The UK has loved a little gamble for a very long time and has a very rich history of gambling and betting over the centuries. Bookmakers and gambling games have played a large part in British culture, which is why land-based casinos and, of course, more recently, online gambling platforms are everywhere.
We take a look at some of the most popular gambling games in the UK that British players love to get stuck into.
Table of contents
- Poker
- Slots
- Blackjack
- Roulette
- Baccarat
- Sports betting
Poker
Poker is a skill-based game played against other players, starting as a niche card game and growing in popularity online. The early 2000s saw a significant increase in online poker, making high-stakes games and poker tournaments more accessible to a much wider audience. This ultimately led to increased interest in the game.
Today, the top sites to play poker in the UK offer a wide variety of poker game variations, including Seven Card Stud and Omaha variants. Texas Hold’em is one of the most popular variants played in the UK due to its relatively simple rules and strategic depth.
Other variations like Omaha and Seven Card Stud have a dedicated player base, particularly in tournament settings. Such platforms also include popular online poker tournaments and typically provide fast withdrawals, attracting more and more British players to join.
Slots
The Brits have had a very long love affair with slots, or as we used to call them in the UK, fruit machines, before the Americanisation of the term online.
They were first introduced in pubs back in the 60s and 70s, with tens of thousands of them across the country, mostly in pubs, casinos, arcades, and bookmakers.
Now that they’re available online, more people than ever are playing them around the clock and from multiple device types.
Research suggests that at least 5% of Brits still prefer traditional fruit-themed slots over more modern video slots, despite advances in technology, themes, innovative features, bonus rounds, and the rest of it.
👉 According to the UK Gambling Commission, the regulatory body for all online casinos targeting UK players, the number of average monthly active accounts for online slots increased by 7% to 4.2 million between January and March 2024.
Additionally, the number of spins being made increased by 12% in the last quarter, reaching a new peak of, believe it or not, 22 billion spins.
Blackjack
The game of blackjack, also referred to as 21, has long held a special place in British casinos and is by far one of the most popular table games amongst British players. This is probably due to its combination of skill, fast thinking, and luck, making it a thrilling game.
Its popularity in the UK can be traced back to the 1960s when casinos were first legalised. The game’s simple rules and potential for strategic play keep it popular amongst British gamblers.
🤵♂️ And, of course, there’s the association with James Bond—not that he was particularly a blackjack player, but he certainly helped promote the ‘sophisticated’ casino scene as a whole.
The most popular types of blackjack variations are European Blackjack and American Blackjack, generally played with multiple decks to minimise card counting and increase, or decrease the odds of winning, depending on how you look at it.
Live dealer blackjack online is also very popular, and as technology advances in this area, so does its popularity.
A little fun fact for you: while card counting is often thought of as being an American thing, it was actually a British mathematician, Ed Thorpe, who first laid the groundwork for card counting techniques. He used advanced mathematics and computer simulations to analyse the game of blackjack and gained a significant advantage over the house by doing so.
Roulette
Roulette has been a popular choice for many years, with British players preferring European Roulette over the American variant. The European variant has a single zero, providing players with better odds than its American counterpart, which has an additional zero.
You’ll find European roulette tables are far more common in UK land-based and online casinos.
Live dealer roulette is the most popular among UK online players, with 22% of players preferring live dealer roulette online compared to playing in physical casinos.
This technology allows them to experience a real roulette table with professional dealers and the ability to interact with other players.
The Gambling Commission’s report shows that roulette is the second most popular online casino game after slots. The average number of monthly active players for roulette is 1.2 million.
The report also revealed that online roulette accounts for 13% of the total UK gambling market’s Gross Gambling Yield (GGY), generating £520 million alone between April 2022 and March 2023. That is 65% of the GGY for online casino games.
Baccarat
For some reason, Baccarat has always been thought of as a high rollers’ game—probably another James Bond attribution—but it is, in fact, very popular with British players from all sorts of income brackets, and it’s certainly not just a high rollers’ game.
Many high-end London casinos and other major UK cities feature exclusive Baccarat rooms. You’ve also got Mini Baccarat, which is accessible to more players, boasting simplified rules, minimum bets, and generally more enjoyable gameplay.
Players find Baccarat appealing because it’s quite fast-paced with a low house edge.
Live dealer Baccarat is popular in the UK, although not as popular as blackjack or roulette. A majority of UK players agree that the gameplay speed is just right.
With mobile gaming increasing in popularity all the time, more and more British players are using their phones to log in and have a flutter on Baccarat, regardless of where they are.
Sports betting
Although sports betting is not a specific casino game, the UK’s love for sports naturally extends to sports betting. It has become increasingly popular since the integration of sports betting with traditional online casino game offerings.
👀 Several online casinos offer in-play betting, allowing players to place sports bets on several different sporting events.
Virtual sports, which simulate athletic events using random number generators, are particularly popular among UK players. These games provide players with the excitement of sports betting combined with the instant gratification of casino games.
Football remains the most bet-on sport in the UK, with Premier League matches drawing massive betting volumes. In 2019, the betting volume for football was at 76.8%, however, horse racing, tennis, and boxing saw much higher betting volumes in the same year.
Conclusion
Gambling has been a popular recreational activity in the UK for centuries. From the strategic depth of poker and blackjack to the excitement of sports betting, these casino games highlight how diverse the preferences are of British casino players.
Each casino game provides players with a unique blend of skill, chance, and above all, entertainment. While the UK has a strict regulatory system regarding gambling, online casinos, as well as land-based establishments, are widely accepted as mainstream leisure in the country.
