LONDON - For a quarter of a century, PokerStars guarded its player pool like a crown jewel. If you wanted a seat at the Sunday Million, you played on PokerStars, under the PokerStars brand, full stop.
That era is over.
In September, PokerStars owner Flutter Entertainment launched a dedicated sales website for the PokerStars Network, inviting outside operators to plug into its technology, tournaments, brands and, most importantly, its players. Operators that sign on can bolt PokerStars products onto their existing brand or run a fully white-labelled poker room, while seating their customers at the same virtual tables as PokerStars' own.
It is the biggest strategic shift in the company's history, and it lands in a year when poker has been breaking records almost everywhere it goes, from Prague to Las Vegas to Montreal.
From Fortress To Network
The move didn't come out of nowhere. In August, Flutter announced that PokerStars would become a network, with its sister brand Betfair the first to be moved onto the shared platform. Two more Flutter brands, Ireland's Paddy Power and the U.K.'s Sky Poker, are expected to follow later this year. All three had previously operated on the rival iPoker network, and industry observers had long predicted they would eventually be folded into PokerStars.
What came next was far bigger. The new sales site pitches the PokerStars Network as the largest regulated liquidity pool in the game, claiming 12 licences, a presence in more than 130 countries and more than three million players. Partners are promised access to some of the most recognized products in poker, including the Sunday Million, Spin & Go and the European Poker Tour.
When the network was first announced, PokerStars chief commercial officer Mike Woodbridge blamed regulation, saying a patchwork of rules had "fragmented the global game" and forced the company into difficult decisions about where it could operate.
Flutter's Michael Boland, who is leading the network's expansion, has said the model already works across four different regulatory setups and is now opening to selected external partners. He is expected to pitch it to operators at the upcoming SBC Summit in Lisbon.
WHY NOW? FOLLOW THE TRAFFIC
The timing is not accidental. PokerStars, once the undisputed king of online poker, is no longer the biggest room in the world. Industry traffic figures cited in September put GGPoker at roughly 9,292 active cash-game players compared with about 2,479 for PokerStars, a gap that would have been unthinkable a decade ago.
GGPoker has built part of that lead with exactly the model PokerStars is now adopting. It already works with third-party operators such as Olybet in the Baltics and Danske Spil in Denmark, bringing players from markets GGPoker couldn't easily reach on its own into its global ecosystem.
For PokerStars, a network model could unlock markets where running its own poker room has become too costly or complicated under local rules. Analysts have pointed to European markets such as the Netherlands, Czechia, Norway, Poland and Latvia as places where a local partner could plug into the PokerStars pool. PokerStars ambassador David Lappin has noted that the setup also lets Flutter-owned brands join from regions where PokerStars itself doesn't operate directly.
So far, no outside partner has been named, and no timelines or commercial terms have been announced. But the message to the industry is clear: PokerStars wants to be the platform, not just the brand.
What It Means For Players
For players, shared liquidity is almost always good news. More operators feeding a single pool means more tables running at every stake, bigger tournament guarantees and fewer overlays. The Sunday Million and similar flagship events could see larger fields as players from new partner brands join in.
The flip side is that the model only works in markets where regulators allow international pooling. Countries that ring-fence their players, forcing them to compete only against fellow residents, remain cut off. That tension is at the heart of poker's regulatory debate from Paris to Toronto, where the Supreme Court of Canada is currently weighing whether Ontario's online players can rejoin international pools.
A Tale Of Two Giants
The PokerStars move is the latest chapter in a rivalry that has come to define the modern game.
PokerStars launched in 2001 and rode the poker boom of the mid-2000s to become the world's dominant online room, sponsoring the European Poker Tour and turning online qualifiers into household names. It survived the U.S. federal crackdown of April 2011, known in poker circles as Black Friday, and later changed hands twice: first to Canada's Amaya in 2014, and then, through a merger, into the Flutter Entertainment group that also owns FanDuel, Betfair and Paddy Power.
GGPoker's rise was far faster. Launched in the late 2010s, it grew aggressively through Asian and European markets, heavy investment in software and a roster of star ambassadors. In 2024, its parent company, NSUS Group, bought the World Series of Poker brand from Caesars Entertainment, putting the sport's most famous tournament series under the same roof as the world's biggest online room.
That combination has changed the economics of the game. GGPoker runs WSOP-branded online bracelet events and satellites that feed players directly into live WSOP festivals around the world, including the record-breaking series in Prague and Montreal this year. PokerStars has the EPT, the Sunday Million and a brand that still carries enormous weight with players.
By opening its network, PokerStars is effectively betting that its brand and products can attract partners faster than it can win back players on its own. How quickly it can sign up outside operators will say a great deal about the balance of power in online poker for the rest of the decade.
Live Poker'S Record-Breaking Year
If the online market is consolidating, the live game is booming.
WSOP Europe moves to Prague and triples its record
The clearest example came in April, when the World Series of Poker Europe moved from its long-time home in Rozvadov to King's Casino at the Hilton in Prague, about 160 kilometres away. Organizers also nearly halved the Main Event buy-in, from €10,350 to €5,300.
The result was the largest open event in European poker history. The WSOPE Main Event drew 2,617 entries from 71 countries, more than three times the previous record of 817 set in 2023, and generated a €13,085,000 prize pool, smashing its €10 million guarantee. Across 15 bracelet events, the festival logged 15,779 entries from more than 80 countries and paid out more than €39.5 million.
Lithuania's Marius Kudzmanas won the Main Event on April 10, becoming the first player from his country to take the title. The win was worth €2 million and his third WSOP bracelet, but his first won at a live table after two online victories. He clinched it heads-up against Japan's Akihiro Konishi, cracking pocket kings with seven-six when a seven hit the board.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marius Kudzmanas | Lithuania | €2,000,000 |
| 2 | Akihiro Konishi | Japan | €1,200,000 |
| 3 | Chris Hunichen | United States | €800,000 |
| 4 | Nikolay Bibov | Bulgaria | €575,000 |
| 5 | Antonio Guimaraens | Spain | €425,000 |
The global spread of that final table, from Lithuania and Japan to the U.S., Bulgaria and Spain, was a snapshot of how international top-level poker has become.
Las Vegas goes global
That trend was on full display in Las Vegas in July and August. The 2026 WSOP Main Event drew 9,208 entries and an $85.6 million prize pool. Its final table featured players from five countries: the United States, Finland, Canada, France and Cyprus.
The title went to Lucas Jumalon, a 22-year-old from Spokane, Washington, who won US$10 million after leading every hand of the final table. Finland's Lauri Saaskilahti, a 40-year-old with only modest previous results, finished second for US$6 million. Canada's Greg Mueller finished third for US$3.75 million, France's Mario Boos eighth and Cyprus's Evagoras Evagorou ninth.
Canada's biggest tournament ever
In September, poker's growth reached a new frontier in Canada, where the first-ever WSOP Super Circuit stop at Playground Poker Club near Montreal drew 2,844 entries to its C$5,000 Main Event. The prize pool, listed by the WSOP at C$12.69 million, nearly tripled the previous Canadian record. Ontario amateur Mayukh Chakraborty, who had just two small live cashes to his name, won C$1.5 million.
PokerStars' own live tour thrives
PokerStars' live events are growing too. The PokerStars Open, a series of mid-stakes festivals launched to sit alongside the European Poker Tour, has drawn big fields throughout 2026. In February, the PokerStars Open Main Event in Paris drew 2,992 buy-ins and a €4.3 million prize pool, won by Hungary's Patrik Demus for €551,090. The season opener in Campione d'Italia in January attracted 1,582 buy-ins and a €1.5 million prize pool.
Those events, affordable at around €1,100 to €1,650, feed directly into the network strategy. Online qualifiers, many of whom play on PokerStars, win their seats for a fraction of the buy-in, and a bigger online pool means more qualifiers.
The High-Roller Circuit
At the other end of the spectrum, the super-high-roller scene continues to attract the game's biggest names. At the Triton Super High Roller Series this month, Hall of Famer Phil Ivey was on the wrong end of a dramatic four-way all in, running into pocket aces deep in a high roller event. Moments like that, streamed to a global audience, have helped turn elite poker into appointment viewing.
Why The Fields Keep Growing
Several forces are driving poker's global surge.
Lower buy-ins bring in new players. The WSOPE's decision to cut its Main Event price nearly in half is the clearest proof: attendance tripled.
Online qualifiers feed live events. Satellites on GGPoker and PokerStars send thousands of players to live tournaments for a fraction of the cost, swelling fields and prize pools.
Poker's owners are investing. With GGPoker now steering the WSOP brand and Flutter reshaping PokerStars, both of the game's giants are pouring resources into live and online events designed to keep players in their ecosystems.
Regulated markets are maturing. Countries and states that once ring-fenced their players are gradually reconnecting. In the United States, six states now share online poker players through a multi-state compact. In Europe, France, Spain, Italy and Portugal have shared a player pool for years. The PokerStars Network is designed to take advantage of every new opening.
Poker is also more watchable than ever. Live streams with hole-card cameras, short-form highlight clips and televised cash games have given the game a steady flow of new fans, many of whom start with small online tournaments before trying a live event. That funnel, from screen to satellite to live felt, is exactly what both GGPoker and PokerStars are competing to own.
What Comes Next
The next few months will show whether PokerStars can turn its network pitch into real partnerships. The first test will be whether any major operator outside Flutter's family signs on, and in which markets.
Players will also be watching regulators. Every decision to allow cross-border pooling, from Ontario's Supreme Court case to potential new compacts in Europe and the U.S., expands the pool that networks like PokerStars and GGPoker can draw from.
For now, the picture is of a game in rude health. Record fields in Prague, Las Vegas and Montreal show that live poker's appetite is bigger than ever. And the fact that PokerStars, the brand that defined online poker for a generation, is willing to share its tables with rivals may be the clearest sign yet that the industry believes the next era of growth will come from working together.
As always, play responsibly. Poker is a game of skill, but it is also gambling. If you need help, organizations such as Gambling Therapy offer free, confidential support worldwide.