PokerStars will begin moving UK customers onto the Betfair platform on 13 August, when the product will be branded PokerStars on Betfair. The change is the first step in a UK-specific restructuring of how British players access their online poker accounts.
According to PokerNews, UK PokerStars customers will later this year migrate to the Betfair platform while still using the same PokerStars software. They will remain connected to the PokerStars global player pool, so they can still take part in marquee events including the Sunday Million, SCOOP, WCOOP, Spin & Go tournaments and qualification routes to live events such as the European Poker Tour.
The move does not affect PokerStars players outside the UK. Betfair Poker customers will also access poker through PokerStars on Betfair from 13 August, and support teams at both PokerStars and Betfair Poker will contact customers directly to explain the migration and answer questions.
The restructuring reaches beyond that first UK migration. In the coming months, Paddy Power Poker and Sky Poker will replace their own poker products with PokerStars software, a change described as adding more liquidity to the PokerStars.com global liquidity pool. The article says the broader model is intended to rebuild liquidity in partnership, beginning with other Flutter brands, and to apply PokerStars’ game-integrity and security standards across the network.
PokerStars Network, or PSN, already links players across Flutter brands into shared pools, with the aim of creating bigger fields and more time playing together. The company also points to previous shared-network models in Italy, through Sisal and SNAI, and in North America through FanDuel, as evidence that the approach can work.
Mike Woodbridge said the market has become harder for brands like PokerStars, citing a patchwork of regulations that has fragmented the global game and forced difficult decisions to exit some markets and avoid others. He said players have felt that through thinner fields and smaller tournament prizes, and that the new model is meant to improve liquidity and bring people back to the poker table.
Kim Daly called the changes a powerful moment for the industry. She said integrating PokerStars onto the Betfair platform brings together two category-transforming brands, and that the addition of Betfair Casino creates a broader offering spanning poker, sports betting and premium casino gaming.
