On Tuesday, after months of rumors, PokerStarsUSA announced its move to FanDuel to create a one-stop shop for poker, casino, and sports betting.
Players in New Jersey, Michigan, and Pennsylvania will combine to create a much-anticipated shared liquidity player pool. Ontario (Canada) players will also make the move to PokerStars exclusively on FanDuel.
What caused this merger?
PokerStars and FanDuel are both owned by Flutter Entertainment, an Irish-American sports betting and gambling conglomerate that also owns Paddy Power, Betfair, and Sky Betting & Gaming, as well as PokerNews.
FanDuel is, by far, the online sports betting and iGaming operator in the United States, owning around 43% of the market share. FanDuel hosts daily fantasy sports, casino gaming, a world-famous sportsbook, and a new prediction market called FanDuel Predicts.
PokerStars, of course, is a poker brand recognized around the world. They, along with GGPoker, are amongst the world’s leading poker brands both live and online. In the live arena, PokerStars hosts the European Poker Tour (EPT), the Brazilian Series of Poker (BSOP), the North American Poker Tour (NAPT), the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT), and is a co-sponsor of the world-famous Irish Poker Open.
PokerStars also launched casino games and sports betting over a decade ago to drive more profit to the website.
Combining these two sites will allow poker players more access to more gaming products, while opening the door for casino gamers and sportsbettors to join the poker world. This will also allow a smooth transition into a shared liquidity pool, as PokerStars customers currently operate on two separate platforms in New Jersey and Michigan. Players currently may only face off against players from the same state.
Pennsylvania joined the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA) in early 2025, but was previously picked up by PokerStars. Their huge poker population will finally get a chance to join a new liquidity pool on a new poker platform.
The impact of shared liquidity
The ultimate goal for PokerStars was to join the ranks of shared liquidity. Like WSOP.com (which also includes Nevada) and BetMGM, which already has shared liquidity between these states, tournaments will now have larger fields and bigger guarantees, allowing players to compete for bigger prizes.
BetRivers also has a shared liquidity pool in the United States, allowing those from Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, and Delaware to compete against one another.
With New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan under one umbrella, about 33 million people in the United States are eligible to play on PokerStars exclusively on FanDuel. You don’t need to be a resident to play; you just have to be physically in the state.
Legalized online poker has been an uphill battle in the United States since ‘Black Friday’ in 2011. However, many states have started to legalize poker, though there is still plenty of red tape to be cut.
Nine states, including Maine, Nevada, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, have all paved the way for legal online poker, with Maine signing off early this year.
However, licensed operators haven’t launched active sites in Maine, Connecticut, or Rhode Island as of yet.
What happens now?
For now, PokerStars players in New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Ontario must create a FanDuel account, as the PokerStars platform will soon shut down.
As for PokerStars rewards, that program will shut down on March 13th.
“PokerStars Rewards will deprecate on March 13th and all players will receive full cash payment for their unopened chests as well as the pro-rated amounts for their progress bars for current play.”
As for PokerStars progressive jackpots, those will be distributed on April 1st.
“Any jackpot winnings that remain as part of the respective games will be distributed to the players who participated in the jackpot. Only progressive contributions will be returned, not the total stake wagered.”
FanDuel is offering a “Now and Later” promotion, which will reward players with 500 Bonus Spins and up to $1,000 back in casino bonuses for signing up. Furthermore, a Poker Welcome Offer will be made available to both new and existing customers once the poker platform launches.
Players will have a single wallet to use for poker, sportsbook, and casino purposes.
“The single FanDuel wallet will allow players to easily play and engage with all verticals offered across FanDuel, including poker, casino games and sports betting.
“PokerStars, exclusively on FanDuel will be a dedicated poker app offering the same formats, games and tournaments players already know and love, including COOPs, cash games and more.”
