The deal will hail a new chapter for poker in the US, but some are worried that it may lose its identity in the process.
 

Key Points

PokerStars will operate through FanDuel in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Ontario

This welcomes a new chapter for online poker in the US

However, this will also likely bring much change...
 

Earlier this week, players across the US received messages from PokerStars explaining that the brand was being absorbed by its fellow Flutter Entertainment-owned brand, FanDuel, and would relaunch in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Ontario.

This promises a new chapter for a game that has a complicated history in the US. Despite poker thriving in Europe and Asia, the conditions were never quite right for optimal growth in the US.

Especially since Black Friday and the end of the poker boom.
 

Why has poker struggled in the US?

Under the new agreement, PokerStars will operate exclusively through FanDuel in the US via a dedicated poker app and desktop client, and players will still have access to shared liquidity across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.

This is an important part of poker’s history in the US. After Black Friday in 2011, online poker failed to maintain the momentum the Golden Era had established. 

Online poker was eventually legalized in 2013, with the first hands dealt on the now-defunct Ultimate Poker site, but players could only play with others who were based in the same state as them. 

This meant that player pools were very small, and offered little initiative for potential "Moneymakers" to have a go themselves.

For example, when PokerStars combined its New Jersey and Michigan sites in 2023, this created a joint player pool of 375. 

By comparison, the global PokerStars site had repeatedly broken world records for the largest number of players in tournaments, with the most recent one being in 2015 with 253,692 participants.
 

What could FanDuel offer PokerStars players? 

The Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA) was introduced in 2014, which meant that states could join to share liquidity, but uptake was slow. The first states were Nevada and Delaware, Michigan would join in May 2022, West Virginia in 2023, Pennsylvania in April 2025 and Ontario in November 2025. 

But FanDuel is one of the biggest gambling brands in the country and operates in some capacity in 27 states, offering both online and retail products. As for FanDuel casino, this is accessible in five states; those being New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia and Connecticut. 

At the time of writing, only six states offer legalized online poker: Nevada, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Michigan. Connecticut and Rhode Island would allow online poker, but no operators have launched there yet.

PokerStars was one of the best companies to offer poker tournaments and cash games, but FanDuel excels at pushing the boundaries and expanding its gaming portfolio into as many US states as possible.

The cross-sell benefits are obvious.

But, with FanDuel at the wheel, poker might get the push it needs to finally spread across America and regain the popularity it once had. There is also the pre-existing playerbase of around 13.9 million average monthly users who could be incentivized to check out poker games once they are integrated into the platform.

 

FanDuel has a chance to go all-in and revolutionize online poker, while also cross-selling the service to its millions of existing players

 

How are the players reacting to FanDuel taking over PokerStars?

Poker players are notorious for not liking too much change at once. They are creatures of habit and, while they welcome innovation as much as anyone, they will be the quickest group to point out if they don’t like something. However, the general reactions seem mixed so far. 

Some of the top comments on a Reddit thread discussing the deal were as follows:

• If we could get sports betting apps to support poker we could be on the brink of the second poker boom. Partypoker 2 electric boogaloo - BIGMCLARGEHUGE__

• It's a real shame that sports betting arrived so long before fully legal and regulated online poker. Millions of degenerate gamblers have lost billions of dollars gambling on sports that they could have been losing to me at poker. - AZPD

• Now that everything is under one roof at FanDuel I'd hope to see a push for poker coast to coast. - thriftbin

• FD's sports betting database converting to poker would be massive for game softness. Rec players with gambling accounts but no poker experience equals printing money. Watch for cross-promotion bonuses, those will be pure EV - 12jupiter

Elsewhere, people lamented how iconic the PokerStars brand was, and still is, recalling different memories from over the years. 

Interestingly, some of the players discussed how proud they were to wear PokerStars merch, but how unwilling they would be to wear something from FanDuel. 

Perhaps this stems from how niche the poker community is, and how proud its members are of its long history and skill-based nature – particularly when compared to sports betting and slot game verticals. 

So, while FanDuel could be revolutionary in pushing poker to new markets and players, the brand may need this level of achievement if it wants to completely win over the hearts of the players. Is it worth losing the hearts of a few to capture the wallets of (potentially) many more?
 

There is hope on the river...

PokerStars being absorbed by FanDuel is an unexpected announcement, but it carries a lot of synergy. Both brands are owned by Flutter, so there should be minimal friction in the process behind the scenes. 

As for players, while they may need to migrate to a new service to continue playing poker, the potential for increased liquidity does seem promising. 

There is one caveat: anyone who is self-excluded from FanDuel will automatically be barred from using the PokerStars services. This is bad news for players who want to limit their interaction with higher-risk games but still enjoy poker, but perhaps the operator will add dividers between the two in the future and allow players to exclude themselves from one vertical but not another. 

Overall, the move seems promising from both a business and consumer standpoint. FanDuel has a chance to go all-in and revolutionize online poker, while also cross-selling the service to its millions of existing players.

 

 

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#iGaming #OnlinePoker #BettingIndustry #GamingIndustry #MarketExpansion