{"id":78543,"date":"2026-09-23T07:15:06","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T07:15:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/pokerstars-opens-its-player-pool-to-rival-brands-heres-why\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T07:15:06","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T07:15:06","slug":"pokerstars-opens-its-player-pool-to-rival-brands-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/pokerstars-opens-its-player-pool-to-rival-brands-heres-why\/","title":{"rendered":"Pokerstars Opens Its Player Pool to Rival Brands. Here&#8217;s Why"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>(Originally posted on : Bitcoin News )<\/b><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"@container mb-[25px] rounded-sm overflow-clip py-0.5 pr-0.5 pl-2.5 bg-success-100\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-col gap-m overflow-clip rounded-[6px] !bg-success-10 p-3 @[420px]:p-m\">\n<h2 class=\"m-0 flex items-center gap-s text-[19px] !text-[#1c1c1c] md:text-[20px]\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"16\" height=\"10\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 10\" fill=\"none\" class=\"shrink-0 text-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><path d=\"M1 1.5h14\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"2.5\" stroke-linecap=\"round\"\/><path d=\"M1 8.5h10\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"2.5\" stroke-linecap=\"round\"\/><\/svg><span>Key Takeaways<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul class=\"m-0 flex list-none flex-col gap-m pl-0\">\n<li class=\"m-0 flex items-start gap-s !text-[#434248]\"><span class=\"mt-2 size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><span class=\"text-body\">Pokerstars launched a B2B site inviting outside operators to join its shared online poker player pool.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"m-0 flex items-start gap-s !text-[#434248]\"><span class=\"mt-2 size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><span class=\"text-body\">GGPoker had 9,292 active cash-game players to Pokerstars\u2019 2,479 in a Sept. 22 snapshot.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"m-0 flex items-start gap-s !text-[#434248]\"><span class=\"mt-2 size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><span class=\"text-body\">The network\u2019s only case study is Sisal, an Italian operator Flutter has owned since 2022.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2><strong>Pokerstars Pitches Its Tables to Outside Operators<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Pokerstars is now selling access to its online poker tables. A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pokerstarsnetwork.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">newly launched site<\/a> for the Pokerstars Network, the shared-liquidity model its parent company Flutter Entertainment <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pokernews.com\/news\/2026\/08\/pokerstars-announces-major-network-restructuring-52094.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">announced in August<\/a>, invites outside operators to plug into its player pool, tournaments and brands, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pokerstrategy.com\/pokerstars-is-looking-for-new-poker-rooms-to-join-their-network\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pokerstrategy reported<\/a> Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>The site claims 12 licenses, more than 130 countries and over 3 million players, billing the network as \u201cthe largest regulated liquidity pool.\u201d Partners are promised \u201cimmediate access to the world\u2019s most recognisable, favoured and trusted brand in poker,\u201d including the Sunday Million, Spin &amp; Go and the European Poker Tour.<\/p>\n<p>Operators can run Pokerstars products alongside their own branding or take a white-label setup, the site says, while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pokernews.com\/news\/2026\/09\/what-is-the-pokerstars-network-david-lappin-explains-52409.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pokernews reported<\/a> that they can also franchise the Pokerstars brand outright.<\/p>\n<p>So far, the network has only taken in <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/flutter-restructures-us-operations-as-fanduel-ceo-howe-departs-with-4-37m-severance\/\">Flutter\u2019s own brands<\/a>. Betfair Poker <a href=\"https:\/\/pokerfuse.com\/latest-news\/2026\/8\/pokerstars-could-see-big-traffic-boost-and-heres\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">left Playtech\u2019s iPoker network<\/a> to join on Aug. 13, and Paddy Power and Sky Poker are due to follow later this year. Pokerstars\u2019 U.K. customers will move to the co-branded Pokerstars on Betfair site.<\/p>\n<p>The only case study on the new site is Sisal, which is also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sisal.com\/eng\/news-media\/press-releases\/corporate\/sisal-completion-flutter-acquisition\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">owned by Flutter since August 2022<\/a>. The Italian operator replaced its previous poker provider with Pokerstars in December 2024, and the site says its poker revenue has since risen more than 50%, with network liquidity delivering over 55% market share in Italy. Both brands sit in the international division run by Dan Taylor, who was <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/flutter-restructures-us-operations-as-fanduel-ceo-howe-departs-with-4-37m-severance\/\">named Flutter president in May<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flutter.com\/news-media\/press-releases\/flutter-board-announces-ceo-transition\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">becomes group CEO on Oct. 1<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>A Shift in Strategy<\/h2>\n<p>Pokerstars, which launched in 2001, led <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/coinpoker-debuts-new-app-with-rake-free-poker-signs-abby-merk-and-papo-mc\/\">online poker<\/a> for years before GGPoker overtook it around the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pokerstrategy noted. In its snapshot of PokerScout data, GGPoker had 9,292 active cash-game players, Pokerstars had 2,479, and crypto poker room CoinPoker had 2,285. The iPoker network that Betfair, Paddy Power and Sky Poker are leaving had just 173, by comparison.<\/p>\n<p>Flutter\u2019s second-quarter report flagged \u201can overall decline in activity on the Pokerstars global platform,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cardplayer.com\/poker-news\/1735232-flutter-consolidates-non-us-poker-skins-creates-pokerstars-network\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Card Player reported<\/a>. When the network was announced in August, Pokerstars Chief Commercial Officer Mike Woodbridge blamed regulation: \u201cA patchwork of regulations from one market to the next has fragmented the global game and led us to make difficult decisions to exit certain markts and not enter others. Players have felt it through thinner fields and smaller tournament prizes on our site.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>GGPoker already pairs its own sites with third-party skins such as Olybet in the Baltics and Danske Spil in Denmark, <a href=\"https:\/\/pokerfuse.com\/latest-news\/2026\/9\/pokerstars-becomes-network-what-it-means-future\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pokerfuse noted<\/a>. Flutter\u2019s own framing has so far been inward-looking. The August announcement described \u201crebuilding liquidity in partnership, beginning with other Flutter brands,\u201d and Pokerstars ambassador David Lappin told Pokernews the model lets \u201ccompanies that are part of the Flutter family\u201d join from locales where Pokerstars doesn\u2019t operate.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/igaming\/pokerstars-opens-player-pool-rival-brands-heres-why\/\">Source link <\/a><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Originally posted on : Bitcoin News ) Key Takeaways Pokerstars launched a B2B site inviting outside operators to join its shared online poker player pool. GGPoker had 9,292 active cash-game players to Pokerstars\u2019 2,479 in a Sept. 22 snapshot. The network\u2019s only case study is Sisal, an Italian operator Flutter has owned since 2022. Pokerstars [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3947362403,"featured_media":78544,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78543"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3947362403"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}