Deputy Editor
PokerStars USA will soon be no more. Following a few mostly disappointing years back in the states, parent company Flutter will reportedly discontinue the brand on April 1. It will migrate all of its poker product to the FanDuel brand.
An actual launch date for the new product isn’t confirmed to immediately follow, however. PokerStars USA cautioned on Twitter that the company hasn’t confirmed a launch date for FanDuel Poker (or other product with a TBD name). It said that it expects to finalize a date “shortly.”
The move to end PokerStars USA will continue the trend of downsizing Flutter’s U.S. employee base. A source told PokerScout that some PokerStars employees have already been informed of their impending layoffs. More than 100 employees will also lose jobs as part of the elimination of FanDuel TV.
It’s something of a sad coda for the brand’s return to U.S. soil. Expected to dominate the market that helped it become an international giant, PokerStars wound up mostly disappointing.
News of the April 1 shutdown reached the public via a social media post.
“Your PokerStars account will remain accessible until April 30, 2026,” a message from the operator to a player reads. “Your funds, balances, and gaming history will remain in your account and can be accessed until the listed date. Any funds not withdrawn from your PokerStars account by April 30 will be sent to the address listed in your account in the form of a check.”
Flutter Finally Merging US Player Pools
The end of PokerStars USA means the player pool will at long last reportedly merge into one multi-state poker room, whenever the FanDuel product opens. Clearing that hurdle will help put the new Flutter product on equal footing with competitors, a long overdue development.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro ushered his state into the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA) last April.
Operators like BetMGM and WSOP quickly took advantage. A population of about 13 million makes Pennsylvania the largest of any state that has legal online poker. Thus, combining their Pennsylvania players into their overall pools made for a massive liquidity boost.
Despite operating in Pennsylvania, PokerStars USA dragged its feet on merging its Pennsylvania players with the rest of its pool.
The consequences were immediate, and they were ugly. Not only did PokerStars USA concede its position at the top of the market, it fell out of the top two.
PokerStars USA Largely Fell Short of Expectations
While PokerStars USA enjoyed a brief, small rebound at the turn of the calendar, it fell just shy of returning to a top-two position in the market. An expected triumphant return to the U.S. never quite met expectations.
Rewinding back to the post-Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA) years, PokerStars continued to serve U.S. customers, along with rival Full Tilt Poker, when many poker operators vacated the states in 2006. That made PokerStars and Full Tilt the strongest global brands, while more conservative companies like partypoker lost market share.
Black Friday ended that party in 2011. PokerStars had built itself into a superpower by then, though, and it continued enjoying the residual effects of flouting U.S. law. It gained a dominant position in the global market, where it was essentially unchallenged until the rise of GGPoker.
PokerStars NJ launched in 2016 with much fanfare. Most expected PokerStars to quickly overtake WSOP as the top U.S. online poker brand. After all, PokerStars had a number of advantages. It had far better software, and it still enjoyed what was expected to be strong brand recognition.
The operator even partnered with Resorts World in New Jersey to bring back its signature high-quality live events.
However, both live and online, PokerStars never returned to its former glory.
Live, its initial return to New Jersey fell a bit flat. It drew only about 200 entries for its $1,100 main event. It revived the old North American Poker Tour (NAPT) brand, but it never expanded beyond the one Las Vegas stop.
Online, customers were left wanting as well. Aside from not dominating the market share battle, there were missteps, such as a late cancellation of its flagship tournament series, US Championship of Online Poker (USCOOP).
Players in legal states will hope that the move to FanDuel sparks a renewed investment in Flutter’s U.S. poker product.
Image credit: Scazon/Flickr (license)
