888poker is one of the longest-standing online poker sites known for its user-friendly platform, which is perfect for recreational players.
Soft low-stakes games
No-deposit bonus
Plenty of freerolls
Convenient app 
Soft low-stakes games
No-deposit bonus
Plenty of freerolls
Convenient app Launched in 2002 as part of the 888 Holdings group, the site is fully licensed and regulated in multiple jurisdictions, ensuring that players can enjoy games in a safe and legal environment.
It has built a solid reputation over decades and is a great choice for lower-stakes players looking to enjoy the poker experience to the fullest.
888poker Pros:
- Realtevely soft games
- No-deposit bonus
- Plenty of freerolls
- Convienent mobile app
- Trusted operator
888poker Cons:
- Low traffic on higher stakes
- Only Texas Hold’em and PLO games
888poker Highlights
| Welcome bonus | 100% up to $1,000 |
| Game variations | Texas Hold’em and PLO |
| Player traffic | 1500+ at peak times |
| Competition level | Soft games at low stakes |
| Promotions | 888poker Wheel, Leaderboards, Gift Drop, Freerolls |
| Licensing | UK, Malta, Gibraltar, and local jurisdictions |
| Limitations | Not available in the US |
With a combination of a trusted platform, soft competition, and rewarding promotions888poker stands out as a top poker site for casual players. While high-stakes pros might struggle to find good games, everyone else has plenty of options on this platform, so it is definitely worth a try.
888poker Promotions and Bonuses
888poker offers valuable promotions for both new and existing players, ranging from $30 free MTT tickets on the signup to a 100% match bonus for the first deposit and ongoing rakeback. Check it out yourself.
Of course, all of these promotions have specific terms, so let’s look into each of the options separately to see what you can expect from this operator.
Welcome Bonus
888poker offers a lucrative welcome package for newcomers. Based on your region, you can get a $88 value no-deposit bonus in free tournament tickets and cash rewards just for signing up. It is worth mentioning that only $8 is immediately usable, while the remaining bonus is released in increments as you play and generate rake.
When you’re ready to deposit, 888poker lets you choose between two first deposit bonus options:
- 100% Match Bonus (up to $1,000): Use promo code WELCOME100 on your first deposit to get a 100% match bonus up to $1,000, which will double your bankroll on a qualifying deposit. The bonus clears at a rate of $10 released per 100 bonus points earned (equivalent to 20% cashback as you play). This option is ideal if you plan to deposit a larger amount and grind regularly, and you have 90 days to clear as much of the bonus as possible.
- Free $30 in Tickets: 888poker offers a “Get30” promotion eligible for players who want to deposit a minimum of $10. By using the bonus code GET30 on a first deposit, you receive $30 worth of tournament tickets over 6 days, which lets you enter tournaments and BLAST Sit & Gos without using your cash balance. This option is great for beginners who want immediate value from a small deposit.
On top of these, 888poker sometimes runs country-specific welcome offers. For example, UK players have had a £50 free promo, and Canadian players have seen $20 free on sign-up. It’s worth checking what the exact offer is in your country, but you can expect a no-deposit bonus plus a choice of a match bonus or ticket bundle on your first deposit.
Ongoing Promotions
888poker is running a lot of ongoing promotions to incentivize players to return to the tables and play more often. While these usually aren’t big bonuses, it can be quite lucrative for lower-stakes players, so worth exploring the options.
- 888poker Wheel: Every day, you can spin a wheel for random rewards. This wheel can award anything from tournament tickets, free bets (for the integrated casino/sports), bonus dollars, or even entries to special freerolls. It’s essentially a daily login incentive to keep players engaged.
- 24/7 Freeroll Festival: 888poker runs freerolls around the clock. In fact, they have a 24/7 Freeroll Festival featuring different tiers of free tournaments that collectively give out over $15,000 in prizes each week. Some freerolls are open to all, while others require tickets that you can earn via daily activities like spinning the previously mentioned wheel.
- BLAST Leaderboards: Fans of the BLAST jackpot SNGs can compete for extra cash via daily leaderboards. Each day, 888poker gives away $2.500 in extra prizes split among the top performers in BLAST games. Players opt in and then accumulate points for playing a set number of BLAST games. If you run hot in these lottery SNGs, you not only win the game prizes but can score a nice leaderboard payout as well.
- Early Bird Tournament Rewards: 888poker will give back 50% of your tournament fees (rake) every week if you register early for your tournaments. You just need to register before the event starts, and if you pay at least $10 in fees over the week, you’ll get 50% of those fees credited back every Monday.
- “Gift Drops” and Random Rewards: These are instant rewards that 888poker drops at tables at random times, giving players bonuses like tournament tickets or freeroll entries. It adds a bit of lottery-style fun to any session, where you can win BLAST tickets, cash rewards, or tickets to higher-tier freerolls mentioned above.
These are just a few highlights. 888poker frequently rotates seasonal promotions, so be sure to check the Promotions tab on the site often so you don’t miss out on time-limited offers.
888poker Club Loyalty Program
The longstanding loyalty system at 888 is the 888poker Club, which is a level-based rewards program for all players. It’s a bit different from traditional poker VIP programs in that it’s challenge and mission-based rather than volume-tiered. Here’s how it works:
- All players are automatically in the 888poker Club. As you play poker (or casino games) and participate in site activities, you’ll see various challenges or missions in your account (for example, play X hands of a certain game, win a hand with a specific card, try a new feature, etc).
- By opting into and completing these challenges, you earn Club Points. You also accumulate points simply by generating rake: generally 100 points per $1 in rake/fees. So, everything you do on the site contributes to your points balance.
- As you earn points, you progress through levels of the 888poker Club. Each time you hit a new level, you are awarded Gold Tokens (the higher the level, the more tokens)
- Gold Tokens can be redeemed in the 888poker Club Store for various rewards: cash bonuses, tournament tickets, merchandise, etc. In practice, this works out to roughly an extra cashback of around 5-10% for most players.
In addition to token prizes, reaching certain milestone levels unlocks exclusive freerolls:
- At level 20+, you get access to a weekly $640 freeroll
- At level 40+, a weekly $5,450 freeroll
- At level 60+, a monthly $5k freeroll
- At the top level 80, a monthly $10k freeroll
Overall, the 888poker Club is a fun, gamified loyalty program, especially suited for recreational players who enjoy completing missions and getting small rewards frequently. It’s not overly valuable to serious grinders compared to other VIP programs you can find on competing sites.
Game Variety and Competition Level
Unlike some sites that host every poker variant under the sun, 888poker focuses on the most popular games and formats and mostly offers Texas Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha games. That said, having softer competition at low stakes is one of the biggest 888poker selling points that more than makes up for the lack of game variations.
The busiest time on 888poker is generally during European evening hours and into the early night, roughly 18:00–00:00 GMT. During these peak hours, you can find thousands of players online and a full spread of tables up to mid-stakes.
Tournaments (MTTs)
888poker provides a busy schedule of multi-table tournaments (MTTs), and while the prize pools aren’t as massive as some competitor sites, this gives you a chance to reach paid places more often and reduces the variance.
- Daily & Weekly Schedule: Every day, you will find a mix of tournaments ranging from low to medium stakes indulging PKO, Bountie events, and regular formats. One highlight to watch for is the “Big Shot” tournaments series with buy-in levels ranging from ~$5 up to $109. For example, there will be a $5.50 Big Shot, a $22 Big Shot, a $55 Big Shot, etc., each day. These Big Shot events come with guaranteed prize pools and often draw good attendance of a few hundred players.
- Sunday Specials: As in most online poker sites, you will find the biggest tournaments hosted on Sundays. On top of regular MTTs, you can expect a few $109 to $215 buy-in events and even find $525 games offering much higher guarantees and bigger prize pools.
- Major Series and Events: In addition to the regular lineup, 888poker hosts special tournament series throughout the year. They’ve run the 888poker XL Championship, Winter series, and others with higher guarantees. These series offer bigger tournaments with larger fields, so they are perfect for players seeking bigger prize pools.
- Satellites: If you like qualifying cheaply, 888poker provides satellite tournaments to its bigger events. They have steps and feeder satellites starting at very low buy-ins and even freerolls with options to qualify for their flagship 888Live festivals.
888poker’s tournaments generally have good structures, especially the Big Shots and major events. They tend to offer decent starting stacks and reasonable blind increments. Late registration is available in most MTTs.
Cash Games
Cash games are a staple of 888poker, and thanks to its large global player pool and soft competition, there’s a lot to like here for ring game players.
No-Limit Hold’em cash tables runs:
- from the micro stakes with $0.01/$0.02 blinds
- all the way up to high stakes with $25/$50 blinds
While you will be able to join a table between $0.05/$0.10 to $1/$2 range pretty much at any hour of the day, games higher than these runs very infrequently, so you should not expect to sit down at a $10/$20 game and instantly find some action. You might see $5/$10 and $2/$5 tables during peak hours, but you can consider $1/$2 as a top level with consistent traffic and plan accordingly.
You can find both full-ring (9-handed) and 6-max tables for Texas Hold’em, with the 6-max option being significantly more popular in the lobby.
888poker also offers a fast-fold poker variation called SNAP. You can join the SNAP pool at various stakes instead of a fixed table and enjoy this format for high volume and convenience.
BLAST Jackpot Games
Apart from multi-table tournaments and cash games, 888poker also caters to fans of shorter tournament formats, offering their popular BLAST Jackpot SNG variant. These games are a big attraction on 888poker and offer 3-player hyper turbo tournaments where the prize pool is determined randomly at the start.
Buy-ins range from $0.10 to $100, with a chance to hit a huge multiplier up to 10,000x.
These games start as soon as 3 players register, and they are extremely fast, with blinds going up every few minutes. That said, if you are lucky enough to spin a higher multiplier, you will get more chips and longer levels.
These games also have a twist, and if it does not end after three levels, the tournament enters a forced all-in mode where every hand all players are automatically all-in until there’s a winner. This ensures the games finish quickly.
Is 888poker Safe To Play?
888poker has a long-standing reputation as one of the safest poker sites out there. It is operated by 888 Holdings, a major public company listed on the London Stock Exchange, which is subject to strict regulatory oversight.
The poker room holds licenses from top-tier gambling authorities, including the UK Gambling Commission and the Malta Gaming Authority, and Gibraltar, ensuring they adhere to high fairness and security standards.
On top of that, an independent agency (eCOGRA) audits 888poker’s RNG and has certified the software provider, which ensures the dealing of cards is truly random and not rigged.
Since the company has been successfully providing poker games since 2002 and has processed countless transactions while winning EGR’s Best Poker Operator award multiple times, it is safe to say you can trust 888poker with your games. This track record is hard to match, and a site doesn’t thrive that long if it isn’t doing things right.
In online poker forums and sites like Trustpilot, you’ll find mixed reviews for almost any operator – poker players can be vocal, especially if they have had a bad run of cards. However, the overarching sentiment is that 888poker is a legitimate and trusted site.
Licensing and Regulation
As touched on above, 888poker operates under a strict framework of licensing and regulation that ensures its legitimacy. Here are some key points about the licensing:
- United Kingdom: 888poker holds a UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) remote gaming license (License No. 000-039028-R-319297). The UKGC is one of the most respected regulators and imposes strict requirements on licensees.
- Malta: 888poker has a license from the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), which is a common jurisdiction for online gaming companies serving European and international markets. The MGA license ensures compliance with EU regulations and player protection directives.
- Gibraltar: 888poker historically has been based in Gibraltar for its operational hub and has a Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner’s license.
- Local Licenses: 888poker has also obtained specific licenses in countries such as Italy, Spain, Canada, etc.
- Other Regions: In many countries, 888poker operates under its MGA license if there is no local licensing.
In summary, 888poker’s licensing and regulatory compliance is top-notch. It operates transparently under the watch of some of the world’s strictest gaming regulators, which should give players a lot of confidence.
Software Quality and Features
In 2021, 888poker rolled out a major software update known as the “Poker 8” client, giving the platform a fresh coat of paint and improved functionality. While it lags behind the best software available to other clients, 888poker offers a modern and relatively fast client filled with useful features that enhance the playing experience.
The main lobby is divided into easy sections by game type: Tournaments, Cash Games, SNAP, Sit & Go, BLAST, etc., each accessible with one click from a top menu. This makes finding your desired game very simple, and with the addition of customizable filters, you can set everything to your liking.
You can expect to find all of the most popular features:
- Table and deck customization
- Auto top-up
- Adjustable bet slider
- Built-in stats for VPIP, PFR, and 3-bet
- Note taking
There is nothing special to add about this software. 888poker did a great job creating a user-friendly poker client that is convenient for both casual and more serious players and is on par with what you could expect to find.
888poker Mobile App
For those who prefer playing on their phones or tablets, 888poker offers a robust mobile app available on both iOS and Android. The mobile experience has been greatly improved with the new software generation, making 888poker one of the better mobile poker apps in the market.
888poker app is designed for portrait mode play, meaning you can hold your phone as you usually would rather than turning it sideways. This orientation allows one-handed play and feels more natural on a phone screen, making it easy to use.
The app allows you to access pretty much everything you would find in a desktop client. You can play cash games, tournaments, BLAST SNGs, SNAP poker, etc. You can also partake in promotions via the app and even multi-table.
Payment Options
Banking is an area where 888poker excels by offering a wide variety of payment methods to accommodate players from different regions. Whether you want to deposit with a credit card, an e-wallet, or a bank transfer, 888poker likely has you covered.
As for withdrawals, the site will process it back to the same method you used to deposit due to anti-money laundering rules. There could be some exceptions, but as a rule of thumb, if you deposited by Visa, they will try to put your withdrawal back on that Visa. If the deposit method doesn’t support withdrawals (like Paysafecard), then you can choose an alternative withdrawal method.
| Payment Method | Deposit | Withdrawal |
|---|---|---|
| Visa / MasterCard | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| PayPal | ✅ Yes (in supported regions) | ✅ Yes (in supported regions) |
| Skrill / NETELLER | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| ecoPayz / MuchBetter | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Paysafecard / Neosurf | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (withdraw via alternative method) |
| Bank Transfer / Wire | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Apple Pay | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (withdraw via alternative method) |
| Interac (Canada) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes (via Instadebit or bank transfer) |
It is worth mentioning that availability can vary by country, so always check the 888 cashier for your options. Overall, 888poker’s cashier is straightforward and easy to navigate, providing all of the popular options for moving your money.
How to Register an Account on 888poker
Getting started on 888poker is a quick and easy process. You’ll be up and running in minutes by following these steps:
- Visit the 888poker website using this link
- Click the “Sign Up” link
- Fill in personal details
- Agree to terms and complete signup
- Confirm your email address
- Download the Software
- Log in to claim your bonus
- Start Playing
Now you’re ready to hit the tables! The whole sign-up should take just a few minutes, and it’s very beginner-friendly. If you encounter any hitches, 888’s support is available to help, but most users find registration very straightforward.
Also, be prepared to verify your identity by uploading a copy of your ID and a recent address document when 888poker asks. It’s a one-time process that, if done correctly, usually takes only a day or two to complete. Plan ahead so that when you’re ready to cash out your first winnings, you won’t be caught by surprise. After verification, you can enjoy 888poker with peace of mind, knowing your account is secured and future payouts will be expedited.