffic: where the games are

More players means more tables at your stake at any hour, faster tournaments filling and more choice of opponents. The chart compares average cash game traffic for the four sites with comparable figures.

GGPoker’s lead is enormous: it has more cash players than the next three combined. ACR doesn’t appear because there’s no comparable figure for it; its lobby shows more than 11,000 players logged in on weekend evenings, but that counts everyone online, not only those seated at cash tables.

Traffic isn’t everything. A smaller site with more recreational players can offer better games than a big one full of regulars, which is part of WPT Global’s appeal.

Games and formats

All five run No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha cash games and tournaments. Beyond that, each has its own mix of variants and fast formats, which matters if you play anything other than standard Hold’em.

PokerStars is the clear choice for anything beyond Hold’em and Omaha: it’s the only one of the five with regular stud, draw and mixed games. GGPoker has the widest Omaha range, up to six-card PLO. ACR is the place for Hi-Lo Omaha among the US-facing options.

Fast-fold formats, Zoom, Rush & Cash, Blitz and Pace, move you to a new table as soon as you fold. They suit players who want volume, but they’re harder for learning, because you never see the same opponents for long. Jackpot sit & gos, such as Spin & Gold or Global Spins, pay a random multiple of the buy-in; most games pay two or three times the stake, and the big prizes are very rare. Our guides to Spin & Gold and types of poker cover the formats in more detail.

Software rules differ as much as the games. GGPoker, CoinPoker and WPT Global allow no outside poker software at all, so nobody at the table has a HUD. PokerStars allows approved trackers and HUDs, and ACR allows those that use only your own hand histories. If you rely on a tracker, that decides between the five on its own.

Payments and payouts

How you get money in and out varies more than any other feature, from crypto-only cashiers to card-first ones. The main points from each site’s cashier and terms:

Two rules apply almost everywhere. Withdrawals go back to the method you deposited with where it supports payouts, and the first withdrawal usually waits for identity checks: photo ID, proof of address and proof of the payment method. Sending documents early is the simplest way to avoid a slow first payout.

Crypto-first sites are fastest, but you carry the exchange-rate risk of the coin until you convert it, and network fees vary. If you’d rather avoid crypto, GGPoker and PokerStars have the widest choice of cards and e-wallets. Our guides to funding GGPoker and withdrawing from GGPoker show a typical cashier step by step.

Responsible-gambling tools also differ. GGPoker lets you set daily, weekly and monthly deposit limits yourself in the client; ACR doesn’t offer self-set deposit limits, and at WPT Global limits and self-exclusion go through support by email. If limits matter to you, check before you deposit.

Safety: licences and game integrity

A licence tells you who checks the site and where you can complain. Here’s what the five sites’ licences mean in plain terms:

• UK Gambling Commission (GGPoker.co.uk, PokerStars on Betfair): the strictest of these, with detailed safer-gambling rules and a formal complaints route through approved dispute services.
• Malta Gaming Authority (PokerStars): a full EU regulator with player-protection rules and its own complaints process.
• Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission (GGPoker): a long-established offshore regulator with player-fund protection rules.
• Anjouan (ACR Poker, CoinPoker): a light-touch licence from one of the Comoros islands; complaints go first and mostly to the operator.
• Tobique Gaming Commission (WPT Global): the regulator of a First Nation in New Brunswick, Canada, licensing operators offshore; there’s no local ombudsman.

Game integrity is about software as much as licences. GGPoker, CoinPoker and WPT Global ban HUDs and trackers for everyone, which narrows the gap between regulars and recreational players. PokerStars and ACR allow approved trackers but ban real-time assistance. All five say they scan for bots and close accounts that cheat, and WPT Global published a report of 50 banned accounts and about $167,000 returned to players for January to May 2025.

Best site for…

If you already know what you want from a site, these are the short answers from the five we’ve reviewed:

• Beginners: PokerStars, for the strong licence, play-money tables and the easiest bonus to clear; GGPoker for the most micro-stakes tables. Our guide to how to play poker online takes you through the first steps.
• Tournaments: GGPoker for the biggest guarantees and WSOP Online; PokerStars for the Sunday Million, SCOOP and WCOOP.
• Cash games: GGPoker for volume at every stake; WPT Global for softer tables where it’s open.
• PLO: WPT Global’s 30% weekly rakeback at all stakes; GGPoker for the most PLO, PLO5 and PLO6 tables.
• Crypto: CoinPoker, with ACR as the option for US players.
• Phone: GGPoker, PokerStars, CoinPoker and WPT Global have full iOS and Android apps; ACR uses a web app.
• US players: a state-licensed site if you live in one of the six states; ACR Poker elsewhere.

What changed at these sites in 2026

Poker sites change their rules more often than most players notice, and 2026 brought several changes that affect the picks above:

• PokerStars in the US moved to FanDuel on 1 April 2026, merging New Jersey, Michigan and Pennsylvania into one pool under the FanDuel app.
• CoinPoker banned HUDs and trackers in June 2026 and dropped its 15% daily reward in July, replacing it with CoinRewards.
• ACR Poker switched licences, from Curaçao to Anjouan, in July 2026.
• GGPoker banned all third-party poker software in October 2026, trackers included, leaving only its own PokerCraft and Smart HUD.
• WPT Global narrowed its rakeback: the 20% deal for lower stakes ended in May 2025, leaving 30% for PLO and 40% for high-stakes table starters.

The direction is clear: more sites are banning tracking software, and offshore sites are moving between light-touch licences. Both are reasons to check a site’s current terms before you deposit. Each of our reviews shows the date we last checked it.

How we choose and check poker sites

We rank sites on what a player can verify, not on promises. For each of the five we read the full terms and conditions, the official rake tables and the bonus and rakeback terms, and checked them again in November 2026. Traffic figures are 30-day averages of cash players, from SharkScope’s data and the operators’ own figures where noted, with the dates given.

We weight the factors in roughly this order: who can legally play, the licence and the protection that comes with it, traffic at common stakes, the cost of playing (rake minus rakeback), the welcome bonus measured in rake per $100, payments and payout speed, and the software rules. We don’t rate sites on how a single test deposit went, and we don’t claim tests we didn’t run.

Offers and country lists change, so each review carries the date of its last check. Our affiliate disclosure explains how the site is funded; it doesn’t change the order on this page. If you play, set limits first; our responsible gambling page lists independent help lines.

Best poker sites FAQ