After speculation that the PokerStars U.S. platform would be integrated into FanDuel, the companies made it official on Tuesday. Online poker players in New Jersey, Michigan, and Pennsylvania will now have to create a FanDuel account to play.
The new option will be branded “PokerStars exclusively on FanDuel,” and for the first time, Pennsylvania will be merged with the New Jersey and Michigan player pools.
Additionally, the PokerStars platform in Ontario, Canada, will also join FanDuel. Online gambling giant Flutter Entertainment owns both companies.
“PokerStars is joining forces with FanDuel to bring together two of the biggest names in gaming under one powerful platform,” the company noted in an online hub detailing the changes. “This move merges player liquidity for bigger prize pools, larger guarantees, and more exciting competition in the United States.”
Move Allows For Larger Liquidity
Flutter hasn’t announced an exact launch date for the FanDuel transition yet. However, players will continue to accrue PokerStars Rewards through March 13. Users will have 30 days to withdraw funds, and if they haven’t done so by then, they will receive a check.
FanDuel is one of the leading online sportsbooks in the country and also operates online gaming in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Michigan, West Virginia, and Connecticut.
The move allows Stars to harness that player pool to grow the online poker product. While BetMGM Poker and WSOP Online added Pennsylvania when the state joined the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA) last April, PokerStars held off.
The new platform now changes that and replaces the PokerStars USA platforms with an addition to FanDuel, where users can also play online casino games and wager on sports.
Move Comes As CoinPoker Traffic Spikes
The move possibly could see the platform add West Virginia to the shared liquidity player pool at some point. However, Connecticut has yet to join the MSIGA, but made some moves toward doing that last year.
Along with Stars, BetMGM, and WSOP Online, BetRivers Poker has also become a U.S. player and has a shared player pool among Pennsylvania, Michigan, Delaware, and West Virginia.
PokerStars’ expansion into the U.S. comes at a time when another major online poker site is making moves in the industry. CoinPoker launched an updated client earlier this week and has made a concentrated push to increase the platform’s player pool, offering 100% rakeback to all players for the entire month of March. Site operators reported nearly 12,000 users on the first day after launching.
