It’s a country built on a tradition of the “cheeky punt”, one where everyone bets on the Grand National, and no one thinks twice about wagering a few quid on the spin of a roulette wheel or slot machine.
But what does the average UK player look for in an online casino? We've found a site that provides lists of the best online casinos in the UK and have determined that the following features are what most players seek.
Table of contents
Welcome bonuses aimed at casual gamblers
But the UK’s favourite casinos don’t just throw any old offer on their site and then expect everyone to jump to it. The bonuses that attract players the most are typically geared toward casual players, including
no deposit offers, free spins, and matched deposit offers with small deposit and wagering requirements.
A 50% matched deposit offer with a £50 minimum deposit and a £1,000 maximum bonus might seem like a tempting and generous bonus. But many players might simply prefer a 20 free spins with
A slot-centric games room
Most UK players prefer slots to table games. There is a growing community of players drawn to live
But slots reign supreme the rest of the time. It seems that players prefer the simplicity and convenience of a slot machine over the spectacle of a
In other words, a
Slots are what you play throughout the week or when you have 15 minutes to kill during half-time of a live football game.
Slots have always played perfectly into the mobile revolution, and that’s why you will find hundreds of mobile-ready slot machines on all popular UK online casinos.
Megaways and progressive jackpots
If you have spent any time exploring UK casinos recently, you may have noticed a flourish of Megaways games. Created by Big Time Gaming and licensed to other developers, this feature is everywhere and has featured on dozens of slot machines.
It works by randomising the number of rows across a 6 or 7-reel layout. In doing so, there can be anywhere from a few dozen paylines to over 100,000.
These also often make use of the Cascading/Tumbling Reels feature, which adds new symbols when winning ones disappear, creating the potential for big wins.
It makes for an exciting experience during the base game and means players don’t need to wait around for the bonus game.
Progressive jackpots are another popular feature, but we’re not seeing as many of these games on the UK’s favourite casinos as we used to.
They were the old fad it seems, and they stepped aside for Megaways. You can still find lots of progressive jackpot slots on the UK’s top casinos, though, with the best ones coming from Playtech (Age of the Gods and Kingdoms Rise) and Blueprint Gaming (Jackpot King).
The right payment options
UK players are more restricted than other jurisdictions in the payment options department. A ban on credit card gambling in 2020 means that players can’t deposit with any kind of credit-based payment system, nor can they use a web wallet that is funded by such a method.
But they still have their preferred methods, and for many, those methods are PayPal and to a lesser extent, Apple Pay. The UK’s best-loved casinos aren’t expected to go all-out with a huge list of banking options. They just need to keep it simple and make sure PayPal is available.
Fast withdrawals
Speaking of payment options, UK players demand fast withdrawals these days, and that’s true whether they’re using PayPal, debit cards, or something else.
PayPal has always been fast, as payments are processed instantly. But the fairly recently introduced Faster Payments system means that debit cards and even bank transfers are now just as quick.
Some sites still insist on a protracted pending withdrawal period, which means payments can be delayed by a couple of days. But that’s not true for the country’s favourite casinos, all of which endeavour to give players their winnings as quickly as possible.
Summary: The UK’s favourite casino brands
The recipe for a top UK casino is quite a complicated one, and it has been honed over many years. It’s a recipe that has been perfected by major operators like Entain and Flutter Entertainment, and if you look at their roster of casinos, you’ll no doubt notice some of your own favourites on there.
