UK Gambling Commission

PokerStars holds its license with the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC). The Gambling Commission was set up under the Gambling Act 2005 to regulate gambling in Great Britain. It is headed by a Chairman and other Commissioners appointed by the Secretary of State and is an independent non-departmental public body (NDPB) sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

In addition to the licensing and regulation of terrestrial gambling operations as casinos, arcades, bingo, betting and lotteries, the Commission is also charged with the regulation of all online gambling activities.

The core principles the Commission upholds through effective regulation and public engagements are:

1. to prevent gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder, or being used to support crime,
2. to ensure gambling is conducted in a fair and open way, and
3. to protect children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

Online Gambling licenses are only awarded to companies that have passed a rigorous vetting process. In considering an application and licensing a Company, the Commission will consider the licensing objectives, and will also consider the suitability of applicants to provide facilities for gambling.

The Commission has legal powers to monitor licence holders and is able to apply penalties. Penalties for both operating and personal licences may include fines and/or revocation of the licence. The Commission also has the ability to prosecute operating and personal licence holders. It may also investigate and, where appropriate, in consultation with licensing authorities and the police, may prosecute illegal gambling.

In addition, the Commission has placed a great emphasis on the protection of players’ funds and introduced a three tier system as to the processes the licensees must adopt with relation to protecting players funds.

The rating system consists of three grades, Basic, Medium & High:

• Basic: Segregation of accounts
• Medium: Quistclose or equivalent/ insurance/ reserve
• High: Independent trust account

The very minimum the UKGC expects is segregation of players funds into separate accounts.

At PokerStars we treat the protection of players’ funds with the highest importance and have chosen the highest level of player funds protection: holding funds in an independently managed trust account. See the player protection page for full details on the level of player protection and details on the independent trust.

Further information on our requirements with regards to the level of protection we offer can be found on the UK Gambling Commission website. 

We hope that you are happy with our service and site. If you would like to make a complaint and you don’t have a PokerStars account already, or can’t access your account for any reason, then please visit the complaints section of our Help Center.

If you are dissatisfied with the resolution to your complaint, and your complaint relates to a gambling dispute, you may refer your concern to our 3rd party for dispute resolution. If you would like to refer a gambling dispute case to them, please visit the Independent Betting Adjudication Service (‘IBAS’) website and follow the guidance given.

Alternatively, if you remain dissatisfied with the resolution of your complaint after interacting with our customer support team, you may refer to the EU’s Online Dispute Resolution Platform. For more information please visit their website here, and follow the guidance provided to log your complaint.