How to compare licensed poker sites in Great Britain

Start with one real use case

Alex is new to online poker. They want one small Hold’em tournament on Friday evening, a maximum total spend of £10, no more than two hours of play and an iPhone-compatible product. This is a worked example, not encouragement to gamble.

A room is relevant to Alex only if the exact business and website can be matched to the Gambling Commission register, the required tournament is present at the intended time, the full entry price is visible, the product works on the chosen device and account controls support the limits already set. A familiar logo or large promotion cannot replace any of those checks.

What a licence check proves

The Gambling Commission public register can establish the licensed legal entity, trading names, domain and permitted activities. Check the website’s licence link against the register immediately before registering. Do not rely on an app-store listing, an advert or a licence held by a similarly named business in another country.

The register does not establish that a particular table is active, that an app is easy to use or that a promotion is valuable. Those are separate, time-sensitive product questions.

Record the same five fields for every room

**Licence:** Do the legal business, exact domain and licensed activity match the public register?
**Game:** Is the required format and stake available in the lobby when Alex expects to play?
**Total price:** What do one entry, the fee and any permitted re-entry cost together?
**Device:** Can Alex use the lobby, table, cashier, limits and support on the intended phone?
**Control:** Are deposit limits, time-outs, account history, self-exclusion and independent help easy to reach?

Write “not checked” where evidence is missing. Do not award points for the number of advertised games or the headline value of a bonus.

Apply the limits before choosing

A tournament priced at £9 + £1 uses Alex’s entire spending limit. A re-entry button does not create another £10. If the normal schedule may last four hours, it also fails the time requirement. If no verified option fits all five fields, free practice or not playing is the correct result of the comparison.

PokerSignup does not name an overall winner without comparable, dated product evidence. An affiliate arrangement may determine whether a tracked link is available, but it cannot improve a room’s assessment or position.