PokerStars is an online poker cardroom. It was the largest real money online poker site in the world, controlling over two-thirds of the total online poker market, and can be accessed through downloadable poker clients for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS.
A PokerStars.com online satellite tournament produced the 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP) champion, Chris Moneymaker. As the first person to become a world champion by qualifying at an online poker site, Moneymaker's 2003 win was an important factor in catalyzing the poker boom of the mid-2000s. The press has called this the "Moneymaker effect."PokerNews.com: The Moneymaker Effect: Five Years Later. May 23, 2008.
PokerStars was part of The Stars Group until it was sold to Flutter Entertainment, owner of the Irish gambling company Paddy Power, on May 5, 2020.
History PokerStars launched its beta play-money-only site on September 11, 2001.Bigger Deal: A Year Inside the Poker Boom by Anthony Holden The company began offering real money wagering on December 12, 2001. PokerStars was originally a Costa Rican company, Rational Enterprises, part of Canadian company The Stars Group, which was majority owned by the Canadian Scheinberg family. The company was subsequently moved to Douglas, Isle of Man. The move was driven by the establishment of a 0% corporate tax rate and the removal of rules barring companies from accepting casino and poker bets from the United States. PokerStars holds numerous licences in other jurisdictions (see Regulated Markets below). In February 2012, PokerStars acquired a European Union license granted by the Malta Lotteries and Gaming Commission.
While privately owned, PokerStars had been the subject of financial media speculation regarding a possible initial public offering or merger with a publicly listed company. Analysts estimated its market value would have been approximately in 2006, which would have made the company one of the world's largest privately held gambling companies. PokerStars overtook PartyPoker as the world's largest online poker room after the U.S. Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. Many sites, including PartyPoker, immediately suspended business with U.S. gamblers, while others, including PokerStars, did not.
In December 2009, PokerStars set the world record for the biggest online tournament. The tournament entry fee was $1, and the number of entrants reached 149,196. They broke that record in December 2011, when 200,000 players played in a $1 buy-in tournament with a first prize of $50,000. PokerStars was so busy during the early stages of the tournament that all tournaments had to be stopped for 20 minutes because the heavy traffic crashed their servers. This record was broken again in June 2013, with 225,000 participants. The buy-in was $1 and went completely into the prize pool, with no rake.
In January 2012, PokerStars introduced a downloadable mobile client for iOS from iTunes. In February 2012, the company also introduced a client for Android.
In July 2012, PokerStars bought its former competitor, Full Tilt Poker. The $731 million deal settled a civil lawsuit with the Department of Justice while giving ownership of Full Tilt Poker's assets to PokerStars.
In June 2014, The Stars Group, then known as Amaya Inc, agreed to buy PokerStars and its parent company for $4.9 billion in cash. The deal was completed on August 1, 2014.Wall Street Journal: Amaya Completes Acquisition of Pokerstars and Full Tilt Poker Later the deal led to a major insider trading investigation conducted by the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) over a four-year period concerning Amaya Inc.
As of April 2016, they have reached an agreement with Netent to add desktop and mobile gambling games to its poker lobby in New Jersey and other locations.
In February 2017, Microgaming announced a partnership with PokerStars, owned by its parent company, for the integration of its Quickfire platform.
In July 2017, PokerStars agreed to a deal with bankruptcy administrators to acquire some of rival PKR.com's assets without reviving the brand, while refunding the full account balances of the entire PKR player base.
In December 2017, PokerStars unveiled a brand new player tournament called the PokerStars Players No Limit Hold'em Championship, which is to be held in January 2019. The tournament is expected to become one of the biggest events in the annual poker calendar, with a $25,000 buy in and a $1 million bonus for the eventual winner.
In March 2018, The Stars Group reached an agreement with gaming company Sugal & Damani to support the launch of its PokerStars brand in India.
In September 2018, PokerStars launched PokerStars VR, a fully immersive virtual reality poker experience. The platform was developed in collaboration with virtual reality software developer Lucky VR and was unveiled at EGX 2018.
In October 2019, The Stars Group, owner of PokerStars, agreed to be acquired by Flutter Entertainment in a $6 billion all-share merger. On May 5, 2020, PokerStars became part of Flutter Entertainment.
In 2021, PokerStars entered into a partnership with Red Bull Racing, sponsoring their Formula One team, with the brand to appear on Red Bull's new cars for the next few seasons, as well as on the suits of Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez.
In January 2022, PokerStars announced an extended multi-year partnership deal with Red Bull Racing. The deal included PokerStars' branding on the RB18 and race suits. The company stated they aim to provide fans "new and unique ways" to watch the sport, in addition to increasing technological advancements.
In April 2022, PokerStars launched its peer-to-peer betting exchange, which allowed customers to enter their own odds and bet against other customers.
In December 2022, PokerStars announced that Michigan and New Jersey players would be unable to access their servers on December 12 and December 13 for a "major upgrade of the site". This upgrade is to allow Michigan and New Jersey poker players to play together, as both states are participants in the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA). PokerStars stated, "The upgrade is a necessary milestone to bring more games, bigger prize pools and guarantees in poker tournaments so New Jersey and Michigan poker players can compete against one another in the near future."
FanDuel migration in North America In March 2026, Flutter Entertainment announced that PokerStars' standalone real money platforms in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Ontario would be discontinued, with operations migrating to FanDuel under the branding "PokerStars Exclusively on FanDuel."Jonathan Raab, "FanDuel to Absorb PokerStars Brands in North American Market", Poker Industry News, March 4, 2026. The move expanded the shared liquidity pool—previously established between New Jersey and Michigan in 2023—to include Pennsylvania, while Ontario remained a ring-fenced market.
Flutter stated that the merged player pool would enable larger tournament guarantees and greater cash game availability, and that the network structure would allow additional regulated states to join in the future. The transition involved the cessation of the existing PokerStars loyalty program and the discontinuation of progressive jackpots ahead of the platform switch. The rebrand was seen as consistent with Flutter's broader North American strategy of consolidating its offerings under the FanDuel name, with the PokerStars brand expected to continue as Flutter's primary poker brand outside North America.
Games PokerStars offers multiple poker variations: Texas hold 'em, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo (8 or Better), Courchevel, Stud, Stud Hi/Lo (8 or Better), Razz, Five-card draw, 2-7 Triple Draw & 2-7 Single Draw, Badugi, HORSE, HOSE, Mixed Hold'em, Mixed Omaha Hi/Lo, Triple Stud and 8-Game Mix. PokerStars also offers "Mixed Games," which rotate through several of these games.
PokerStars averages over 15,000 players playing real money cash games daily.
PokerStars launched Zoom Poker in March 2012, with an official launch in May 2012. Zoom Poker is a fast fold ring game poker format where opponents change after every hand. The aim of Zoom poker is to offer players more hands of poker than in a regular ring game. In January 2013 PokerStars rolled out Zoom Poker Tournaments due to popular demand for the fast fold variant
Online tournaments The site's weekly Sunday Million tournament has a guaranteed $1 million prize pool and a $215 buy-in. The Sunday Million is the biggest weekly online poker tournament. On March 7, 2011, The 5th Anniversary Sunday Million broke records, with 59,128 players creating a total prize pool of $11,825,600.
World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) has been running since 2002 and is regarded as the online equivalent of the World Series of Poker. The WCOOP tournament series is the largest online poker series and pays out the largest prizes in online poker. The WCOOP 2010 Main Event champion Tyson "POTTERPOKER" Marks won $2.2 Million, the largest online tournament prize in history.bluffmagazine.com: WCOOP: Tyson "POTTERPOKER" Marks Earns $2.2 Million for Main Event Win
Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) was established in 2009 and became the most popular online tournament series. Unlike WCOOP, there are three different buy-in stakes in the SCOOP events: Low, Medium (10x Low stake) and High (100x Low stake).
SCOOP 2020, played during the first spring of lockdowns, was the biggest online poker festival the world had ever seen, but just six years later – due to regulatory changes, geopolitical events and market shifts – the series distributes barely a third of the prize money it once did. The average High-tier SCOOP event in 2025 paid out less than the average Low-tier event did in 2020.
For 2026, PokerStars has scheduled 400 events — the largest schedule in SCOOP history — with 145 PKOs and a heavy lean toward mid-stakes.
Micro Millions was launched in March 2012 as a tournament series designed for recreational and micro-stakes players offering a low buy-in tournament schedule and large guaranteed cash prizes. PokerStars guaranteed $5 million in prize pools for the second installment of MicroMillions.
In 2014, PokerStars was hosting 500,000 online tournaments each day.
Live Poker Tours PokerStars sponsors various live poker tours ongoing such as: European Poker Tour (EPT) Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) North American Poker Tour (NAPT) PokerStars Open (PS Open) :pt:Brazilian Series of Poker (BSOP) PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) PokerStars Players Championship (PSPC) Swiss Poker Series (SPS) Campeonato de España de Poker (CEP) Irish Poker Open (Irish Open) LexLive (LexLive) Belgian Poker Challenge (BPC) Manila Super Series, Manila Megastack and Okada Manila Millions at PokerStars Live Room, Okada Manila
And tournaments that did not continue, such as: Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT) 2009-2015 Brazil Poker Tour (BPT) 2011-2012 Czech-Slovak Poker Tour (CSPT) 2009 Estrellas Poker Tour (ESPT) 2010-2024 Eureka Poker Tour (EKA) 2011-2024 France Poker Series (FPS) 2010-2024 Italian Poker Tour (IPT) 2009-2017 Italian Poker Open (IPO) 2018-2019 Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) 2008-2024 Russian Poker Tour (RPT) 2008-2009 Russian Poker Series (RPS) 2010-2012 UK and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) 2009-2024 PokerStars Championship (PSC) 2017 PokerStars Festival (PSF) 2016-2018 PokerStars Live London Series 2017-2021 at PokerStars Live Room, Hippodrome, London
Live Poker Rooms PokerStars live poker rooms around the world such as: PokerStars Live Room London - UK, at The Hippodrome Casino London PokerStars Live Room Manila - Philippines, at Okada Manila
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